An imposing performance from Eric Dick in goal ensured that Edward Kizza's first-half strike would be enough to see the Riverhounds come away with a crucial 1-0 victory on the road against Sacramento Republic on Saturday night.
Bob Lilley said after the game last Saturday that the Riverhounds don't have a lot of room for error when it comes to pushing for the playoffs, and it looked as if that message managed to get through to the team as they pulled out all the stops to pick up one of their most impressive wins of the season.
The tone for the Riverhounds appeared to be set right off the bat, with Emmanuel Johnson demonstrating his strength just before the 15-minute mark, as he ran over former Hound Shane Wiedt with a shoulder charge (a fair and legal one I should add) that would have made Hines Ward proud and forced Wiedt out of the game before getting off the game's first attempt with a strong header from twelve yards out.
The Riverhounds, as has become customary this season, controlled the majority of the game during the opening 45 minutes, and in a half in which chances were few and far between, created the better openings between the two sides, including one effort from Danny Griffin that crept just past the post after Robbie Mertzβs cut back, and forcing Sacramento primarily to potshots from outside the box. Although they were presented with one slight scare when Jack Gurr managed to sneak behind the back line but scuffed his one on one chance wide when bearing down on goal.
That persistence from the Hounds was rewarded on the stroke of halftime with one of the best goals you are likely to see from this team all season. Mertz and Griffin continued to utilize their incredible chemistry down the left-hand side, before the latter fed the ball through to Kizza, who managed to shield the ball away from Jared Timmer before firing an effort across former Hounds goalkeeper Danny Vitiello:
Great goal, great celly π@edwardk_19 gives @RiverhoundsSC the lead π#USLonESPN pic.twitter.com/WnCRaUN7MU
β USL Championship (@USLChampionship) August 4, 2024
Whilst Lilley has been happy to make a few tweaks throughout the season, primarily up front, the midfield is something that he cannot afford to mess around with. The cohesiveness that Griffin, Mertz and Jackson Walti have built together has kept growing and growing and can act as a real backbone to the team for years to come if they can play their cards right, and that was shown in abundance with this goal.
The key for the Riverhounds now was to make sure they held onto that lead heading into the break, and they were able to do just that as Dick was forced into a smart diving save to his right to keep out Kieran Phillipsβ curling effort from outside the box and ensure Lilleyβs men went into the dressing room ahead.
Dick was once again called upon to keep Sacramento at bay quickly after the restart, with Luis Felipe driving into the box before getting an effort away that forced the Hounds goalkeeper to dive to his left. Meanwhile up the other end, Kizza came extraordinarily close to doubling the Houndsβ lead, this time with his head as his effort from a free kick was tipped wide through an incredible save from Vitiello.
The goalkeepers continued to dominate the play as Dick was pulled into a smart double-save just past the hour mark (the second clip in the video below), first pushing aside Phillipsβ powerful strike from the edge of the box before tipping Gurrβs rebound over the crossbar. After that hectic period, he would probably have been thankful when he had to pull out a more routine stop from Trevor Amannβs header a few minutes later.
π§π΅π² ππΌππ»π±π' π΅π²πΏπΌ π¦ΈββοΈ
β USL Championship (@USLChampionship) August 4, 2024
A seven-save shutout has made @RiverhoundsSC's @DaBrickWall00 our latest #PrinxTiresUSA Most Valuable Performer!#USLonESPN pic.twitter.com/qxx5KWSiNG
The final fifteen minutes was purely an effort of hanging on in there for the Riverhounds, as Sacramento turned up the heat in their search for an equalizer, forcing a few more saves out of Dick and a desperate late block from Illal Osumanu, causing them to get a little more desperate which was best demonstrated by Conor Donovan firing an effort over the bar from outside the box, but in the end there were no major scares and the Riverhounds managed to coast to a well-earned three points.
That defending in the final stages was something that Lilley was keen to praise at the end of the game, telling the Riverhounds media team:
βFor the last 20 minutes, we were hanging on trying to get the job done ... Second half, we did a good job in the first 15 to 20 minutes pushing to get a second goal. If we defended the whole second half, weβd have been in trouble. They gained some momentum and then threw everything at us in the end. We won a lot of second balls in the box, and we were mentally there through the full 90."
I said at the end of last weekβs recap that tough games would keep coming, and this was certainly one of them given how well Sacramento have been throughout the season. If this team can play like they did tonight on the road, they will have nothing to be concerned about between now and the start of the playoffs (should they make it that far). The only issue though, is that we know just how inconsistent this team can be, and we canβt rule out the possibility of another run like we saw in May and June.
But for now at least, the Riverhounds have given the fans just that little glimmer of hope that the team has finally turned things around, and maybe this time it will be for good.
A goal and a clean sheet means @RiverhoundsSC takes the points back to the Steel City! πΉ
β USL Championship (@USLChampionship) August 4, 2024
π https://t.co/mSPTYo64vO | #USLonESPN pic.twitter.com/Ct1yfL41Qa
