After each home game the Hounds have the media fill out a form which is then sent to the USL offices in Florida. On the form, there are columns to name the match's most valuable player, regardless of team. Then the most valuable player for each individual team, both offensive and defensive.
Thiago Martins was the obvious choice for man of the match and Pittsburgh's most valuable player, scoring four goals in Pittsburgh's seven-goal rout of Cincinnati. The rest weren't as easy. Cincinnati simply didn't have any offence and virtually no defense.
Martins earned the man of the match honors in the first 15 minutes of the game by scoring a natural hat trick. The first goal coming in the third minute when Derek Potteigner settled a bouncing ball in the center of the field, and turned it quickly. Cincinnati was caught flat-footed and the Hounds had a 3 on 1 break. Potteigner quickly passed the ball to Martins on the wing who placed the ball pass the helpless Hawks goalie Chris Wanamaker.
Pittsburgh continued to play in the Hawks end of the field, in the 9th minute of play a cross by David Flavius would find Martins noggin on the far post. 2 - 0 Pittsburgh.
It looked like Cincinnati would get a break in the 13th minute of play, when David Flavius would steal the ball deep in Hawks territory and beat the goalie only to see the ball cleared off the line. The clearance was lacking and Pittsburgh would hit the crossbar on the follow up attempt.
Martins would score again, this time with some help form Gary DePalma. DePalma's cross was perfect and found Martins charging in. Wanamaker blew kisses at it.
In the 19th minute the Hounds were awarded a free kick from about 23 yards out. The shot was taken by Gary DePalma and deflected off the wall and into the back of the net.
About this time the idea of replacing Chris Wanamaker should have occurred to someone on the Hawks staff, unfortunately the Hawks only had two substitutions available. I felt sorry for Wanamaker who I'm sure wanted to crawl into a deep hole and die about this time.
Cincinnati would get a break on an offside call and attack Randy Dedinin's net in the 38th minute. Dedini had to stretch but turned the ball away from the net. Rick Wolf took the shot.
Martins earned his fourth goal of the evening in the 42nd minute. Flavius beat his defender but was unable to tuck the ball behind an onrushing Chris Wanamaker. The Hawks goalie managed to get a hand on the ball and deflect the shot. Sadly, from the Hawks point of view anyway, the deflection went directly to Thiago Martins. He paused briefly to let the Hawks defensive commit and easily placed the ball into the back of the net. With that goal, Martins broke a team record for the most goals scored in a game. David Flavius was accredited with an assist.
Martins contract with the Hounds was only through the end of the season, Pittsburgh is expected to make him an offer in a few days. "He's a good fit for the team," Coach Tim Carter said, "coming here gave him a spark. Hopefully he'll decide to stay." Martins however is holding his cards close to his chest "I would like to come back, but it depends on what they offer and what is out there."
After the half, Pittsburgh used all five of their substitutions, allowing little used players like T.J. Hannig (Goalie) and Chuck Kim (forward) some valuable playing time. Although this drastically changed the chemistry on the field, the Hawks were still unable to put together any sort of offensive attack.
In the 47th minute, Derek Potteiger was pulled down in the box. Ricardo Iribarren converted the free kick.
In the 69th minute of play, the Hounds found themselves on yet another 3 - 1 break, this time Kevin Alvero, who replaced Matt Chulis in the 56th minute, would hit the post and the Cincinnati defense would clear the ball upfield.
The rest of the game, the Hounds would try to set up eighteen year old Chuck Kim. He must have had 10 shots on goal himself before being pulled down inside the box on the far side.
"Ricardo Iribarren said he would let me take the shot," Chuck Kim said after the game, "but if you miss it, I'll kill you." Laughing, Kim commented "Talk about your extra motivation."
The Hawks Bobby Meyer received his second yellow card of the night for taking down Kim.
Post game notes:
- Attendance was 4085, the largest crowd the Hounds have had this year.
- Other than the two yellow cards issued to Bobby Meyer's late in the game, no other cards were issued.
- The Riverhounds have at least one player that has scored a hattrick per year.
- The Hounds have nine or ten players whose contracts are up this year. Negotiations for many of these players start on Tuesday.
- Tim Carter is 5 - 4 - 1 this taking over as coach in late July. "I'm not pushing the issue with Paul Heasley (the Hounds owner), I gave him ten games to decide. I'm sure any decision he makes will be for the good of the team."
