Still struggling to score, Riverhounds tie Tampa Bay for 1st point in standings

After Saturday’s scoreless draw with the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley and his players had a mostly positive outlook.

That’s not only because they secured their first point and first clean sheet, but it was how they did it.

The Hounds were the aggressor for the most part against a traditionally strong USL Championship side, but the one area that was still lacking was finishing.

For the third time in four games, the Hounds failed to score a goal.

“I’m happy with the effort and the chances we created,” Lilley said. “I know goals will come from those attacking movements. We battled well. They’re a fast, athletic, strong team. I thought we were active all night. … This was a game that you’re going to win in most cases, so that’s a positive.”

The Hounds (0-3-1) controlled the majority of the first half and in the 20th minute nearly broke through when a Junior Etou cross found Pat Hogan, but Hogan’s shot was cleared away by the Tampa Bay defense.

Ten minutes later, Robbie Mertz put a strong shot on target, but Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr denied him.

Another good opportunity came in the 40th minute, but Edward Kizza’s chance was chipped wide.

“Throughout the game, we found quality and it’s hard to imagine we couldn’t put one in the back of the net,” Lilley said. “Tampa deserves credit for putting the body on the line and making the plays they had to in front of their own goal. We’ll get better. We’ll find the right pass and the right moments to slot it into the net. If we keep creating those chances, we’ll get on a run.”

The Rowdies (1-0-3) settled in during the second half, but the Hounds got another quality chance in the 62nd minute when Kenardo Forbes went for goal from the middle of the box, but his shot was blocked away.

With his start Saturday, Forbes set the all-time appearances records for the Hounds. He has 196, moving past David Flavius, who played for the team from 1999-2006. Forbes is in his seventh season with Hounds and is also the all-time assist leader for the USL Championship.

“I didn’t know that I was going to break it tonight until Bob told me yesterday,” Forbes said. “It’s pretty cool. I’m just sorry we didn’t get a win. I think we played well and we’re heading in the right direction. Hopefully next week we can build off this and get a win.”

Kizza and Sample had back-to-back opportunities in the 74th minute, but again those chances were blocked by the Rowdies backline.

Hounds keeper Eric Dick had a relatively quiet evening to secure his first clean sheet, but came up huge in the 82nd minute with a diving stop on a dangerous free kick from 22 yards by Tampa’s Lewis Hilton.

It was his only save of the night, but it was critical to earning a point.

“It’s always tough, especially (when the free kick) is dead in the center,” Dick said. “The wall did a good job of making it tough to go over them. I just told myself I was going to hold my ground. They had three guys there, so you don’t know who’s going to take it. You never want to cheat. The closer the free kick is, if they try to go over the wall, it’s probably not going to have a lot of pace. If it does go over, you just try to save it.”

The Hounds will travel to Rhode Island FC on Saturday, and they’ll go up against former teammate Albert Dikwa.

It’ll be an intriguing reunion for all parties.

“Albert’s just tough because he scores goals the old-fashioned way,” Lilley said. “He just keeps plugging away and getting gaps and plays physical. You can’t let your guard down. The guys know him, but they knew him last year and in practice couldn’t stop him from scoring goals. We have to help each other and have a good plan. He’ll be hungry. He’ll want to get a win against his teammates.”