Pittsburgh – On a gorgeous night in Station Square, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and the Charleston Battery end in a 1-1 draw in front of a crowd of 3,464 at Highmark Stadium. Jose Angulo’s second-half goal leveled the score against the defending USL PRO Champions, extending the Riverhounds unbeaten streak to eight games.
From the opening whistle, the game was filled with excitement as both sides received multiple scoring opportunities throughout. The Riverhounds and Battery exchanged quality chances in the first five minutes, but neither side was able to find the back of the net.
The Riverhounds Seth C’deBaca rattled the crossbar when he struck a bouncing ball inside the Battery’s penalty area in the 17th minute. A combination between five Riverhounds players down the right flank found Kevin Kerr overlapping Matt Dallman. Kerr delivered a cross for a slashing Angulo at the near post, but his service deflected off of Angulo’s heel. Following the play at the near post, C’deBaca cleanly shot a right-footed half volley the whistled past Battery goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper, but his attempt was denied by the woodwork.
Twenty minutes later, a wonder-strike by Jose Cuevas would provide the visitors with the lead. Battery Captain Colin Falvey played a long-diagonal ball for Cuevas on the left flank. Taking a first touch inside past his closing marker, Cuevas provided himself with enough space to penetrate Riverhounds defensive third with speed. Picking his head up to gage his range, Cuevas bent his shot perfectly around Riverhounds goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap and into the top right corner of the goal.
Following the break, the Riverhounds elevated the pressure on the Battery, resulting in a flurry of chances. The pressure finally paid off in the 72nd minute off of back-to-back set pieces. Taking a corner from left-to-right, Matt Dallman picked out a streaking Angulo at the near post. Beating Cooper to the ball, Angulo flicked the ball past the keeper into the back of the empty net. With the goal, Angulo raised his team-leading tallies to seven and Dallman raised his league-leading assists to eight.
Both sides pushed forward to find the game winner, but neither side could find the back of the net in the final eighteen minutes.
The Riverhounds travel to Harrisburg next Friday night for the second-leg of the Keystone Derby. The game against the Harrisburg City Islanders is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. kick off at Skyline Sports Complex on City Island. The Battery travel overnight to meet the Rochester Rhinos at Sahlen’s Stadium tomorrow afternoon. Their game is slated for a 4:05 p.m. start.