Two goals from Rob Vincent powered the Pittsburgh Riverhounds to a 3-0 win over the New York Red Bulls II Saturday night at Highmark Stadium.

The English midfielder capitalized on a broken play at the visitors’ end of the field on 41 minutes to blast a 30-yard drive past Red Bulls goalkeeper Santi Castano. Vincent put the icing on the cake with eight minutes remaining to bring his league tally to 11 goals in 15 games and set the Hounds off to a winning start to the second half of the USL regular season.

Substitute Tyler Pasher had given the Hounds a two-goal cushion on 74 minutes with a perfectly placed header to convert Matt Dallman’s cross.

The Hounds (6-5-4, 22 points) leapfrog the visitors with the win to move into fifth place in the USL’s Eastern Conference. The Red Bulls stay on 22 points with a 6-6-4 record.

New York failed to match the Hounds fireworks on this Fourth of July cracker. John Wolyniec’s men failed to create any decent scoring chances with Pittsburgh defenders Anthony Arena and Fejiro Okiomah dealing with everything that came their way.

The Hounds entered Saturday’s game with their share of adversity. Head coach Mark Steffens and assistant Niko Katic were both suspended one game for protesting last week’s late penalty call at the Rochester Rhinos.

Captain Danny Earls and defender Willie Hunt were also serving one game bans following last week’s loss to the league leaders.

Acting coach Josh Rife led the Hounds to a comfortable victory in front of 3,122 fans despite all the missing faces. -by Riverhounds PR Staff

The Hounds leave Tuesday for a Canadian double-header against Toronto F.C. II on July 8 and F.C. Montreal on July 12. Both games will be streamed live on Riverhounds.com. Check our website for kickoff times and full game details.