The Connecticut Wolves and Pittsburgh Riverhounds battled to a 0-0 draw in the first game of a home-and-home weekend series that concludes with a game in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening. This first match of the series, at the Wolves' home ground in New Britain, Connecticut, was a close, hard-fought affair, with both teams failing to capitalize on good scoring opportunities.
Connecticut carried the play for much of the match, winning balls in midfield through the efforts of Winston Griffiths and in particular Mobi Oparaku, who was vital to the Wolves' cause both in defense and in attack. The Wolves had the majority of the chances in the first half, starting with a steal in midfield by Paul Oyuga seconds after the kickoff. This led to a long ball over the top for Patrick Beech, who could not reach it before Mario Gori cleared for the Riverhounds.
In the early going, Pittsburgh created offensive chances as well, with forward Phil Karn proving especially dangerous when given space to get off his shot. Connecticut goalkeeper Adam Throop had to make a fine save on Karn five minutes in, parrying Karn's blast from 16 yards just over the crossbar.
The Wolves continued to move their wing backs into attack, with left back Dean Sewell frequently causing problems for Pittsburgh's defense with his speed and attacking ability. Sewell nearly opened the scoring after a fine give-and-go with Wolves midfielder Temoc Suarez, but his shot missed high over the crossbar by inches.
Excluding a brief period when Connecticut went down to ten men while waiting to put Jake Dancy in for injured defender Max Zieky, the Wolves continued to control the midfield and create excellent scoring opportunities. Patrick Beech and Fabio Zuniga both hit the right side netting on separate chances from close range. Even with these missed opportunities, Connecticut still nearly took the lead going into the halftime break, as Paul Oyuga's header hit the left post in first half stoppage time.
At the start of the second half, Pittsburgh gained the upper hand and nearly went into the lead after three minutes. But the poor finishing was apparently contagious, as Riverhounds forward Leidy Klotz put his far post header into the side netting. Yet the Wolves started to create more chances, this time through Oparaku and Oyuga. Pittsburgh goalkeeper Randy Dedini had to make a fine save on Oyuga after Oparaku had played a perfect ball over the top.
Throop also had a fine match in goal for the Wolves, clearing away a dangerous back pass by Tony Soto in the second half as Klotz chased after it to avert a breakaway scoring chance, then deflecting a low drive just wide of the left post. Pittsburgh played better defense in the second half, allowing fewer scoring chances and making it a more even match. Connecticut substituted Erik Barbieri for Paul Oyuga, but the Pittsburgh defense held firm to take the game to overtime 0-0.
The Wolves managed to create more chances in the first overtime, first through Temoc Suarez, who blasted a free kick from 35 yards that Dedini saved on his line. Near the end of the first overtime session, Beech's header found the back of the net for the Wolves, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Neither team mounted serious attacks in the second overtime, but Pittsburgh began to win more loose balls in midfield. With the second match in Pittsburgh, the Riverhounds will hope to carry momentum from their strong performance at the end of the match. The second match, like most Northern Conference matches, should be a close battle between these two evenly matched teams, with fitness and finishing ability being vital factors in deciding the outcome.
Wolves 0, Riverhounds 0
Goals: none
Cautions: Pittsburgh- Joenal Castma- 56th minute
Connecticut- Winston Griffiths- 66th minute
Pittsburgh- David Wright- 90th minute
Pittsburgh- Mike Apple- 94th minute
Expulsions: none
Lineups: Pittsburgh Riverhounds- Randy Dedini, David Wright, Ricardo Iribarren, Mario Gori, Henry Gutierrez, Jaman Tripoli (Nick Terlecky 72), Joenal Castma (Ed Child 61), Gary DePalma, Welton, Phil Karn (Mike Apple 66), Leidy Klotz (Jeremy Ballenger 102)
Connecticut Wolves- Adam Throop, Max Zieky (Jake Dancy 21), Adam Eyre, Antonio Soto, Dean Sewell, Fabio Zuniga (David Vaudreuil 101), Mobi Oparaku, Temoc Suarez, Winston Griffiths, Patrick Beech, Paul Oyuga (Erik Barbieri 81)
