Pittsburgh rallies to defeat Hartford Athletic, 3-2

HARTFORD — Russell Cicerone’s goal one minute into extra time rallied the Pittsburgh Riverhounds to a 3-2 USL Championship win over the Hartford Athletic on Saturday night at Dillon Stadium.

It was the second goal of the night for Cicerone, who had given Pittsburgh the early lead when he scored two minutes in.

Hartford had led 2-1 through much of the game, thanks to goals from Juan Carlos Obregon Jr. and Danny Barrera, before Alex Dixon tied it at 2-2 at the 57-minute mark. Athletic was forced to play a man down from the 36th minute on after Walid Yacoubou took at red card and was sent off.

It was a missed chance to pick up points in the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division race. Hartford falls to 8-8-3 and is now in sixth place in the division. Pittsburgh improves to 12-6-4 and takes over first place with 40 points.

After Cicerone’s early goal, Obregon Jr. tied things up for Hartford at 18 minutes. Despite being a man down, Barrera gave Hartford the lead when he cashed in a penalty shot at 51 minutes, but Dixon evened the match for Pittsburgh six minutes later.

Hartford is back in action on Wednesday at home against Charleston Battery at 7 p.m.