Riverhounds fall to Orlando City B, 2-1

Riverhounds fall to Orlando City B, 2-1

June 4, 2017 | By Rachael McKriger

The tale of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ 2-1 loss at the hands of Orlando City B is another spell of lost chances.

The Riverhounds had plenty of chances – especially in the second half of the match. Between the attacking forces of Corey Hertzog, Romeo Parkes and even Marshall Hollingsworth, the Riverhounds continued to build up plays, but couldn’t finish them.

That’s why Dave Brandt was frustrated after the match.

“We’re better than that,” Brandt said during the postgame press conference. “We had that game – we got out to a good lead.”

“We need to have urgency from the get-go,” Brandt continued. “There’s something in too many pro players that wants to take it easy.”

The Riverhounds took the lead at Highmark Stadium in the 30’ minute, when Corey Hertzog fired a strike off a corner kick rebound.

“We certainly had some good looks,” Brandt said. “Corey scored a good goal. I think he’s rushing some other opportunities. The thing is he can hit those, he can score, so it’s not falling for us right now.”

“We worked on it all week on corners,” Hertzog said. “We hadn’t scored off a corner yet, so it’s good to get one.”

However, Orlando City B found the equalizer right before halftime when Hadji Barry scored his tally in the 42’ minute.

The second half saw plenty of chances created for the Riverhounds, but Orlando City was the team that found the back of the net. Zach Ellis-Hayden put a strike past goalkeeper Trey Mitchell in the 53’ minute to take the lead. Ellis-Hayden’s goal was assisted by Barry. The Riverhounds could not find another equalizer, or even a game-winner, and lost all three points at home.

“We created the chances to get back into the game, we just need to finish those,” Hertzog said. “If we create those chances and make them, it’s 3-2, 4-2. It’s up to us, but we have to finish those chances.”

In the misconduct category, the Riverhounds had two yellow cards issued to Hertzog (73’) and defender Taylor Washington (79’). As for Orlando City B, one yellow card was issued to Ellis-Hayden in the 37’ minute.

The Riverhounds will head up north to face Toronto FC II on Saturday. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m.

The Riverhounds have now dropped to ninth place in the USL’s Eastern Conference, just below St. Louis FC and right above the Bethlehem Steel FC. As for Toronto FC II, they sit in last place in the Eastern Conference.

Mike Sparks

In addition to watching, coaching, and occasionally playing soccer, Mike also enjoys talking all things soccer over at the Mon Goals podcast. Go give the show a listen and let him know what you think