Photo courtesy of Brooklyn FC
Sam Bassett’s stunning free kick with less than ten minutes remaining proved to be the difference for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in a 1-0 road win over Brooklyn FC Saturday night. Pittsburgh (10-8-3, 33 points) only threatened the hosts a couple of times but took advantage of some outstanding goalkeeping by Nico Campuzano and their lone opportunity to steal three points at Maimonides Park. Pittsburgh moved up to third place in the Eastern Conference, making late-season push to remain in a top seed for the USL playoffs.
Brooklyn (3-12-4, 13 points) dropped their fourth-straight game and haven’t won since July 4th when they defeated the same Pittsburgh team 2-0 at F.N.B. Stadium
The game opened in a midfield battle as Pittsburgh relied on their organization to keep Brooklyn from penetrating through the lines. The hosts had the game’s first real chance in the 13th minute on a free kick from a wide area on the right. C.J. Olney delivered an inswinger to the front six with Markus Anderson the closest challenger. But the ball deflected off Pittsburgh defender Owen Mikoy’s shoulder and off the crossbar.
Less than ten minutes later, Pittsburgh had their first chance when Eliot Goldthorp raced onto a long ball out the back and cut a defender to the inside, but his shot failed to beat Brooklyn keeper Jackson Lee.
Pittsburgh had their best chance to get on the board following a corner in the 29th minute. Bassett’s corner skimmed off Victor Souza’s head and fell to Goldthorp on the doorstep, but Lee made a fantastic save to deny the Pitt striker from point-blank range. The remaining fifteen minutes played out more like a chess match through midfield, some give-and-take but no clear cut chances at a checkmate.
The second half began much in the same way as the first, with multiple changes of possession and little risk taking. In the 65th minute, Brooklyn’s Markus Anderson ran down a long ball from the back and beat Souza with a cut to the inside, but his shot lacked the power to beat Campuzano, who made the low save though the ball did trickle over him creating a glimmer of hope. Anderson arrived this season from the Philadelphia Union where he spent two years, mostly with the Union II.
In the 79th minute, Brooklyn created another real moment of danger from a free kick. Thomas Vancaeyezeele sent a looping inswinger that substitute Jaden Servania flicked on with his head, but again Campuzano managed to push the ball over the bar.
The game’s defining moment arrived in the 83rd minute when Pittsburgh’s Junior Etou won a free kick outside the box after defender Ryan McLaughlin took him down. Bassett stepped up and curled a magnificent shot over the wall that beat Lee at the near post. The goal was Bassett’s 4th on the season.
Sam Bassett puts Pittsburgh up 1-0 with a beauty. pic.twitter.com/iF39keBUS0
— Backyard Pitches (@BackyardPitches) August 23, 2026
Brooklyn did their best earn a goal back in the late-game rush. Olney had a good look with four minutes to play, receiving the ball wide of the box with a defender to beat, but Campuzano pushed his angled curler away.
“I thought I hit it pretty well,” Olney said after the game. He [Campuzano] told me after the game he had to get me back for when we played them in Pittsburgh.” Olney scored in the Brooklyn win, his second of the season. He also leads the team with 5 assists. “His center back was blocking the near post, so he knew I could only go far. Maybe I left it a little too close.”
After Campuzano saved another long strike from distance, the Riverhounds kept Brooklyn away from goal the rest of the way and walked out of Brooklyn with three points when it could have easily been one.
Brooklyn coach Marlon LeBlanc said after the game felt his team played well enough to earn a draw and created enough chances to win, but Pittsburgh’s use of the smaller field changed the way they’d played their previous match in Pittsburgh. “Their compactness and directness certainly made it difficult because we were never able to get them out in order to expose some space in behind.”
Brooklyn was also without Abdoulaye Kante through injury. Kante scored in Brooklyn’s win over Pittsburgh in July and leads the team in goals alongside Anderson with six. “Our ability to go and put some verticality in transition is a big part of how we play,” LeBlanc said. “We probably didn’t have enough of those moments today.”
For Brooklyn, the goal is to keep pushing despite the recent dip in results.
“The competitiveness from our group, the togetherness, and the fight was a lot better this week than it has been over the last few weeks,” Brooklyn captain Tommy McNamara said after the game. McNamara, an MLS veteran with over two hundred appearances, a majority with New York City FC and New England Revolution, said it was difficult to give up a goal when they only conceded two shots in the second half. “On the flip side, we should have been more dangerous. We had more of the ball in the second half, but we didn’t quite turn that into too many chances.”
Vacaeyzelee echoed his captain’s thoughts on the game and still believes his team has the mettle to turn the season around. “We still believe in it,” he said. “The coaching staff still believes in it. We’re going to fight until it’s mathematically not possible. We have the players to make the playoffs, but the results don’t show. Tonight, we were the better team, but it doesn’t show on the end of the score sheet.”
Brooklyn returns to action next Saturday to face Sporting Jacksonville at home before traveling to Tampa Bay to play the Rowdies, who lead the Eastern Conference by 9 points over Detroit FC. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has a quick turnaround against El Paso Locomotive FC on the road midweek before hosting the Rowdies next Saturday.
