The Pittsburgh Riverhounds overcame the memories of a painfull loss to Charlotte in their previous match, to defeat Long Island, 4-1, to the delight of 2,331 at Falconi Field.
The hounds exploded for all their goals in the first half with Flavius putting them up in the 13th minute, from Gabe Bernstein for a 1-0 lead. Flavius finding the left corner on a breakaway.
Flavius credited thru balls for his goals after I had asked him for his thoughts in a post-game interview.
Team captain Nathan Salsi scored his 2nd of the season in the 30th, from Cody Bragg, in his return. Salsi beat Long Island goalkeeper Jeff Stefanowski with a shot inside the right post, landing in the right corner, before Jean Robens earned his first point, assisting on Flavius' second of the match, beating Stefanowski from about 15 yards, in the 41st.
The final hounds goal came in stoppage time with Robens scoring his first on a break, also finding the left corner, from Flavius.
The Rough Riders scored in the 53rd when Moussa Sy sent a bouncing shot past cageminder Chris Robinson and into an empty cage, from Derrick Ettienne.
Late in the match, in the 66th, a brief melee erupted and Long Island's Jose Sura was ejected. Flavius was issued a caution on the play, for the hounds.
Long Island had other chances, but could not convert.
The turnout was larger than the 2,262 that witnessed the loss to Charlotte.
The hounds are now on the road to finish the regular season with games in New England(Western Mass and New Hampshire), Wilmington and Cincinnati.
The next home match is in August, an exhibition at Falconi Field vs. Columbus(MLS).
