 
|
|||||||||||||||||
              
|
Sunday, August 20, 2000 By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
A cool wind whistled through Bethel Park Stadium last night as the Riverhounds played Hershey in a crucial contest with considerable playoff implications. By the end of the game, the wind could have been mistaken for the air going out of the balloon on the Riverhounds' season.
Hershey forward Ze Roberto scored the winning goal in the 62nd minute -- just two minutes after the Riverhounds tied the score -- for a 2-1 victory before a sellout crowd of 5,319.
The Riverhounds (10-13-1) are 3-12-1 against teams with winning records. That and their woeful road record (1-10) are the main reasons they likely will be sitting out the playoffs.
The Riverhounds are five points behind Raleigh for the eighth and final playoff berth from the Eastern Conference. They could still make it, but they probably would have to win their remaining four games. Two of those games are against Richmond (19-4) and Hershey (13-8-3), which ran its record to 9-1-1 over the past 11 games with last night's victory.
"We're not getting ready for a funeral yet, but this puts the pressure on us," Riverhounds Coach John Kowalski said. "A lot is going to have to do with what the other teams in the league do. But we have to win."
Hershey, which beat Cincinnati Friday night, scored first in the fourth minute when Kyle Swords neatly dribbled through the Riverhounds' defense and rifled a shot off the far post and behind Dedini for an early lead.
"It looked like we were the team that played [Friday night]," Kowalski said. "The crowd created a terrific atmosphere. But it took us 38 minutes to get into the game. We never got our legs, and we did not play to our capabilities. We never established a good rhythm."
The Riverhounds had several chances to tie the score in the first half, but they weren't able to finish. Adam Fedoruk, starting on the forward line in place of the suspended David Flavius, had two opportunities behind the Hershey defense, but he did not get a quality shot off either time.
Mike Apple had the best chance in the 39th minute. Off a Justin Evans free kick, Apple gathered in a loose ball in the penalty box, and with Hershey goalkeeper Mike O'Connor out of position, got a shot to the goal. But defender Drew Kopp was on the goal line and prevented the tying goal.
The Riverhounds finally broke through in the 60th minute when late substitution Phil Karn set up Gary DePalma's first goal of the season from the top of the penalty box.
But the tie was short-lived. Two minutes later, Roberto was left alone in front and had an easy tap in of a loose ball after Dedini failed to punch the ball out of danger.
"That's a real killer," DePalma said. "You want to build off that momentum after you score a goal."
The Riverhounds put on a late charge for the tying goal. Karn had a chance in the 89th minute, but O'Connor made a diving save, and Apple found himself alone in front during injury time, but defender Mike Williams sacrificed his body and blocked the shot before it could get on goal.
The loss was the ninth one-goal loss of the season for the Riverhounds.
"A lot of these games could have gone either way," DePalma said. "It's frustrating. One lucky bounce and we win that game. But it goes the other way. They happened to get the lucky bounce."
The Riverhounds will travel to Indiana and Cincinnati for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday.
|
||||||||||||||||
