PITTSBURGH (June 19, 2024) — The Pittsburgh Riverhounds couldn’t take one off the USL Championship leaders, as a second-half goal by Jansen Wilson gave visiting Louisville City FC a 1-0 win tonight at sold out Highmark Stadium.
The Hounds (3-7-5) were reduced to 10 men after Luke Biasi was sent off for a second yellow card, but they continued to battle against a Louisville (11-2-2) side that entered the match averaging 2.8 goals per game.
Kenardo Forbes equaled the USL Championship record for regular-season appearances with his 277th match, and goalkeeper Jacob Randolph, playing just his second pro match, made five saves.
First half
Louisville produced many of the game’s early chances, and Randolph was called into action early to stop a Wilson Harris shot after the Louisville leading scorer pounced on a bad clearance.
A scary moment occurred in the 33rd minute when Hounds teammates Pat Hogan and Junior Etou clashed heads. Hogan, who also suffered a cut on the play, went straight to the locker room and was replaced by Pierre Cayet, while Etou was able to continue. Hogan later rejoined his teammates on the bench.
Danny Griffin nearly gave the Hounds the lead in stoppage time with a well-struck volley. He took the shot from a pass off the foot of Bradley Sample, and the effort curled just over the crossbar.
Second half
Louisville took the lead in the 49th minute after the Hounds were unable to clear the ball from the top of their box. That allowed Elijah Wynder to tap the ball backward to Wilson, who struck a hard shot placed into the bottom right corner of the net from 20 yards away.
The Hounds’ task got more difficult in the 76th minute, when Biasi was given a second yellow card for a tactical foul after being previously booked in the first half. That reduced the Hounds to 10 men for the first time this season.
But three minutes later, the Hounds got another great chance when Etou got around the corner to receive a pass from Sample in the box. Louisville keeper Damian Las came off his line and denied Etou at 10 yards from goal for one of his two saves in the match.
Louisville nearly had a second when a Jake Morris free kick struck the right post, and the Hounds’ only chance late came when Edward Kizza was unable to turn the ball across goal from a tight angle with his left.
Modelo Man of the Match
Danny Griffin continued his strong box-to-box play, and his late first-half volley was nearly a spectacular opening goal. He finished tops on the team with 51 touches and an 81.6 percent pass completion rate (31 of 38), and he won possession five times, tied for the team lead.
What’s next?
The Hounds will head back on the road with short rest to face North Carolina FC (4-5-5) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The teams played to a 1-1 draw last month in Pittsburgh.
Riverhounds SC lineup (3-5-2) — Jacob Randolph; Luke Biasi (sent off 76’), Pat Hogan (Pierre Cayet 38’), Sean Suber; Junior Etou (Langston Blackstock 90+1’), Danny Griffin, Bradley Sample, Kenardo Forbes (Robbie Mertz 66’), Dani Rovira (Pablo Linzoain 90+1’); Enoch Mushagalusa (Kazaiah Sterling 66’), Emmanuel Johnson (Edward Kizza 66’)
Louisville City FC lineup (3-4-3) — Damian Las; Kyle Adams, Arturo Ordóñez (Sean Totsch 86’), Wes Charpie; Jake Morris (Amadou Dia 90+3’), Taylor Davila, Elijah Wynder, Jansen Wilson (Aiden McFadden 77’); Jorge Gonzalez (Niall McCabe 86’), Wilson Harris (Sam Gleadle 66’), Tola Showunmi (Ray Serrano 86’)
Scoring summary
LOU — Jansen Wilson 49’ (Elijah Wynder)
Discipline summary
PIT — Luke Biasi 17’ (caution – reckless foul)
LOU — Head coach Danny Cruz 45+3’ (caution – dissent)
LOU — Arturo Ordóñez 45+6’ (caution – reckless foul)
LOU — Wilson Harris 66’ (caution – dissent)
PIT — Junior Etou 70’ (caution – reckless foul)
PIT — Luke Biasi 76’ (caution – tactical foul)
PIT — Luke Biasi 76’ (sent off – second caution)
