Courtesy of Pittsburgh Riverhounds

2009/06/09
(Rochester, New York) … The Pittsburgh Riverhounds enter the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Tournament on Tuesday night (June 9th) against one of their most challenging rivals. Despite the fact that the Hounds and the Rochester Raging Rhinos do not play in the same division any longer, the bitter feelings linger. Tuesday’s game will be played at Rochester’s Marina Auto Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.

The Riverhounds topped the Chicago Eagles in Round One last year, and even though Pittsburgh played well in the second round of the 2008 Cup Tournament, it was the Raging Rhinos who handed Pittsburgh a 3-0 defeat and an exit from the competition. Rochester then lost 2-0 to eventual champion D. C. United of MLS. The Rhinos won the Cup in 1999, beating four MLS sides in the process.

The Pittsburgh-Rochester rivalry was at it hottest when the Riverhounds and Rhinos challenged each other continually as members of the former A-League; now the United Soccer Leagues First Division. Pittsburgh now plays in USL-2, but the Hounds and the Rhinos cannot seem to avoid one another.

The Riverhounds are coming off a 3-1 USL-2 regular season win over the Wilmington Hammerheads. Tony Labudovski scored an unassisted goal in the ninth minute of play. In the 54th minute, Randolph Jerome scored. Labudovski had the helper. Wilmington cut the deficit in half when Jyler Noviello tallied in the 70th minute, but Pittsburgh put it away when Tommy Gray tallied in the 83rd minute. Joe Zewe served up the assist.

Head Coach and General Manager Gene Klein credited three rookies for giving the club the spark it needed to get the Pittsburgh side into the win column again.

"Tony Labudovski came up big with a goal and an assist. Tommy Gray got a big goal late to put us ahead by two, and Nikola Katic was solid. These three guys really gave us a boost." It was the first professional start for each player.

Chris Shovlin
Riverhounds PR (412) 952-1933