PITTSBURGH (July 6, 2022) — In its first home USL Academy League match of the season, the Hounds’ Academy team improved to two wins from two games with a 7-3 victory over the Dayton Dutch Lions this afternoon at Highmark Stadium.
Pablo Linzoain scored twice, and Davi Jansson, Sam Farner, Alex Hauskrecht, Nate Katari and Oliver Daboo also found the net for the Hounds.
“It was Sam Farner’s last game for us as Riverhound. He’s going off to college, so it was really good for him,” head coach Justin Evans said. “It didn’t rain, so that was good, and the weather held up for us. The boys were really excited to play, and I think once the game calmed down, we showed what we could do.”
First half
The Hounds started out strong with consistent pressure in the opening 10 minutes, and they got rewarded when Jansson found the back of the net to get their first goal of the game in the 14th minute.
Farner continued the scoring for the Hounds when he broke through the backline and completed the play in the 24th minute. Less than two minutes later, Linzoain extended their lead to 3-0 when he created an open look for himself on a spin move around a Dayton defender, and he scored from long range.
But the Dutch Lions responded with goals from William Boucuvalas in the 33rd minute and Austin Bump in the 42nd minute to close out the half where the Hounds held a 3-2 lead.
“I think we made just a couple of defensive mistakes,” Evans said. “We were a little bit sloppy and let them back into the game. We went with a very young team, so I think that was a big part of it. It’s sort of learning, and we had a couple of mistakes.”
Second half
The Hounds didn’t let the Dutch Lions build on their late first-half push. In the 52nd minute, Linzoain received a cross from Ryan Edwards and finished it in the top of the net for his second goal of the afternoon to make it 4-2.
“Getting in the box on crosses was very important,” Linzoain said. “Just moving the ball, switching the play and making sure the defensive team was always on their heels, so that we can find an open person.”
The Dutch Lions pulled back within one goal of the Hounds on Boucuvalas’ second goal of the afternoon in the 55th minute.
The Hounds then made their first substitutions of the day, and Hauskrecht, Katari and Daboo immediately made an impact by finding the net. A rebound from a shot from Daboo found an open Hauskrecht, who capitalized on the opportunity to make it 5-3 in the 77th minute.
Less than a minute later, the Hounds struck again when Hauskrecht fed Katari to bring the score to 6-3. Daboo secured the final margin for the Hounds on a goal from just outside the box in the 86th minute.
The Hounds closed out the match just how they started — with three consecutive goals.
“In the end, I think we just corrected some things at halftime, and made some subs and got the victory,” Evans said.
What’s next?
The Academy Team is back at Highmark Stadium this Friday, July 8, for a 7 p.m. match against the Cleveland Force, whose only loss on the season was against the Hounds, 3-2 in Cleveland.
“We have some work to do,” Evans said. “We’ll get back in tomorrow a little bit and do a little bit of training. We need to tighten up a little bit in the back and not give up as many goals, because we can score them, but we just have to make sure that we’re good on the defense.”
Hounds Academy lineup (4-2-3-1) – Nick Cherry; Ryan Edwards, Johnathan Dragisich, Severin Dengel, Carson Krushansky; Josh Jashinski, DD Flowers; Sam Farner, Pablo Linzoain, Zach Nash; Davi Jansson; Bench: Dylan Janoski, John Krug, Alex Hauskrecht, Nathan Katari, Oliver Daboo, Ben Feinstein
Dayton Dutch Lions lineup (4-1-4-1) – Zachary Johnson; Paxton Zelik, Charles Boucuvalas, Julian Gwinn, John Banks; Gavin Brandenburg; Austin Bump, Jeremy Fuller, Jeremiah Mauch, William Boucuvalas; Jack Pascoal; Bench: Patrick Young, Dylan Dohm, Kieran Mackey, Edward Kolesnikov, Eli Abu
Scoring summary
PIT – Davi Jansson 14’
PIT – Sam Farner 24’ (Pablo Linzoain)
PIT – Pablo Linzoain 26’
DAY – William Boucuvalas 33’
DAY – Austin Bump 42’
PIT – Pablo Linzoain 52’ (Ryan Edwards)
DAY – William Boucuvalas 55’
PIT – Alex Hauskrecht 77’ (Oliver Daboo)
PIT – Nathan Katari 78’ (Alex Hauskrecht)
PIT – Oliver Daboo 86’ (John Krug)
