April 17, 2016 USL Toronto FC II--Toronto FC II vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds (from riverhounds.com)
Branson Delivers to Give Hounds First Point of the Season TORONTO (April 17, 2016) – It came down to the wire and a free kick in stoppage time for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds to earn a well fought point from Toronto F.C. II. In only their second game this season, the Hounds fought hard into injury time when Conor Branson netted a low shot around the Toronto wall just outside the penalty area. Nick Hagglund opened up the scoring when he got on the end of Raheem Edwards’ corner kick to put Toronto in front on twelve minutes. The Hounds responded late in the second half when Romeo Parkes linked up with Marshall Hollingsworth for a nice give and go that the Jamaican finished into the back of Toronto’s net. Parkes celebrated with a nice display of acrobatics and the Hounds went into halftime level at one goal a piece. Shortly after the resuming of play, Stephen Okai fired a shot high over the target after receiving a nice headed pass inside the box from Jordan Murrell. Hounds interim captain Mike Green drew a penalty in the fifty-fifth minute when he got tangled with Toronto’s Raheem Edwards inside his own penalty area. Edwards fired it home beneath a diving Hunter Gilstrap to put the home side up by a goal. Columbus Crew SC loan Ben Swanson received a yellow card for a risky challenge with fifteen minutes to play. Isaiah Schafer would play a strong ball in to Parkes who almost drew the sides level again when his shot from just inside the box ricocheted off the crossbar. After a few touches ensued the ball ended up on the foot of Okai who put his shot just wide of the mark. Raheem Edwards would later receive Toronto’s first caution of the evening for a late tackle near the end of the second half. Toronto would see yellow again at the start of injury time for Robert Boskovic’s tackle on Romeo Parkes on the edge of Toronto’s penalty area. Branson would slot home his shot home to bring the Hounds to within minutes of their first points of the season. Things then got tense when a series of counter attacks would see Toronto firing several shots on the Hounds net with their final shot being blocked off the line by a Hounds defender. Then, the ball was sent down field to a streaking Parkes who was not able to slide it past a charging Alexander Bono before the final whistle drew the game to a close. The Hounds return to action next Friday, April 22, at 7 p.m. when Orlando City B visits Highmark Stadium for the first of twenty USL matches to be broadcast on ESPN 3 this season. Visit Ticketmaster.com to secure your seats. Line-ups: Riverhounds – Hunter Gilstrap – Jordan Murrell, Willie Hunt, Conor Branson, Nick Kolarac (Ben Swanson 42’) – Zak Boggs, Stephen Okai (Karsten Smith 84’), Mike Green (Isaiah Schafer 67’), Zak Boggs (Caleb Postlewait 67’) – Marshall Hollingsworth – Corey Hertzog Subs not used: Mauricio Vargas, James Bissue, Ryan Dodson Toronto F.C. II – Alexander Bono – Wesley Charpie (Bubacarr Jobe 66’), Nick Hagglund, Skylar Thomas (Eriq Zavaleta 62’), Anthony Osorio – Adam Bouchard (Christopher Mannella 66’), Aidan Daniels (Robert Boskovic 83’), Brian James – Shaan Hundal (Salvador Bernal Flores 71’), Raheem Edwards, Malik Johnson Subs not used: Phil Di Bennardo, Martin Davis Scoring Summary: TOR – Nick Hagglund 12’ (Raheem Edwards) PGH – Romeo Parkes 41’ (Marshall Hollingsworth) TOR – Raheem Edwards [penalty] 56’ PGH – Conor Branson 90+’ Misconduct Summary: PGH – Ben Swanson 75’ (caution) TOR – Raheem Edwards 84’ (caution) TOR – Robert Boskovic 90+’ (caution)
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