Riverhounds get goal from debuting forward, move into playoff spot with win over Rhode Island

With former striker Albert Dikwa making his return to Highmark Stadium, it was the newest forward for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds who made the biggest impact.

Bertin Jacquesson, who was acquired via loan from Real Salt Lake of MLS on Wednesday, scored in first half stoppage time and the Hounds picked up a 2-0 victory over Rhode Island FC on Saturday night and moved into a playoff spot.

With the win, the Hounds (8-9-11) went from ninth to seventh in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings and are in playoff position on points for the first time since June 8.

Jacquesson played at Pitt, so he’s familiar with the city, but he had never played at Highmark Stadium until Saturday. He was pleased to have a memorable debut.

“It felt great,” Jacquesson said. “I want to thank everyone at the club for such a nice welcome. The coaching staff and my teammates have made me feel happy and welcomed here.”

With the win, the Hounds ran their unbeaten streak to 10, which is on the heels of a 10-game winless streak. They are 5-0-5 in that stretch.

Jacquesson got to a loose ball in the box and ripped a shot that smacked the inside of the crossbar and into the net, giving him a goal on his debut.

“I saw Danny (Griffin) breaking out of the midfield, and I just wanted to get on the back shoulder of the defender, and he gave me a perfect ball that I could hit the first time,” Jacquesson said. “I didn’t think too much. I just hit it and it went in the back of the net.”

Bradley Sample added an insurance goal five minutes into the second half. Fittingly enough for a player sporting a flowing mullet, he used his head to score his first goal as a Hound.

Dani Rovira served in a ball from the left side and Sample put a high-arching header on goal that eluded Rhode Island keeper Koke Vegas.

“I was trying to put it on goal, but I didn’t expect it to go in,” Sample said. “I was just trying to make something happen. When I saw (Vegas) moving forward, I thought, ‘That can’t be good for him.’ Then I saw him backpedaling and I didn’t really know what to do when I saw it hit the net. I don’t score a lot of goals, so that was cool.”

Dikwa, who won the USL Player of the Year last year with Pittsburgh, did not have a shot on goal in his first match back at Highmark Stadium. He went down briefly after a head-to-head collision with Hounds defender Illal Osumanu in the first half but was able to continue.

Though he didn’t make an impact, Hounds coach Bob Lilley saw signs of the dangerous player that scored 20 goals last season.

“I think there’s a healthy respect for what Albert did here, so we were pretty clued in,” Lilley said. “I can go back to the tape and show you six or seven times that if (Rhode Island) had executed better, he would’ve hurt us. It’s nerve racking when they are in open space, because you know (Dikwa) is going to make an intelligent run. We limited those transition moments for most of the game, but there were a few.

“I think in general, Rhode Island is a good attacking team, not just Dikwa, and I thought our guys had a really good outing in terms of defending as a team tonight.”

Another former Hound, Marc Ybarra, was also in the lineup for Rhode Island.

The Hounds were without wingback Junior Etou, who is on international duty for the Republic of Congo.

Center back Pat Hogan had to sit out Saturday’s contest after picking up a red card in last week’s draw at Indy.

The Hounds travel to the third-place Tampa Bay Rowdies next Saturday.