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Hounds fall to Roads, 1-0
Forward Abdul Thompson Conteh, a former Major League Soccer star, had two quality scoring second-half scoring chances Friday in his Riverhounds debut, but failed to score on either occasion during a 1-0 Hampton Roads victory in front of an announced crowd of 2,079 at rain-drenched Bethel Park Stadium.
Hampton Roads forward Ricardo Villar, who attended Penn State, knocked a deflection off a kick by defender Kevin Knott past Riverhounds goalie Randy Dedini with 18 seconds left in the first overtime for the game's only goal. The victory was Hampton Roads first of the season. The Mariners (1-5-1) will carry the 1-0 lead into the second game of a home-and-home series that will serve as the final the game for Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifying.
The second qualifier is 8 p.m., tonight, at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The team with the most total goals in the series advances to the second round of the tournament and will either play a D3 Pro League or an amateur team. If the Riverhounds don't outscore the Mariners before the end of the regulation, they will fail to qualify for the Open Cup, a tournament they advanced to the quarterfinals of last season. Both games also count toward the A-League's regular season standings.
Conteh's first scoring chance was in the 82nd minute when took a pass from midfielder Jeff Houser and streaked past the Mariners defense before kicking the ball directly into Hampton Roads goalie Tim Figuerido.
Conteh had another one-on-one with Figuerido seven minutes later, but he slipped before he could get a point-blank shot. Conteh did hold onto the ball, and took a low 16-yard shot that was smothered by Figuerido.
The Rivehounds signed Conteh to a one-year contract yesterday, and he started the second half, replacing Phil Karn at forward. Conteh, a native of Sierra Leone, played for Major League Soccer's D.C. United last season before being released last Wednesday. He was the MLS's third leading scorer in 2001 with 14 goals. Conteh is expected to add some scoring punch to a Riverhounds offense that scored just four goals this season.
"He showed his speed and he did what he though he would do," Riverhounds coach Kai Haaskivi said. "He will give us a dangerous forward."
Riverhounds forward Mario Gori received a red card during injury time, forcing the Riverhounds to play a man down the rest of the game. Gori received the red card by getting into a midfield collision with Hampton Roads defender Russell Hutchison during injury time. Gori went down after the collision and the extent of his injury was unknown.
"Discipline is a word on our board and that caused us the game, but it didn't cost us the series," Haaskivi said.
Less than two minutes after Gori received the red card, the Mariners had their best scoring chance of regulation when the Riverhounds allowed Villar an open shot from 30 yards. The shot hit the top right of the crossbar. Yesterday marked the end of a tumultuous week for the Mariners. Players and coach Shawn McDonald were informed earlier this week that the financially-strapped team could no longer afford to pay their salaries.
McDonald announced his resignation Tuesday and members of the A-League front office traveled to Virginia on Wednesday to ease the tensions between the Mariners ownership and team members. McDonald will remain the Mariners coach until the end of the weekend.
"You would expect them to put out a good effort, which they did," Haaskivi said.
The Mariners were scheduled to arrive in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, but because of the uncertainty surrounding the franchise they didn't arrive until 5 a.m., Friday. The Mariners traveled to and from Pittsburgh on a bus, while the Riverhounds will fly to Virginia Beach this morning.
