Riverhounds treat crowd of more than 5,000 to 4-0 victory over Atlanta

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds drew their largest crowd post-pandemic Saturday night, and those in attendance were treated to a sterling performance.

Dane Kelly scored twice, and Luis Argudo and Russell Cicerone added a goal each in a 4-0 win for the Riverhounds over Atlanta United 2 in front of 5,202 at Highmark Stadium.

“I’m glad we were able to reward the crowd,” Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley said. “It was great that we had that many fans here. I think the energy in the stadium really helped us get through that second half and see the game through.”

Coming off their first USL Championship loss last Saturday at Las Vegas and an extra time loss in the US Open Cup at MLS side FC Cincinnati on Tuesday, the Riverhounds (5-1-1) unleashed on Atlanta (2-6).

They dominated the majority of the match, and Kelly broke through with the first goal in the 20th minute off a pass from Alex Dixon.

“We lost two in a row, and we definitely didn’t want to lose three in a row, especially being at home,” Kelly said. “Before the game, Bob talked to us about how many fans were here and that we needed to impress them. That’s what we did.”

Argudo nearly made it 2-0 in the 25th minute but hit the post. However, he made amends four minutes later when he finished off a feed from Nathan Dossantos. It was his first goal as a Riverhound and a relief. Argudo had 39 appearances in MLS for Columbus Crew and played in Sweden last year.

“I didn’t have the cleanest hit on the first one, and it hit the post, so I was happy to get another chance and get my first goal,” Argudo said. “Hopefully, it’s the first of many. I’m just happy to be part of this team. The guys make it fun and exciting to be here.”

Atlanta pushed back over the final 15 minutes of the first half. The best chance of that sequence came off a free kick that settled to Mikey Ambrose, but his shot from point-blank range went wide.

Kelly scored his second goal in the 56th minute, and Cicerone, who entered as a substitute in the 62nd minute, netted his goal in the 76th minute.

Kelly leads the team with six goals this season.

Upper St. Clair grad and former Riverhounds midfielder Robbie Mertz made his second appearance at Highmark Stadium as a member of Atlanta United 2. He is the team captain.

The win sets up a matchup of teams at the top of the Eastern Conference table at Louisville City next Saturday. Louisville is two points ahead in the standings, but the Riverhounds have a game in hand.

“(Louisville City) has a foundation that’s been there for many years,” Lilley said. “They have had a lot of success in the Eastern Conference. They also have a lot of guys that have been there for a long time along with a lot of young talent. I feel their blueprint is similar to ours.

“It’ll be important for us to go there and be able to make them uncomfortable at times and be opportunistic. We cannot give the ball away cheaply. If you go to Louisville and have 40 to 45 percent of the ball, that’s pretty good. If you’re not careful, you’ll have 30 percent of the ball and be digging it out of the back of your net more times than you’d like.”