USL PRO Game Report
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
WEST CARROLLTON, Ohio -- The Pittsburgh Riverhounds rallied from a halftime deficit to take a 2-1 victory against the Dayton Dutch Lions FC on Wednesday night at DOC Stadium. The Riverhounds' win earned a split of the home-and-home series between the clubs that saw Dayton take a 1-0 win in Pittsburgh this past Saturday.
The Dutch Lions struck quickly in the third minute when Eli Garner earned a corner. Ross Friedman took the kick and was able to place the ball into the penalty area where Aaron Schoenfeld was waiting to head the ball in for his ninth goal of the season.
The Riverhounds Joseph Ngwenya came close to an equalizer six minutes before the halftime break as he drove in from the left side toward goal. Dayton goalkeeper Matt Williams came out to try and block the shot, only for Ngwenya to dribble around him, but the Zimbabwean couldn't finish from a narrow angle. Four minutes later, Ngwenya went close again, but the ball hit the post and bounced directly to Williams.
Pittsburgh would find its reward two minutes into the second half. After a series of passes, Mike Green would receive a ball on the right from Danny Earls, and Green placed the ball into the left side of Dayton’s goal to level the score. Green would add a second in the 54th minute after a good build-up began by Ngwenya, who found Earls for a clever chipped pass that Green powered home on the volley.
The Riverhounds would take control of the second half with good passing, overlapping runs and quick play. Dayton struggled to keep possession in the final third as the Pittsburgh defense stepped up and denied Garner the opportunity to get in behind them. The Dutch Lions would push strongly late on as they earned a handful of set pieces, but Pittsburgh goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap and his defense were equal to the challenge as the Riverhounds claimed their second victory of the season.
"I think Pittsburgh deserves the win today," said Dayton Dutch Lions FC Coach Sid van Druenen. “They came out stronger than we did. They had more urgency than we did. We got an early goal and we should have played with a little more confidence after that. We played scared and we were holding back. There was no depth in our game.
"It is going to be a very tough season for us if we keep playing like this. We lost all the duels in the air, we had no sense of urgency, we thought way too defensively like we were scared of losing and if you are scared of losing you will never win games. We will keep working and we will improve on this for our next game Saturday.”
The Dayton Dutch Lions FC (4-11-2) travel to play the Charlotte Eagles (5-8-2) on Saturday night at 8 p,m, and return home to DOC Stadium in West Carrollton to play the Harrisburg City Islanders (3-7-4) on Saturday, July 12th at 7 p.m. ET. For season and individual game tickets, visit the Dutch Lions website.