The Pittsburgh Riverhounds fell at home this weekend to FC Cincinnati in a hard fought 1-0 loss. Columbus Crew SC loanees Marshall Hollingsworth and Ben Swanson both received starts at right and central midfield respectively. Abuchi Obinwa was again selected amongst the 18-man game-day roster but never found his way into the match.

The first half was controlled by the Riverhounds for the most part, but following a 42nd minute red card to Pittsburgh defender Gale Agbossoumonde, the momentum shifted in favor of the men from the Queen City.

Both Hollingsworth and Swanson were substituted out in the 63rd minute but had a couple first half moments worth commenting on.

Below is a brief report of their contributions to the match.

Ben Swanson

The Crew SC Homegrown received his first start in the Riverhounds’ second match of 2017. Like his Black & Gold teammate, their presence was mostly felt earlier in the first half, before the red card forced the team's more defensive posture.

In the second minute, Swanson was gifted a half volley at the top of the 18-yard box that he hit with venom, however, the shot trajectory was always rising and cleared the crossbar by a few feet. It was an early moment of confidence for the 19 year old.

Next, in the 28th minute, Swanson played a beautifully sought ball over the Cincinnati backline into the path of an often dangerous Kevin Kerr. The forward, however, lacked the speed to race the ball down and the keeper ended the chance. It's a moment worth checking out on YouTube, where all USL matches can be viewed in entirety.

Swanson also showed a few fleeting moments of strong possession play, positioning, and dribbling ability.

Marshall Hollingsworth

Hollingsworth's night wasn't as impactful as last week. While he still showed defensively aggressive, speedy, physical play, his contributions to the match were rather limited; it was difficult to find too many moments of his that really stood out. Again, taking into account the sending off for the Riverhounds, it's worth noting the team became more defensive-minded.

The Riverhounds travel to South Carolina this Saturday (April 8th) to take on the 2-0-0 Charleston Battery. It's a 7 p.m. kickoff.