Pittsburgh Riverhounds News Release -- www.riverhounds.com
Thursday, July 19, 2012
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Riverhounds enter their second back-to-back weekend in July on Friday as they host the Harrisburg City Islanders on Friday night, then travel overnight to meet the Rochester Rhinos on Saturday. The Riverhounds and City Islanders are slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Chartiers Valley Stadium and Saturday night’s meeting with the Rhinos is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. start at Sahlen’s Stadium.
The City Islanders hold the edge over the Riverhounds with a win and a draw in the Keystone Derby this season. The last meeting between the clubs was two weeks ago in Pittsburgh, with the City Islanders defeating the Riverhounds 3-2 in dramatic fashion. The Riverhounds jumped ahead 2-1 in the 81st minute when Darren Amoo headed home a cross from former City Islander, Anthony Calvano.
But the City Islanders bounced back quickly, recording the tying goal less than a minute later from the head of Sainey Touray. The City Islanders received the game-winning goal in the 88th minute when Garret Pettis slotted home a pass from Yann Ekra. The two sides met on City Island in May with the game ending in a scoreless draw.
The final meeting of the season between the two sides should be filled with plenty of attacking action, strong challenges and intensity. With both sides fighting to maintain striking distance for the playoffs, the Keystone Derby will be a battle for the entire 90 minutes, maintaining the tradition the rivalry has developed over the years.
The Riverhounds and Rhinos last met on Father’s Day with the game ending in a 1-1 draw at Chartiers Valley Stadium. The Riverhounds took the lead in the 16th minute of play when former Rhino, Agustin ‘Tino’ Nunez capitalized on a service from Stefan Lundberg. The Rhinos drew even in the second half, however, when Quavas Kirk finished off a breakaway in the 61st minute. Despite late chances for both clubs to find the back of the net, neither would find the game-winning goal.
The regional rivalry between the Riverhounds and Rhinos has grown immensely over the last two years with the teams reunited in the same league in USL PRO. The Rhinos swept the Riverhounds in three regular season meetings in 2011 and ousted them from the playoffs by a score of 4-0 last season.