Pittsburgh – On a beautiful Saturday night in Station Square, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and the Dayton Dutch Lions finish in a 2-2 draw at Highmark Stadium. The Riverhounds jumped ahead with goals from Jhonny Arteaga and Jose Angulo, but the Dutch Lions battled back to score two goals in the final twenty-five minutes from Gibson Bardsley and Tjeerd Westdijk.

The Riverhounds jumped ahead of the Dutch Lions in the 10th minute when Arteaga headed home from inside the six-yard box. Driving deep down the right flank, Matt Dallman drove a right-footed cross towards the back post for Arteaga. Fighting off his marker, Arteaga headed the ball back across the goalmouth and into the top right corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

The two sides exchanged quality goal-scoring opportunities in the first stanza, but only Arteaga of the Riverhounds would find the back of the net.

Following the break, the Riverhounds would double their lead just six minutes into the second half. A combination between Mike Seamon and Dallman on the right flank led to the Riverhounds second goal. Playing the role of setup man again, Dallman delivered another brilliant service to the back post. This time, Angulo rose above his marker to head the ball into the top left corner of the goal.

The Dutch Lions would cut the lead in half at the 65th minute from the foot of Bardsley. A quick switch of play from right-to-left by Westdijk would find Bardsley all alone thirty yards from goal. Bardsley took an inside touch to prepare his body to shoot. Striking a hard right-footed shot from the corner of the penalty area, Bardsley’s shot was touched by Riverhounds goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap, but not enough to keep it out of the goal as the ball ricocheted down off the crossbar and over the goal line for the Dutch Lions first goal of the game.

With six minutes remaining in the game, the Dutch Lions would find the equalizer from the foot of Westdijk. A quick counter by the Dutch Lions down the right flank for Irakli Khutsidze caught the Riverhounds out of shape. As Riverhounds defender Rich Costanzo closed the ball, Khutsidze slid a pass for Westdijk just inside the penalty area right of the goalmouth. Taking a touch towards goal, Westdijk rifled a shot past Gilstrap to bring the score level at two.

The Riverhounds travel to New Jersey next Tuesday for a second-round game in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup against the Ocean City Nor’easters. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. kick off at Carey Stadium. The Dutch Lions return to Dayton for a second-round US Open Cup game against the Dearborn Stars (USASA). The game is slated to kick off at 7:00 p.m. at Beavercreek Stadium.