Bassett’s late goal leads Riverhounds to victory
In a match that was played inside a baseball stadium, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC won the soccer equivalent of a pitchers’ duel over Brooklyn FC at Maimonides Park in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Saturday evening in USL Championship play.
Hounds keeper Nico Campuzano outdueled Brooklyn’s Jackson Lee, and Pittsburgh returned home with three points following a goal by Sam Bassett in the 83rd minute for a 1-0 victory.
Campuzano, who made five saves, including a diving effort to deny CJ Olney Jr. from the top of the box three minutes following Bassett’s tally, was named the “Modelo Man of the Match” in equaling his second-highest save total of the season.
Campuzano made three stops on shots from inside the box to record his third clean sheet this month with two matches remaining.
Lee stopped three shots on target, including a point-blank attempt from Eliot Goldthorp in the 29th minute on a ball that was sent in by Victor Souza.
The triumph provided the Hounds with back-to-back wins and pushed their unbeaten streak to four.
Pittsburgh (10-8-3) earned consecutive victories for the first time since April and are unbeaten in the month of August at 3-0-1.
Head coach Rob Vincent’s team sits in third place in the Eastern Conference with 33 points, but rival Charleston has the same amount of points, and could move up into third with a victory over Miami FC on Sunday evening in a match that was moved due to inclement weather.
Vincent was pleased with his club’s performance against a team that sits 12th in the conference table with 13 points, but defeated the Hounds, 2-0, on July 4 at F.N.B. Stadium.
“I think we’re getting consistency in terms of discipline and the levels required in this league, certainly defensively,” Vincent said. “There’s still room for improvement when we’re on the ball, room to be better offensively. But the past four games have been really professional, really happy with the discipline we’ve shown.”
Pittsburgh won’t have much time to rest on its laurels, as it continues on the road Wednesday at El Paso Locomotive FC (10-4-7, 33 points) in a non-conference tilt that is scheduled to kickoff at 9 p.m.
Vincent and his squad are hopeful Perrin Barnes and Albert Dikwa will be available on Wednesday, as both players weren’t 100% on Saturday.
“We’ll have Perrin and Chico (Dikwa), hopefully, available, and the next 24-48 hours will be a lot of recovery, trying to get the boys feeling good again,” Vincent said. “Sometimes it’s nice when they come at you quickly, and you can stack one nice performance on top of another.”
During Saturday’s match in Brooklyn, neither team attempted a shot during the first 10 minutes before the home team broke through with an opportunity in the 14th minute after Stefan Stojanovic won a free kick on the right wing.
Markus Anderson’s header from the center of the box was pushed off the crossbar by Campuzano prior to Robbie Mertz clearing the ball out of danger to keep the match level. Olney assisted on Anderson’s opportunity with a cross.
Hounds captain Danny Griffin created a chance less than 30 seconds after play began in the second half, as his cross from the right side was played backward by Trevor Amann, but Bassett couldn’t put his best effort into turning the bouncing ball on target from 10 yards out.
Campuzano made a key stop in the 65th minute when he went to the ground and smothered a shot from Anderson and held onto the ball to avoid any chance for a rebound.
The Pittsburgh keeper pushed the ball over the crossbar to deny a header by Callum Frogson in the 79th minute.
Bassett’s tally came on a free kick that was awarded to the Hounds after Jackson Walti found Junior Etou racing down the left side with a precise diagonal pass. Etou cut inside and won the set piece after he was tripped up by Ryan McLaughlin 20 yards from goal.
Bassett’s right-footed shot curled over the wall and inside the near post on the left for his fourth goal of the campaign, and his first since missing more than a month with an injury during June and July.
Vincent was not only impressed with the goal, but the sequence that led to the free kick.
“I think that’s the moment of quality we needed to see more of, really, whenever we’re on the ball,” Vincent said. “Any time that we showed a bit of composure in midfield and broke a line, we looked dangerous getting forward.
“Junior did what he does best, getting on the end of the ball in space, and we knew that he may win a free kick, may win a penalty, and fortunately he did when he cut inside. It was one of those composed moments from midfield going forward we want to see more of.”