Riverhounds lose 2-goal lead, game to Miami FC

When Kenardo Forbes scored early in the second half, it looked as if the Pittsburgh Riverhounds were on their way to a fifth consecutive victory.

Instead, they ended up with their first loss in more than a month.

Miami FC rallied with three goals in the second half, including the winner on a penalty by Devon “Speedy” Williams and left Highmark Stadium with a 3-2 win Wednesday night.

The Riverhounds (10-5-3) had earned at least a point in their previous six matches. They remain in first place in the USL’s Atlantic Division. Miami (9-6-3) moved into a tie for second place.

“When you get up 2-0, you really need to be focused,” Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley said. “Even in the first half, they were playing the ball through our lines. It’s frustrating that some mistakes cost us, but we had other mistakes prior to that. For us, we gave what we could in the gas tank with a mixed lineup due to injuries. We did a lot of good things tonight, it’s just a shame we couldn’t finish it off.”

Forbes, the Riverhounds’ captain, scored five minutes into the second half to make it 2-0 Riverhounds, but Christiano Francois responded for Miami a minute later. Then a minute later, the Riverhounds defense broke down again and Williams struck to tie it.

Francois drew a penalty on Riverhounds defender Preston Kilwein in the 81st minute. Williams converted on a shot into the bottom left corner that beat a diving Jake Leeker.

“I thought we panicked there,” Lilley said. “The ball was in the corner of the box and, if we take the right angles, he isn’t getting in clean. Instead, we bump into Christiano and they call a penalty. To me, we shot ourselves in the foot on all three of their goals.”

The Riverhounds had a couple of corners during the four minutes of stoppage time, but neither amounted to a good scoring chance.

“I like that we tried to find a goal at the end, but I thought we should’ve been putting balls behind them with 8 to 10 minutes left and not just in stoppage time,” Lilley said.

Forbes, who is known as a distributor, scored his first goal in more than two years. It came on a strong strike from the middle of the box, while he was falling backwards.

“I’m not really a goal scorer. I enjoy passing more, but this was a good goal tonight,” Forbes said. “My son was just born two days ago, so that goal is dedicated to him. It’s disappointing we didn’t get the win, so we could celebrate, but such is life. We’ll go back to the drawing board tomorrow and get ready for Charlotte.”

Tommy Williamson scored on a free kick from about 25 yards out in the 40th minute to give the Riverhounds 1-0 lead.

Williamson took a direct shot that beat Miami keeper Connor Sparrow and went into the bottom left corner of the net. It was his second free kick goal of the season, which are the only goals off free kicks for the Riverhounds all year.

Dani Rovira drew a foul by Miami’s Junior Palacios that set up the free kick.

Williamson, who was the 12th overall pick in the 2021 MLS Draft, is on loan from the San Jose Earthquakes.

Miami had a free kick from outside the box two minutes after Williamson’s goal and Paco Craig came open in front of goal, but his soft header was handled by Leeker.

Miami held 53% of the possession in the first half, but managed only three shots, two of which were on goal.

Forbes had a couple of shots on target in the first half, but both were stopped by Sparrow.

The Riverhounds have six players out of the lineup because of injury and Lilley indicated they will be out for at least a couple weeks.

Wyatt Borso, the first USL Academy contract signing in Riverhounds history, made his first appearance with the pro team. He came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute along with Casey Bartlett-Scott, who also made his first appearance of the season.

The Riverhounds travel to Charlotte on Saturday and return home to play Tampa Bay on Wednesday.