PITTSBURGH — Riverhounds SC failed to gain any significant berth in the postseason race Saturday, falling to a 1-1 draw with Birmingham Legion FC at Highmark Stadium.

Although it was the Riverhounds who took the early lead, they failed to score a crucial second goal, seeing one after another chance wasted harmlessly early in the second half before Birmingham’s Stefano Pinho scored the equalizer with just over 12 minutes remaining.

– We had plenty of opportunities to score the second goal in the first 25 minutes of the second half. That was a big problem,” head coach Bob Lilley said. “We lacked quality. I mean, we had moments where I think we were in a hurry to get the shot and we just had to hit the target, otherwise we could have controlled the ball instead of trying to get one shot off.

This was just one of those games… but with four weeks left in the season and the Riverhounds missing three playoff spots, they’re running out of chances.

“It was close to winning,” Lilley said, later adding that “our ability to manage for 90 minutes wasn’t good enough this year.”

Edward Kizza continued his dominance against Birmingham, scoring his eighth goal of the season (three of which came against Legion FC) after 21 minutes. Robbie Mertz sent a free-kick into the net and Kizza headed in, beating Birmingham goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel.

Legion FC almost scored an equalizer ten minutes later, with Birmingham holding on for a long while on the volley. However, none of their attempts (or opportunities) hit the target, and the Riverhounds somehow escaped unscathed.

Lost opportunities

Pittsburgh returned the favor late in the half with a pair of corner kicks that looked dangerous but were harmless.

Hounds goalie Eric Dick fired his first shot of the night early in the second half, stopping near the right post. From there, Pittsburgh saw a series of near misses. Kizza had a chance to score twice but kicked directly at Van Oekel.

“I knew we had to get the second goal because we weren’t defending great,” Lilley said. They didn’t take many shots, but they shot through our midfield.

The post did Van Oekel’s job for him in the 62nd minute, following a deflected and harmless kick. Pinho then had a clutch chance and he kicked past his defender and Eric Dick.

“It’s a tough angle angle because I didn’t want to cheat too far to the right because he was able to get close,” Dick said. “He styled it well, a curler is never easy.”

Both Bradley Sample and Sean Suber came close to putting the Hounds ahead after 88 minutes and in stoppage time respectively, but Birmingham – comfortable owners of the play-off places – were content to slow the game down and allow time to run out.

“They (Birmingham) didn’t mind a draw,” Lilley said. I don’t think we should ever accept a draw at home, especially not at this time of year.