By Kevin Gorman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, May 4, 2003
The Riverhounds were chasing a one-goal deficit for 74 minutes when a defensive mishap allowed the Toronto Lynx a chip-shot score on a role reversal.
Elvis made the fans leave the building.
Lynx reserve midfielder Elvis Thomas stripped Riverhounds defender Aaron Thomas of the ball, then skipped a shot past Randy Dedini in the 90th minute.
The goal clinched a 2-0 victory over the Riverhounds on Saturday night in their A-League North Division home opener before a crowd of 1,567 at Bethel Park Stadium.
It was the first loss of the season for the Riverhounds (1-1-1, four points), who beat Charlotte, 5-0, on April 25, and tied Atlanta, 2-2, on April 26. It was the season opener for the Lynx (1-0-0, two points).
"After how we played on the road, to come home and give a performance like that is disappointing," Dedini said. "Overall, they had a little more urgency in the play. Maybe it was because it was their first game and the adrenaline was there like it was for us last week."
After scoring seven goals in the two road games, the Riverhounds returned home to adversarial field conditions at Bethel Park. The grass was long, the surface hard and bumpy, which practically erased the Riverhounds' passing game and forced them to play the Lynx' style.
"We were playing against field conditions tonight," Riverhounds coach Tim Carter said. "You can't say the grass lost the game for us. It takes away from one of our strengths, which is to move the ball on the ground."
The Lynx took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute when Ali Ngon fed Sebastian Barclay on the left corner of the goal box. Barclay drilled a shot over a sliding Randy Dedini and into the upper right corner of the net.
The Lynx attempted only five shots, but both goals came in wide-open situations. The Riverhounds had seven shots on goal, but Theo Zagar made several spectacular saves, including a header by Corey Woolfolk that Zagar tipped over the crossbar in the 20th minute.
Zagar also blocked a direct kick by Ricardo Villar in the 75th minute, a free kick by Villar two minutes later and then broke up another free kick to preserve his shutout.
"He's a good goalkeeper," Dedini said. "He made a couple of nice saves to keep the score at zero for them. (With) quality goalkeepers in this league, it's hard to get it past them unless you get quality shots."
Dedini made an impressive stop of his own in the 57th minute, when he shut down Ngon on a breakaway. Ngon tried to reverse from right to left, but Dedini withstood Ngon's attempt to overpower him and stopped it.
"I just chased it down and tried to force him to shoot it," Dedini said. "He tried to run into me and cause a penalty kid, but the referee wasn't falling for that."
The Riverhounds, however, had trouble moving the ball from their back line, especially with midfielder Derek Potteiger sidelined with a strained right knee. The Lynx were able to slow the pace and get behind the defense.
"All the ball position in the world wasn't going to win the game for us because we were so slow on the back line," Carter said. "It gave them time to organize. We were playing into a wall."
Notes: The Riverhounds were without defender David Wright, who received a red card following Monday's 2-2 tie at Atlanta. Wright will return for the next game, 7 p.m. Saturday at the Richmond Kickers. Lynx midfielder Shawn Faria also missed the game, as he was serving a one-game suspension for an accumulation of yellow card points during the 2002 season.
Kevin Gorman can be reached at kgorman@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7812.
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