Hounds Come up Empty in Vegas

June 30, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ scoring woes continued on the road, where the team fell 2-0 to the Las Vegas Lights in 100-degree heat at Cashman Field in Las Vegas.

Khori Bennett scored both goals for Las Vegas (5-7-6) by finding the net in the final five minutes of each half, and goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena made the game’s biggest play with a penalty save to stop Hounds (3-8-6) captain Danny Griffin.

First half

The match started slowly with both teams conserving energy in the extreme heat, and the result was a blocked effort by Enoch Mushagalusa being the only shot by either team in the first 20 minutes.

Las Vegas slowly gained momentum as the half progressed, but it was an unlucky bounce from the Hounds’ perspective that gave them the opening goal in the 40th minute.

Former Pitt standout Valentin Noel found Bennett with his back to goal about 14 yards from goal, and Bennett spun away to fire a low shot. Griffin slid in to block the effort, but the ball deflected off his boot and into the bottom right corner, leaving goalkeeper Jacob Randolph no chance to make the save.

Second half

The Hounds came out as the aggressor in the second half, with Mushagalusa hitting the crossbar from a very sharp angle on the left less than a minute into the match.

In the 52nd minute, Robbie Mertz got around the right side to receive a pass from Griffin, and he was knocked over from behind in the box by Lights defender Gennaro Nigro to win a penalty kick. Griffin stepped up to take the kick, but his shot low and to the left was stopped by Arozarena, who also got a hand to the follow-up attempt by Mushagalusa, knocking the ball out for a corner kick.

Though they had 26 touches in the Las Vegas box, the Hounds couldn’t produce another shot on goal. In the 87th minute, Bennett put the game out of reach on the counterattack with his finish after Jean-Claude Ngando played a well-weighted pass to hit his teammate in stride in the box.

Modelo Man of the Match

Robbie Mertz put in a hard-working 90-minute shift that included earning the Hounds’ best chance by getting into the box and winning a penalty kick – one of four fouls won in the match. The midfielder also connected on 21 of 24 passes (87.5 percent), was second on the team with three crosses and won a team-leading 9 of 14 duels in the match.

What’s next?

After four of the last five on the road, the Hounds will start a stretch of four…