MELBOURNE, Fla. (September 1, 2016) – Orlando City B (8-9-8, 32 points) will close out its regular season home schedule when it hosts the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (5-15-5, 20 points) on Saturday, Sept. 3. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Titan Soccer Complex. The match will be streamed live at www.OrlandoCitySC.com/Live.
“It’s a big game for us; it’s the last home game at Eastern Florida State College against a good side in Pittsburgh. I think they’re a lot better than what their league position has shown. They’ve got some decent players, definitely threats that we need to be wary of,” OCB Head Coach Anthony Pulis said. “But, again, hopefully we can make improvements and have another positive performance which leads to a positive result.”
This is OCB’s second meeting against the Riverhounds this season. On April 22, OCB earned its first-ever USL victory with a 2-1 win at Highmark Stadium. Johnny Mendoza and Hadji Barry assisted on Tyler Turner’s goals en route to the defender’s first USL Player of the Week award. Pittsburgh’s Romeo Parkes scored in the 90th minute to steal a clean sheet from OCB goalkeeper Mark Ridgers, who finished with three saves.
In its most recent match, OCB was unable to overcome a late goal and fell 1-0 away to Richmond on Saturday, Aug. 27, at City Stadium in the second leg of a home-and-home series. Ridgers made three saves but Richmond’s Scott Thomsen scored the game-winning goal in the 77th minute. The Lions put the pressure on Richmond in the game’s final 10 minutes and Turner came within inches of equalizing, but his header was cleared off the line.
Ridgers is second in the United Soccer League (USL) and leads the Eastern Conference with 89 saves, 23 more than the next closest conference foe, Montreal’s Maxime Crépeau. OCB forward Michael Cox leads the team in goals with 10, while Turner and Barry have scored four each.
Pittsburgh forward and former Orlando City player Corey Hertzog leads the Riverhounds with 11 goals and four assists on the season. Midfielder Kevin Kerr has added four goals and two assists.
With five games left on the schedule, OCB currently sits in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, nine points behind seventh-place Rochester and five points clear of ninth-place Harrisburg.
OCB finishes the season on a four-game road trip beginning Wednesday, Sept. 7, at Wilmington. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET. The Lions then go to Toronto on Sept. 11 and Cincinnati on Sept. 17 before ending the regular season on Sept. 25 at Bethlehem.
