The Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ season has had its share of peaks and valleys as the final leg approaches.

Coming into Saturday’s game vs. 10th-place conference foe Loudoun United, the Hounds were 0-1-2 in their past three games — drawing in their previous two matches — snaring just two of a possible nine points, but still good enough for fourth place in the conference.

With gray skies, heavy rain and windy conditions at F.N.B. Stadium, both teams had rough elements to deal with. But a goal in the eighth minute by Sam Bassett proved to be the lighting rod, sparking a 1-0 home win for Pittsburgh in front of another sellout crowd of 5,150 fans.

Early play indicated that Pittsburgh (11-9-5, 37 points) was going to be aggressive against its struggling opponent, who came into the contest loser of two straight matches and 0-3-2 overall in its past five games.

Loudoun United (3-9-11, 20 points) took possession of a ball inside their box and attempted to clear it toward the far sideline, where it was taken by Riverhounds defender Perrin Barnes. He flicked it quickly to midfielder Charles Ahl, who found Bassett to his right.

Bassett quickly worked his way forward and, from about 22 yards, launched a laser on an angle that found the back far post for his sixth goal of the season, tied for second most on the club.

“That’s kind of where I like to shoot from,” Bassett said. “Anytime I get in that range in the games where I do get to shoot, I try to take a few shots. I’m starting to feel real better and happy to contribute to the team.”

The Riverhounds thought they had added to their advantage in the
19th minute when Trevon Amman got loose in front of the net for what he thought was his eighth goal. But Amman was called offsides, negating the strike.

The rest of the first half was a slog-fest under pouring rain, and the score remained 1-0 going into the half.

The second half was more about preservation than possession, as the weather continued to be a factor. Pittsburgh kept the pressure on, but Loudoun got its best chance to tie the score in the 67th minute when midfielder Giorgi Lomtadze found himself free along the Riverhounds 6-yard box with possession of the ball.

But his shot went flying above the crossbar of an open net.

Albert Dikwa came on in the second half and came close to registering his seventh goal. In the 76th minute, his header just to the right of goal barely missed, giving the club a corner that was turned away by Loudoun. Both teams had limited scoring chances in the final 20 minutes, with Pittsburgh finishing the night earning three crucial points.

“We don’t really want to be lucky at this time of year,” coach Rob Vincent said. “I want us to be playing better. We have big aims, big aspirations to finish the season on a high note. Tonight, (keeper) Nico (Campuzano) came up big. Even he got lucky a couple of times with Loudoun not hitting the target. Clean sheets are always big and important.”

Speaking of Campuzano, who now has nine clean sheets in USL Championship play and 10 on the season, he faced only one shot on goal from Loudoun, which attempted 14 Saturday evening. Campuzano was critical of his own play.

“When it happens to you, it sucks.” Campuzano said. “The whole back line … Robbie at the end, sticks his leg out, and it ends in a corner kick. One guy hits a post off a corner kick. I’m a sitting duck. A couple in the first half, too, they had. The whole back line just rallied.”

The Riverhounds will enjoy some rest and get prepared for a critical road trip to Detroit, also a top-four team in the Eastern Conference. The match will start at 7 p.m. and can be seen on KDKA .

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