Riverhounds miss out on key points after draw with Loudoun United

What could have been nine straight points turned into seven for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in a not too unfamiliar fashion for this season.

They got an early goal, which resembled the last two wins, but the rest of the night was akin to a major chunk of the year with missed chances and, as Hounds coach Bob Lilley put it, “a lack of urgency” for stretches of the game.

Both came back to bite them as Loudoun United got a goal in the second half to force a 1-1 draw Saturday night at Highmark Stadium.

It was a sour ending to a crucial four-game homestand for the Hounds (5-9-7). They remain in 10th place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference Standings and five points behind Loudoun (7-7-6) for the eighth and final playoff spot. Loudoun has a game in hand.

“It’s disappointing,” Lilley said. “We could’ve had 12 points (this month) and we ended up with seven. Loudoun is a good team, but I felt like we needed to press more. We turned them over a number of times, but we were too cautious with our pressing actions.

“We had a lot of missed chances and were wasteful when they had no balance at all. We let two (points) get away tonight.”

The Hounds’ lone goal was started by a turnover by Jackson Walti. He stole a pass in Loudoun’s end and tried a cross for Emmanuel Johnson, who was knocked down in the box, which resulted in a penalty.

Robbie Mertz successfully converted the penalty in the 13th minute.

After the goal, however, Loudoun started carrying possession for long periods of time.

They finally broke through in the 63rd minute when Wesley Leggett scored off a cross by Kalil ElMedkhar.

“Right after we scored, the rest of the half to me there wasn’t urgency,” Lilley said. “You feel it. You know it. You’re on the sideline and you know your players and it wasn’t there. The more we coasted the more they built confidence and were in the game.”

After the tying goal, the Hounds started asserting more pressure in Loudoun’s end again, but came up empty. They nearly got a late winner, but Kazaiah Sterling’s attempt to redirect a cross by Babacar Diene trickled inches wide of the left post.

“One thing we talked about is that it can’t be just the last 10 minutes now that we’re trying to save the game,” Hounds captain Danny Griffin said. “We knew we needed three points at home. Most of these games have that feeling, because we know what we have to do, because of where we are in the standings. We have to stay on it and put teams away, because we let them in it and they equalized. Sometimes it’s too little too late when you just try to win a game in the last 10 minutes.”

Bradley Sample received a red card for a foul on Christiano Francois in second half stoppage time and will have to serve a one-game suspension.

The Hounds travel to Sacramento next Saturday. The match will be televised nationally on ESPN 2 at 10 p.m.

The path to a playoff berth is narrowing for the Hounds. They’ll need some road results the rest of the way, which have been hard to come by. They are 1-5-4 away from home this season.

“We have to find a way,” Lilley said. “A team that is going to make the playoffs has to find that identity. Hopefully we understand that, and we fight like hell to put ourselves in position to win every game.”