Silva Saves The Day, Hounds Defeat El Paso 1-0
Moments to cement yourself as a starter are at a premium under the tactical genius that is Bob Lilley. A firm believer in constructive criticism, Lilley has no issue with squad rotation as he sees fit. Goalkeeper has been a battle this year, but Kevin Silva made a strong case for himself when the big moment appeared for him.
Silva denied Luis Solignac on a PK on the brink of stoppage time to preserve a 1-0 victory for the Riverhounds, just moments after being whistled for a questionable foul inside the area.
That stop ignited the crowd of just under 4,000 and while the 'Hounds had to survive a tricky stoppage time, they walked out of Highmark Stadium with all the points and stayed undefeated at home on the year, moving to 5-0-0 in the league and 6-0-0 overall
The first half was a cagey battle as El Paso showed the quality and experience that Lilley spoke of in last week's post-match presser. They were comfortable on the ball, were able to exploit the gaps in the 'Hounds midfield and found opportunities to get the ball out wide for crosses into the area, regularly testing the 'Hounds defense and keeping Silva active. While the Riverhounds had the better of the chances, the teams headed to the changing room at nil-nil.
The 'Hounds caught El Paso asleep at the wheel coming out of half time and broke the deadlock. Alex Dixon sent in a cross from the right wing that fell at the feet of the open Russell Cicerone, who had time to take a touch and rifle it past the keeper, giving Pittsburgh the goal it needed.
The performance was an emotional victory and sent the crowd home fired up after Silva's theatrics at the end of the match--In addition to the PK save, he made an additional big stop on the final attempt of the match--but Bob Lilley expressed some discontent in the post game presser and felt his team could have played better in multiple facets of the contest and stressed how their work-rate must improve with matches away to Tampa and Miami looming the next two weeks before hosting Detroit to begin June.
ReportIt Man Of The Match: Kevin Silva. Big PK stop, another big save in stoppage time. Third shutout of the season for the Bethlehem, PA native.
Lineups
Riverhounds SC— Kevin Silva; Nate Dossantos (Dani Rovira 61’), Mekeil Williams, Arturo Ordóñez, Shane Wiedt; Danny Griffin, Kenardo Forbes (Angelo Kelly 72’); Luis Argudo (Robby Dambrot 71’), Russell Cicerone (Jelani Peters 83’), Alex Dixon; Dane Kelly (Albert Dikwa 60’)
El Paso Locomotive FC— Evan Newton; Javier Monsalves, Eder Borelli (Nick Hinds 68’), Andrew Fox, Harry Brockbank (Shavon John-Brown 68); Dylan Mares, Eric Calvillo (Louis Herrera 80’), Richie Ryan (Joel Maldonado 90+4’, Christiano François (Ricardo Zacarias 80’), Aaron Gomez; Luis Solignac
Scoring summary
PIT: Russell Cicerone 46’ (Alex Dixon)
Discipline summary
PIT: Arturo Ordóñez 27’ PIT: Nate Dossantos 43’ PIT: Albert Dikwa 89’
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