Riverhounds work Louisville to draw, maintain USL streak

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds ran their unbeaten streak within the USL Championship to 10 in a scoreless draw against Louisville City Saturday night at Highmark Stadium, but Bob Lilley was not pleased with how they kept the run going.

That’s because he didn’t feel like they gave themselves a chance to win.

“We just didn’t play particularly well,” Lilley said. “We didn’t connect for possession much, and we got pushed off a lot of balls. It seemed like (Louisville) was able to hold on to the ball, and we got pushed around. We were largely ineffective with our movement. We had poor crosses that got cut out and very little movement within the group when we got into the final third.

“In my opinion it was a poor outing for us. I don’t think we had enough purpose.”

The numbers back up Lilley’s assessment.

In the first half the Hounds put pressure on Louisville from the start and attempted 14 crosses but generated only two total shots and just one on target, a header by Joe Farrell.

“We played a pretty good first 20 minutes and really had nothing to show for it,” Lilley said. “Instead of making runs in the box we were sitting there waiting for something to happen. You can’t do that and expect to score goals on a consistent basis.”

Since Lilley has taken over, the Hounds (8-2-7) and Louisville (7-4-5) have drawn all four regular-season meetings at Highmark Stadium. Louisville never has lost at Highmark.

The Hounds remained atop the Eastern Conference standings, where they are tied with Charleston at 31 points.

Although a draw at home wasn’t ideal, it could’ve been worse if not for some good fortune and a timely clearance by Arturo Ordonez in the 50th minute.

Elijah Wydner took a shot that hit the post and rolled along the goal line, and Ordonez knocked the ball away from the goal before Dani Rovira cleared it out of bounds.

Louisville players were adamant the ball crossed the line, but the officials ruled it was not a goal. Wilson Harris received a yellow card for dissent after sprinting over to plead his case to an official.

The Riverhounds had a potential goal disallowed for a clear offside in the 74th minute. Danny Griffin made a successful cross to Burke Fahling, who headed the ball into the goal, but the flag was up and the whistle blew.

Lilley said his team doesn’t lack effort, but at times in this 6-0-4 stretch they’re on, he feels they have been inconsistent with their decision making.

He also said no one expected them to be where they are at the halfway point, but they need to continue to mature if they’re going to stay near the top.

“We haven’t achieved anything, just because we are near the top of the table,” Lilley said. “It doesn’t matter who’s where right now because you have to continue getting better. Our guys work hard. That’s why they hung in there tonight. The effort was there, but you have to make soccer decisions in a soccer game. It’s not just run and then crash into people. That’s what we have to figure out as a staff is how do our guys make better decisions in those moments.”