Riverhounds win 1st-place showdown with Charleston

Going into Saturday’s matchup with Charleston Battery, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds looked to gain control at the top of the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings.

They did so quickly thanks to the fastest goal in club history.

Junior Etou scored 21 seconds into the game, and it held up as the Hounds earned a 2-0 win at Highmark Stadium.

With the win, the Hounds (7-2-5, 26 points) leapfrogged Charleston (7-4-4, 25 points) into first place in the Eastern Conference.

They also extended their unbeaten streak within the league to seven and are 5-0-2 in that stretch.

Hounds coach Bob Lilley said it wasn’t their best performance of the season, but it was a gutty effort against a quality opponent.

“I told the guys good teams find ways, even if we didn’t have our best for the full game,” Lilley said. “We got on top early, and as inconsistent as we were on the ball, we made it hard for them. I like to see that. We’re starting to rack up shutouts in the league, which is important, especially as we’re getting ready to play some potent teams offensively.”

Tola Showunmi added a goal in the second half.

Etou’s goal came from the buildup right off the opening kickoff. Luke Biasi passed to Edward Kizza. Then, Kizza clipped it on to Kenardo Forbes, who had made a successful run through the Charleston back line before serving a back pass into the middle of the box onto the foot of Etou.

Etou put a shot on, and it went past Battery keeper Trey Muse for his first goal with the Hounds and first in two years.

“Before the game, Coach (Lilley) said when I make a run in the box and the ball comes to me, hit it with my first touch,” Etou said. “Last game against Cincinnati, the same ball came in. I went to take a touch and finish and didn’t.

“It was a strike that I need to score, and I think our midfielders need to score more because we have had so many chances coming into today’s game. Today, I got the goal and it felt good for me.”

Etou’s last goal came when he was a member of the Charlotte Independence.

It was the fifth assist for Forbes this season, adding to his all-time league best total, which is now at 60.

After the quick-strike goal, Charleston held 64% of possession in the first half and earned five corners, and the Hounds had none.

With all that possession, however, Charleston managed only one shot on target and four total shots.

“It was probably a curse,” Lilley said of scoring in the first minute. “It’s a great goal, and its important in the game, but I don’t think we ever established how we wanted to play this game. When you score that early, you put that one in the bank and it’s like a CD or a retirement fund. You don’t spend it. You go back to it being 0-0 and play.”

The Hounds made a pair of subs at halftime, bringing on Dani Rovira for Langston Blackstock, who had received a yellow card in the 22nd minute, and Marc Ybarra for Trevor Zwetsloot.

Rovira made his second appearance since returning from a knee injury. He also played in Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup loss to FC Cincinnati.

They were able to gain more of the possession early in the second half and got a dangerous chance from Kizza in the 61st minute, but it was stopped by Muse.

Showunmi’s insurance marker came in the 83rd minute. Biasi fed a nice pass through the Battery defense and Showunmi ran on it, deked Muse out and tapped a shot home.

Jahmali Waite stopped a pair of shots for his fifth clean sheet of the season.

It was Waite’s last appearance with the Hounds for a few weeks because he is leaving for international duty with Jamaica. Waite is on Jamaica’s roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Jamaica opens the Gold Cup against the United States on June 24.

The Hounds will also be without the services of leading scorer Albert Dikwa for the foreseeable future. Dikwa suffered a broken clavicle in the 3-1 loss to FC Cincinnati.

Dikwa, who has nine goals, made his return Tuesday after missing a couple of games with a hip flexor injury.

The Hounds travel to play Oakland Roots next Saturday.