Loudoun’s shutout and unbeaten streaks end Saturday.
Loudoun United headed to Pittsburgh in the hopes of boosting their unbeaten streak to four while concurrently maintaining a shutout streak. While they weathered an early press and even had some decent chances on goal, a second-half injection of veteran poise by the hosts resulted in a 2-0 loss to the Riverhounds, Loudoun’s ninth loss in ten games to the Hounds.
The D.C. United loanees (Jeremy Garay, Jacob Greene, Hayden Sargis, Kimarni Smith) were the same, and Jackson Hopkins returned to the lineup in place of Sami Guediri, out to a red card in last week’s game with Miami. The first half found Loudoun with a nice shot in close by Hopkins:
15' | Hopkins off the volley! Big chance for Loudoun is saved.
— Loudoun United FC (@LoudounUnitedFC) April 2, 2022
0-0 | #PITvLDN pic.twitter.com/eMdnhy7eqJ
Moving into the second half, the Hounds threatened but Luis Zamudio (who had five saves on the night) was growing into the task:
47' | WHAT A SAVE ZAMUDIO!
— Loudoun United FC (@LoudounUnitedFC) April 3, 2022
0-0 | #PITvLDN pic.twitter.com/a0REDsGCND
At the hour mark, the Hounds brought on former Loudoun player Robby Dambrot, along with attacking players Alex Dixon and Dane Kelly. Kelly, the former D.C. United player, is the all-time leading goalscorer in the USL, tallying his 100th recently for the Hounds, and combined with Albert Dikwa to break Loudoun’s shutout streak at 335 minutes:
There's the (first) finish by @dane_kelly99, and @DikwaAlbert fully deserves the assist for that decision!#PITvLDN #HOUNDTAHN pic.twitter.com/phEX6nyvnH
— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) April 3, 2022
Moments later, Kelly found the net again, this time from a corner kick. The taker, Kenardo Forbes, is the all-time assist leader in the USL Championship:
Assist king service.
— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) April 3, 2022
Goal king finish.@KenardoF and @dane_kelly99 wear their crowns well.
#PITvLDN #HOUNDTAHN pic.twitter.com/ytDraUnimN
Loudoun tried to continue to press, with Grant Lillard forcing a save from Kevin Silva, but nothing like their first half chances.
The next game for Loudoun (2-1-1, 7 pts) is Sunday, April 10 at Segra Field, hosting Louisville City FC.
Box Score
USL Championship Regular Season - Game 4
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 2 (Kelly 65, 73)
Loudoun United FC 0
Lineups:
Pittsburgh (5131): Kevin Silva; Luke Biasi (Alex Dixon 60), Shane Wiedt, Arturo Ordonez, Jelani Peters, Daniel Rovira (Robby Dambrot 60); Daniel Griffin; Luis Argudo (Dane Kelly 60), Kenardo Forbes (C) (Toby Sims 77), Russell Cicerone; Albert Dikwa (Angelo Kelly-Rosales 77)
Loudoun (3412): Luis Zamudio; Rio Hope-Gund (C), Hayden Sargis, Grant Lillard; Jacob Greene, Nicky Downs (Matai Akinmboni 81), Jeremy Garay (Landry Houssou 69), Michael Gamble; Jackson Hopkins (Jace Clark 81); Kimarni Smith (Isaac Espinal 69), Azaad Liadi (Tyler Freeman 55),
Bookings:
Pittsburgh - Forbes 77, Kelly 88
Loudoun - Sargis 90+4
