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Eastern Conf. Notes: Pittsburgh "Squeezes Out" Pivotal Draw vs. Louisville

By JOHN ARLIA - john.arlia@uslsoccer.com, 09/17/18, 10:58AM EDT

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Riverhounds overcome two-goal deficit; Tampa Bay, North Carolina earn key wins


Kenardo Forbes celebrates his stoppage-time penalty vs. Louisville City FC. | Photo courtesy Delaney Hoolahan / Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC scored two goals in the final five minutes of play to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw against Louisville City FC Saturday at Highmark Stadium as it maintained its two-point gap over the visitors for second place in the Eastern Conference standings.

The hosts wasted plenty of chances early on and nearly paid for it as they found themselves trailing by a pair of goals in the 86th minute, but showed plenty of resolve to snatch a point from the defending USL Cup champion. Pittsburgh was handed a lifeline four minutes from time when second-half substitute Joe Holland’s cross found the back of the net after deflecting off Louisville defender Alexis Souahy and goalkeeper Gregory Ranjitsingh, who was credited with an own goal.

Five minutes later, Riverhounds SC secured its equalizer from the penalty spot when Kenardo Forbes kept his nerve and sent Ranjitsingh the wrong way after Neco Brett had been brought down in the box by Louisville defender Oscar Jimenez.

“Every game now is going to be a battle,” Pittsburgh Head Coach Bob Lilley said. “At the end of the day, getting that tying goal may be the difference at the end of the season. We squeezed out of it what we could there at the end.”

Cameron Lancaster had earlier continued his charge for the USL’s Golden Boot when he volleyed home his league-leading 19th goal of the season to give Louisville the lead in the 31st minute and Souahy looked to have secured three points for the visitors 20 minutes from time with his first professional goal, but Louisville’s defense couldn’t hold onto the three points.

“I’m disappointed for as well as we managed that game for 86 minutes and against a team that is extremely difficult to play particularly at their home, and to be up two goals, it’s really extremely disappointing that we weren’t able to close it out.” Louisville Head Coach John Hackworth said.

Louisville will look to rebound when it closes out its two-game Pennsylvania road trip against a desperate Penn FC on Wednesday night.

STAYIN' ALIVE: Sebastian Guenzatti’s first-half strike ensured that the Tampa Bay Rowdies kept their USL Cup Playoffs hopes alive with a 1-0 home victory over ATL UTD 2 Saturday at Al Lang Stadium.

Guenzatti wasted a golden opportunity in the 28th minute when he fired a shot over the crossbar from just six yards out, but the striker made amends two minutes later finding the bottom-left corner with a right-footed effort for his fourth goal of the season.

Tampa Bay could have padded its lead in the second half, but will be happy with three points any way they come at this point in the season as the side moved within seven points of eighth-placed New York Red Bulls II with six games to play.

“It was a really good win for us, one we really needed,” Guenzatti said. “Hopefully we’ll keep it up until the end of the season.”

The Rowdies face another crucial crash on Tuesday night when they travel to first Tennessee Park for a six-pointer against fellow playoff contenders Nashville SC.

Tampa Bay Head Coach Neill Collins is hoping to see his side carry some momentum into that contest, especially on the defensive side of the ball after keeping a clean sheet for the second time in three outings.

“I think defense starts from the attack in terms of us pressing high,” Collins said. “Our defenders, late on, headed out attacks and repelled them well, but attacks start from defense and our defense starts from our attack. If you ask any of those center backs, they’ll say Sebastian, Georgi (Hristov)Junior (Flemmings), those guys really set the tone for us at the top. The midfield put in a ton of work. It was a really good team performance.”

MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Daniel Rios capitalized on North Carolina’s only shot of the night to give North Carolina FC a pivotal 1-0 victory over Penn FC Sunday at FNB Field, dealing a devastating blow to the home side’s playoff hopes in the process.

Rios’ 17th goal of the campaign came 11 minutes into the contest when the striker worked his way between two defenders and found the left corner from the top of the penalty area. That was all of the support goalkeeper Alex Tambakis would need as he made two saves, including a key stop on a late free kick through traffic from Penn's Walter Ramirez, to register his seventh shutout of the year.

“We got punished for one of the mistakes we made early on in the game, and it was an uphill battle up until then, for the rest of the game,” Penn FC defender Kyle Venter said. “They defended compactly, didn’t really expose themselves, we had the possession and frankly I didn’t think we did enough with it.”

Penn FC had 62.5 percent of the possession and completed 175 more passes than NCFC, but mustered just two shots on goal as it failed to make the most of its superior play and home-field advantage. The hosts, which entered the contest level on points with their opponent, remain stuck on 35 points and trail New York Red Bulls II by six points for the final playoff spot in the East.

“The way the games are going right now, we process this one tonight, and we got to move on,” Venter said. “It hurts right now because we’re here at home against a team that was level with us in the standings, all you can do is learn from it and go try and get the next one, that’s the only thing you have control over. We’ll recover and give it our best on Wednesday against a really good Louisville team that’s coming off a good result in Pittsburgh.”

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