St. Louis, MO – Saint Louis FC fell 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in front of 4,703 fans at Toyota Stadium in Week 22 of the USL regular season. The team has a quick turnaround with a home game on Wednesday, August 23rd at 7:00pm CT against Tulsa Roughnecks FC.
Saint Louis opened the scoring just before halftime through Seth Rudolph for his third goal in two games. Pittsburgh quickly answered after the break with a Corey Hertzog free kick in the 47th minute before he doubled his tally in the 67th minute from the penalty spot. The win sees Pittsburgh move to 10th in the Eastern Conference while Saint Louis FC remains in 12th place.
The first half was a tepid affair with few opportunities for either side. In the 30th minute, STLFC forward Daniel Jackson split the defense with some great footwork and found Emmanuel Appaih in the box but his shot went just wide. Jackson would be substituted soon after that play due to injury, with substitute Christian Volesky making an immediate impact as he created the opening goal. Rudolph started the move following a throw-in and Volesky back-heeled the ball into his path to slot past Pittsburgh goalkeeper Trey Mitchell.
The second half saw Pittsburgh equalize in the 47th minute as Hertzog buried his free kick attempt into the top left corner. The game began to stretch and Saint Louis FC were awarded a penalty kick in the 65th minute as Mitchell brought down Tony Walls in the box. Milan Petosevic stepped up and was denied his first goal of the season by Mitchell to keep the score level. Pittsburgh would then get their turn as Saint Louis FC goalkeeper Adam Grinwis brought down Hertzog in the box for the penalty. Hertzog made the most of the opportunity and fired down the middle to give Pittsburgh the lead. They would hold onto that lead and claim all three points in their first back-to-back road win since 2013.
