Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 is wrapping up their schedule in style after winning their final home match at F.N.B. Stadium, 2-1 against Akron City FC on June 23, and 4-0 on the road against Erie Sports Center on June 28.
The wins kept Hounds 2 alive in the hunt for the playoffs entering July, but the team would need a win in their season finale and favorable results in both their own Great Forest Division and the Great Lakes Division to claim a wild card into the USL League Two Playoffs.
Hounds 2 2, Akron City FC 1
Hounds 2 started slow in the first half, with Akron controlling the game and most of the chances, but a moment of quality from Michael Lee in the 36th minute opened the scoring for the Hounds on home turf.
Lee found the back of the net after collecting the ball on the left wing and beating his defender with some quick step overs, curling the ball past the keeper and into the far corner of the net.
“The first 20 was a little bit touch-and-go. We weren’t settling in too well and weren’t as sharp as we needed to be,” head coach Josh Kremers said. “Once we settled in and found our rhythm, I thought we were very, very good.”
Coming out of the break, Akron City started pressing high and often, winning a series of free kicks and corners before eventually finding their breakthrough through Daman Sangha in the 51st minute after some chaos in the box. That goal didn’t deter the home side, however, as Lee continued his effective play down the left wing, winning a duel once again and finding a cross to Caleb Borneo for an easy tap-in in the 63rd minute.
“We want to play the way we want to play,” Kremers said. “We don’t want to have to change the way we play based on the opponent, whether we’re up a goal or down a goal. The boys stuck with it and found good pockets of space, and again from the wide space we were able to create a goal.”
Hounds 2 4, Erie Sports Center 0
Traveling north up I-79, Hounds 2 made their mark early and often in the first half. Michael Walenchok began the match scoring his first goal of the season with a spinning finish in the 28th minute after a miscue from Erie in the box.
Tyler Prex added to the scoring just two minutes later. Max Haberman played a ball over the top, which Prex controlled outside the area and finished from distance to the far post.
Lee added to the goals in the 39th minute to close out the first half up 3-0. Lee collected the ball off of a long cross down the right flank and made a great individual move to beat his man and score far post for his fourth goal of the season.
Moving into the second half, it was the Hounds who dominated the chances again. Prex won the ball in the midfield and found Daniel Firek, playing a quick one-two back to the striker who chipped it over the oncoming keeper to make it 4-0 and seal three points on the day.
“It was definitely a strong performance,” Kremers said. “We were pretty clinical in our finishing moments, but there could have been more control across the 90 minutes.”
Riverhounds 2 plays its final game of their inaugural regular season at Akron City FC at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7. The match will be streamed live on SportsEnginePlay.
