Friday, June 21, 2013
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- It was a tale of two halves at Skyline Sports Complex on Friday night as the Pittsburgh Riverhounds beat the Harrisburg City Islanders 4-3 to extend their undefeated streak to nine games. The City Islanders had held a two-goal halftime lead, but the Riverhounds scored four consecutive goals, including a pair by Jose Angulo, in the second half to take victory.
With the game tied 2-2 with 20 minutes to go in the second half, Ryan Kinne took a shot at goal that hit goalie Nick Noble in the shin for the initial save, but Noble could not control the rebound. The ball bounced back to former Islander Angulo, who struck the ball first-time and blew it past Noble to give the Riverhounds the lead for good. Mike Seth added a fourth goal for the Riverhounds with seven minutes to go, and the insurance goal proved neccesary as Sainey Touray pulled a goal back for Harrisburg in stoppage time, only for the City Islanders’ rally to come up short.
The game started off at a high tempo, with the Islanders opening the scoring on the very first shot in the first minute. Tom Mellor had a ball land at his feet after a misplayed ball by the Riverhounds defense, and the English winger made a few moves to his right and then drove a shot to the upper-right corner, off the post and past the diving goalkeeper.
The Islanders were able to break through and get past the hard play of Pittsburgh to take a two-goal lead in the 21st minute off a great pass by captain Jason Pelletier to Jimmy McLaughlin, who snuck behind the defensive line just as the pass split two defenders. McLaughlin was in on goal alone, and chipped it past the advancing goalkeeper and in.
The City Islanders comfortably held their two-goal lead until the halftime break, but the game turned early in the second half when the Riverhounds received a penalty off a push from Islanders’ defender Aaron Wheeler just inside the penalty area. Angulo stepped up to the spot and made goalkeeper Nick Noble guess left as he fired it to the right.
The first goal gave Pittsburgh the confidence they needed to score again. Darren Amoo tied the game off a cross by Matt Dallman. The cross came flying into the box and Amoo was there to head the ball inside the right post past a sprawling Noble to knot the game up at two.
Harrisburg had a chance to regain the lead as Lucky Mkosana had a quality opportunity just minutes after being substituted in. Mkosana came streaking down the sideline and cut into the middle of the field for a hard shot that challenged Pittsburgh goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap, who saved to keep the game tied.
After Angulo had given his side the lead, the Riverhounds delivered the knockout blow on a pass from Stefan Lundberg that crossed almost the whole penalty box until found the foot of Seth, who directed the shot to the far post again and past Noble. This goal gave Pittsburgh its first win on the road this season, and some revenge for the Islanders win at Highmark Stadium earlier this season.
The Islanders fell to (9-4-1) on the season and are 2-2-0 in league play during their five game homestand. They have one game left in that homestand to post a winning record during that time. They will play the Phoenix FC Wolves for the first time at Skyline Sports Complex.
For tickets and information on the Harrisburg City Islanders go to www.cityislanders.com or call (717)-441-GOAL.