The Pittsburgh Riverhounds (2-1-1, 7 points) earned a three-goal lead in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifying by shutting out the Richmond Kickers (2-2-0, 6 points), 3-0, at the University of Richmond Stadium in front of 1,429 fans. With tonight's win and a loss by Toronto earlier this evening the Riverhounds remain in first place in the Northeast Division.
The second game in the Riverhounds-Kickers Open Cup qualifying series takes place May 26 (Memorial Day) at 3 p.m. at Bethel Park Stadium.
The Riverhounds took a one-goal lead in the 13th minute when Ricardo Villar took a direct free kick from just outside the penalty box. His shot went over the defensive wall and off the left post past Kickers goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale. Villar's shot was the second attempt at the free kick because the referee had called back the first attempt by Gary DePalma because the officiating crew was not set.
The Kickers had two good chances early in the first half in the 15th and 18th minutes when Tony Williams had two shots sail over the crossbar. On the first attempt, Riverhounds defenders Ricardo Iribarren and Eric Ongao had the ball bounce between the pair and off of them right to Williams' feet. In the 18th minute, David Wright cleared a corner kick by Richmond. Williams picked up the deflection, but his shot was just over the crossbar.
Villar factored into the second goal when he took on three defenders in front of the goal in the 58th minute and knocked the ball to Hounds leading scorer Thiago Martins. Martins slid the ball past Pascale on his fourth goal of the season.
The Kickers thought they had cut the lead to one in the 68th minute when second-half substitution Ihor Dotsenko fired a driving header by Hounds goalkeeper Randy Dedini. However, the goal was called off by the official due to Dotsenko being in an offside position.
The Hounds increased their lead to three in the 71st minute when Kickers forward Greg Simmonds let the ball pass by him when it was cleared from their goal box. Wright was standing 38 yards from the goal and fired a straight on shot past Pascale.
The Kickers continued to attack throughout the second half but could not muster a shot on goal. The Hounds out shot the Kickers 8 to 5 in the game.
After winning only one game on the road during the 2002 season, the Hounds won their second tonight. They have scored 10 goals on the road in three games.
The Hounds return home to Bethel Park Stadium for the Second Annual School Day Game May 14 for a match against the West Virginia Chaos at 11 a.m. For more information about tickets or official RIVERHOUNDS® merchandise, call 412-381-GOAL (4625) or visit
www.riverhounds.com.
Match Report
Scoring Summary
PIT: Villar 13
PIT: Martins 58
PIT: Wright 71
Cautions
PIT: Martins 45
RIC: Knight 24
Referees: Erich Simmons, Dan Stead, John Schmitz, James Conlee
