A quote from "Fever Pitch", Nick Hornby's wonderful memoir about growing up an Arsenal fan pretty much describes the way I'm starting to feel about the Riverhounds. "Football teams are extraordinarily inventive in the ways they find to cause their supporters sorrow…always, when you think you have anticipated the worst that can happen, the come up with something new."
That certainly applies to the Riverhounds after their 3 - 1 loss to the Montreal Impact on Sunday. The Hounds loss is a frustrating one for several reasons. First they are now in fourth place, tied with the Toronto Lynx for last place in the division. They are 0-5-1 against teams in their division, scoring only four goals in those six games. Their top scorer, Thiago Martins, pulled a groin muscle and will be out for an undetermined amount of time. He ended up sitting in with the Mutts, Pittsburgh's unofficial fan club, for most of the First half to cheer on the team.
It's frustrating because Pittsburgh controlled the pace of the game and had the better of the scoring opportunity's, outshooting the Impact by 9 - 7. Forcing the Impact's goalie, Greg Sutton, to make 5 saves in the second half alone.
It's a tough loss to take, particularly since the Impact had to play with 10 men after David Fronimadis was red carded after receiving his second caution of the night in the 84th minute. Fronimadis was barely on the field when he received his first yellow card at the 55-minute mark.
Montreal would have the first chance of the game in the 4th minute when a free kick from 30 yards out, taken by Pat Ludac, ended up in the arms of Randy Dedini. Pittsburgh would return the favor in the 12th minute when Aleksey Korol would take advantage of a loose ball in the box; his shot however flew harmlessly over the goal.
Montreal drew blood in the 38th minute of play. Abraham Francais was able to place a header into the net off a cross from Gabe Gervais. Randy Dedini appeared to have a hand on it but was unable to control the well-placed ball.
Pittsburgh nearly equalized in the dying seconds of the half off a driven header by Paul Dolinsey, which forced Montreal's goalie Sutton into a full extension.
After the half, Montreal nearly went up by two goals when Ze Roberto Santana got an easy breakaway chance working down the sideline. Randy Dedini stopped him cold with a diving save.
Pittsburgh's Derek Potteinger got a shot off that was easily handled by Sutton. Potteinger would score his first goal of the season off a bending free kick taken by Ricardo Villar, who had just entered the match. Potteinger said "their was no plan, Villar told me he was just going to go for the goal."
Pittsburgh would continue to have the run of play, getting chances in the 63rd and 65th minute. David Flavius almost put the Hounds on top with a neat little back heal flick forced Sutton to dive across the grain to make the save.
The lights went out in the 83rd minute when Eduardo Sebrango got behind the defense to easily nod home a cross from Ze Roberto. A slow developing play in the box lead to a penalty kick which Martin Nash converted in stoppage time to give the Impact their third goal. For the second time in two games Pittsburgh's goalie guessed right on the penalty kick but was unable to stop the shot.
After the game, Randy Dedini was quoted as saying "It's tough because we really brought it to Montreal in the second half. They barely had any good chances but the one they did have, they put it away."
When asked about the Hounds chances to make the playoffs, Carter said, "They haven't pronounced us dead yet." He added "(the northeast division) is the most competitive division in the league from top to bottom. It's still early but we can climb out of it."
Attendance was announced at 1,516.
