Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 played two critical games toward the back end of their schedule aiming to keep their USL League Two playoff hopes alive.
The week started well with a 3-2 win over Lorain County Leviathan FC on Wednesday, June 17 at F.N.B. Stadium, but those postseason hopes suffered a blow in upstate New York with a 3-1 loss to FC Buffalo on Saturday, June 20.
Riverhounds 2 3, Lorain County Leviathan FC 2
After losing by the same score in the reverse fixture, Hounds 2 bounced back at home against the Ohio side.
The game started slowly for the young Hounds with the Leviathan dominating most of the chances. Just before the end of the first half, JJ Vozar made a surging run forward. He kept the ball through multiple challenges and played a pinpoint cross onto the foot of Caleb Borneo, who poked the ball home to make it 1-0 going into the half.
“They had some early chances, but we settled in well (to the first half),” head coach Josh Kremers said. “We found our rhythm and a little bit more of an attacking presence, especially in the second half.”
That attacking presence emerged three minutes into the second half, when Borneo’s quick feet found him in acres of space with enough time to slide pass through to Nicholas Legendre on the right side of the box, and Legendre slotted the ball past the keeper at the far post.
Lorain County built back into the game, controlling the next stretch and finding their first goal in the 64th minute after Jack Moxom made an incredible acrobatic save from close range. The ball popped out to Leviathan’s Dominic Ruggiero, who made an equally acrobatic shot to put it past Moxom who was still recovering from the first save.
Hounds 2 added to their lead in the 77th minute after Borneo fought hard to win Niklas Sørensen’s through ball before poking it across the six-yard box for Legendre to tap home for his second of the game.
Lorain County added a consolation in the 86th minute as Max Johnson toe-poked the ball into the goal off a Sam Nam assist.
“It’s a massive three points for us that puts us back in the race,” said Legendre, who is up to six goals on the season. “We knew that coming in and the mentality coming in was win at all costs.”
FC Buffalo 3, Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 1
Hounds 2 were handed their third loss of the season on the road to FC Buffalo, a defeat that takes any path to the playoffs out of the team’s hands.
The scoring started with a penalty for Buffalo after a corner caused chaos in the box, resulting in Kevin Leiva going down after a challenge from Adrian Biaggi. Ali Alomari scored the penalty down the middle after waiting to see which way Hounds 2 keeper Peter Morano dove.
Buffalo continued the scoring on the cusp of halftime on the back of a team goal which started with goalkeeper Jack Root and ended with Lucas Soares playing through Lovro Kostanjsek, who made it 2-0 going into the half.
Alomari continued the scoring for Buffalo in the 59th minute, winning the ball back in the midfield and carrying it all the way into the box before finding the net with a far-post finish.
Hounds 2 had the remainder of the dangerous chances, and Bennett Painter scored deep into stoppage time off a well-placed, near-post finish to end the clean sheet for Root and Buffalo.
Riverhounds 2 currently sit on 14 points with a 4-3-2 record, and they have an opportunity to close out the season on a high note despite needing to win out for any shot at the postseason. They play their final home game of the regular season on Tuesday, June 23, at 6 p.m. against Akron City FC before going on the road for a 3 p.m. Sunday meeting with Erie Sports Center.
