Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 News Release -- www.riverhounds.com
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Riverhounds U23 team will make its debut at Highmark Stadium on Wednesday night. The Riverhounds U23s compete in the Great Lakes Division of the PDL and will host the Michigan Bucks. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
"This is an exciting moment for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Club along with the community of Pittsburgh. Playing our first home match at Highmark Stadium is an excellent way to showcase the Riverhounds U23 team," said Riverhounds U23s Head Coach Oz Bakirdan.
The Riverhounds U23 team, comprised top collegiate players, and talented high school prospects will enter their third match of a grueling fourteen match, eight-week season. The club opened the season on May 23 against the Chicago Fire U23, seeing the Riverhounds U23s and Duquesne University sophomore, Kadeem Pantophlet, score first in the 11th minute. The Fire U23s would fight back to equalize late in the first half before eventually securing the win from the penalty spot early in the second half.
Traveling from Chicago to Detroit Friday afternoon, the Riverhounds U23s played the Bucks in the Premier Match of the Canton Cup. Kicking off their second game in less than 24 hours at noon, the Riverhounds U23s jumped on top of the Bucks with a quality 3-man combination between former Toronto Lynx Juniors Bruce Cullen, California University senior Jeffrey Kyei, and Pantophlet with Cullen tapping home from close range at the half-hour mark. As the heat and tired legs set in, the Bucks would capitalize on a corner kick when Ken Tribbett's header would find the top corner and draw the game even 1-1 to earn Michigan a point.
"We were able to score first against the Michigan Bucks in our road match with them and we want to continue to play well throughout the whole 90 minutes," said Bakirdan.
The second leg of three fixtures between the two clubs in 2014 will have elevated emotion, intensity, and physical challenges based on their previous match, setting a perfect stage for tonight's inaugural match.
All tickets for tonight's match are $5, and can be purchased at riverhounds.com or by calling the Box Office at (412) 325-7241. Riverhounds season ticket holders will receive free admittance to the game, stop by the Highmark Stadium Box Office upon arrival for your tickets.