Day 3 at Cincinnati, Ohio
Pittsburgh 2, Cincinnati 0
In a match that saw few good scoring opportunities, the visiting Pittsburgh Riverhounds were the only team that managed to put the ball in net, with goals from Aleksey Korol and Thiago Martins as they shut out the Cincinnati Riverhawks by a 1-0 score in a match played on a sweltering Sunday afternoon at the Town & Country Sports Complex outside Cincinnati.
It was Michael Green who would get the first good scoring opportunity of the game, as the Pittsburgh defender came forward for a corner kick and his shot from 20 yards out was just wide left in the 9th minute. Two minutes later, the Riverhounds had a great opportunity after getting an indirect free kick near the middle of the Cincinnati box after a back pass call, but Richardo Villar's shot after the ball was tapped to him came back out off the Cincinnati wall. Eight minutes later, the home side had their first good scoring chance when Allen Eller put a header just over the bar off a cross from the left side.
In the 23rd minute, the visitors took the lead when a pass from Justin Evans was chipped over Cincinnati keeper Eric Pattison by Aleksey Korol, with the shot going just inside the right post to put the Riverhounds up 1-0.
In the 36th minute, Cincinnati had their best scoring opportunity of the first half when after a free kick from 20 yards out deflected off the Pittsburgh wall, the deflection was right to Eller, who attempted a bicycle kick, but his shot did not have enough pace and was easily saved by Pittsburgh keeper TJ Hannig. Cincinnati had one more good chance before the half when Villar beat the offside trap to get a one-on-one breakaway, but his shot was right at Hannig and was easily saved. Pittsburgh had a one-on-one chance of their own just before the half when Ellar made a run down the right side and into the box, but his shot from 10 yards out was just high and wide to the right. The half ended with Pittsburgh holding a 1-0 lead.
The Riverhounds controlled more of play in the 2nd half, and but weren't able to get any good scoring chances until the 60th minute, when a Brent Jaquette cross from the left side found the head of Martins near the far post, and the Riverhounds forward headed the ball down, and it bounced back up and into the roof of the net to put the visitors up by a 2-0 score.
Cincinnati attempted to respond quickly when Jake Traegar (on loan from Columbus of MLS) made a run down the right side and into the box, but his shot from 10 yards out curved just wide right as he went for the near post. Seven minutes later, the Riverhounds nearly widened the lead when a shot from Derek Potteiger across the box nearly surprised Pattison, and he needed to reach back and make a last minute deflection, then cover the ball before it could trickle into the net. Four minutes later, Martins was once again threatening the Cincinnati goal when his header from near the spot forced Pattison to make a quick save as it appeared headed for just under the bar.
Cincinnati had three long shots in the last 15 minutes were all high or wide of the goal, but in the end, the Riverhounds had effectively shut down the Riverhawks attack, and held on for a 2-0 win.
