After beating Hartford a week ago in the team’s 2025 home opener, Pittsburgh Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley said his goal scorers needed to finish better when on the attack.
It seems that a week of messaging paid off for Lilley and his starting 11, as they dominated play from the start, limiting Birmingham to one shot en route to a 2-0 home win in front of a lively crowd of 4,377 on Saturday night at Highmark Stadium.
It was apparent from the start of the game that the Hounds were determined to control play. They held the Legion to zero shots on keeper Eric Dick, who posted his second consecutive clean sheet.
“We created more chances than last week. That was positive. I think our runs in the box were better. We have a lot of way to go,” Lilley said. “We need to create more shots than we did tonight. But the result was favorable.”
After the teams took the first 10 minutes to figure each other out, it was the Riverhounds who showed spark when on the attack. In the 12th minute, the Riverhounds had a pair of corners that resulted in no shots, but the activity was a precursor of things to come.
Robbie Mertz sent a ball into the box in the 21st minute that Augi Williams got a good head on, but Birmingham keeper Matt Van Oekel punched it away.
In the 24th minute, Hounds midfielder Jackson Walti sent a rocket from just inside the 18 box that cracked off the top of the goal and eventually was cleared away. The Hounds stayed busy attacking the visitors, with Mertz opening the scoring in the 36th minute.
Mertz was able to jam home a ball that came to his foot inside the 18-yard box after an initial shot from Bradley Sample was blocked.
“I’m happy Robbie was able to capitalize on one,” said Lilley. “We’re involving more people than before on offense.”
After halftime, Lilley switched gears, and the team sat back a bit, still controlling play in the midfield. Birmingham didn’t register a shot on goal until the 55th minute, and, even at that, it was a rolling ball from a distance that Diaz easily handled.
But the Hounds weren’t done scoring. In the 70th minute, Pittsburgh defender Beto Ydrach sent a ball into the attacking zone for somebody to win. Enter midfielder Danny Griffin, who raced to the center of the top of the 18-yard box, beating Van Oekel to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead.
“I thought we were even to begin the second half. I wasn’t sure how things were going to go,” Lilley said. “They got a chance early but didn’t connect. I thought we got a little bit cautious. One funny bounce, and the game is tied.
“Do I think we have a lot of room for growth? Yes. We have to work on closing out games. The last 15-20 minutes, I don’t think we were poor, but we let a lot of service in our box. You must work hard to put games away. We have to get cleaner on offense.”