The vuvuzelas went silent and the mood mellowed at Highmark Stadium as the Riverhounds’ long-established lead was in jeopardy. In the 90th minute just before added time, the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty kick.
El Paso Locomotive FC’s Luis Solignac stepped up to take what would have been a game-tying penalty. Riverhounds goalkeeper Kevin Silva, who stood tall when needed during a match mostly controlled by Pittsburgh, had to do it again.
“It’s a mental game,” Silva said. “Once he steps up, you’re trying to look at every little thing he does. And in my head, I picked that I was going right. I stuck with it.”
And Silva guessed right. Solignac struck a low shot to the corner, but Silva denied him — reigniting the crowd as he all but secured another Riverhounds win.
Silva’s save and Russell Cicerone’s goal delivered a 1-0 result on Saturday night. After earning three points for the third time in their past four USL games, the Riverhounds moved to second place in the Eastern Conference behind only Louisville City.
By the numbers, Saturday was a well-deserved win. The Riverhounds were the more dangerous side, creating 16 shots to El Paso’s eight. But head coach Bob Lilley was frustrated with how his team allowed the visitors to stick around and that the result, ultimately, came down to a penalty kick.
“We’ve got to put chances away. We’ve been very wasteful for a stretch here,” Lilley said, referencing last week’s 1-0 win over Birmingham in which the Riverhounds had 18 shots. “We didn’t have a great performance tonight. ... We dodged a bullet.”
Lilley wasn’t wrong. In reality, the Riverhounds should have gone into halftime with a lead. After using the first 15 minutes to get settled, they finished the opening 45 minutes with 10 shots. Seven were inside the box and three were on target.
Two of their clear-cut chances came via back-to-back headers in the 30th minute. Kenardo Forbes’ lofted corner was attacked by Dane Kelly but palmed down by El Paso goalkeeper Evan Newton. Riverhounds defender Mekeil Williams followed up with a header, but Newton dived to his left to stop the opener from finding the back of the net.
Six minutes later, Newton made another save, blocking Nathan Dossantos’ left-footed volley. In the 43rd minute, Cicerone drove down the right side and played a ball in the box for Alex Dixon, whose shot bounced off the far post.
It was a matter of when, not if, the Riverhounds would score. And the 3,749 supporters in attendance didn’t have to wait long after halftime.
Forty-five seconds into the second half, Dixon dusted El Paso Locomotive FC down the right flank, played a pass into the box and found Cicerone. Last year’s leading goal-scorer settled the ball and ripped a curler into the net’s top-left corner, allowing the fans’ bottled excitement to erupt.
But just when it seemed as if the floodgates would open and the Riverhounds would score two, three, or four goals, they couldn’t capitalize on their continued chances.
“That should’ve been a momentum builder or lifter. And I don’t know if we got max value out of that,” Lilley said. “That should have led us to really step on their throat and totally dominate the rest of the game. And I think we tried to hang on.”
“We’ve been creating a lot and not putting them away, and that needs to change,” Cicerone said. “If we put that game away, we don’t have to worry about that penalty.”
Silva’s save “bailed out” the Riverhounds, Lilley said. It was the goalkeeper who seemingly caused the penalty, attacking a ball in the air and barrelling through El Paso midfielder Yuma in the process. Silva atoned for his mistake and maintained the Riverhounds’ unbeaten record at home this season.
Next up? A road game next Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, last year’s Eastern Conference champions.
“We were fortunate,” Lilley said of the narrow win. “... I hope we learn our lesson.”
Johnny McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9.
First Published: May 15, 2022, 2:45 a.m.