The Harrisburg City Islanders traveled to Pittsburgh to face their rivals, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, in the first game of their two game weekend.
Luckymore Mkosana kicked off the scoring for the City Islanders in the 18th minute of the match. Brian Ombiji received a slicing through ball from Jason Pelletier and after taking a few touches, Ombiji thread the ball though the box to Mkosana at the top of the 18..
Mkosana hit a hard shot past Pittsburgh goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap for the 1-0 lead. Pittsburgh was not ready to submit early to the City Islanders, though.
In the 25th minute of the match, Anthony Calvano, a former Harrisburg City Islander, played a sweeping cross to the penalty spot for Matt Kassel. The former New York Red Bull Home Grown Player's header flicked on to Rich Costanzo, who cut back toward the middle of the box and then finished past Harrisburg goalkeeper Nick Noble.
Late magic for the Riverhounds came in the 80th minute, when Calvano's service abilities came into play again. Calvano sent in a back post cross, which was directed into the net by Darren Amoo for a 2-1 lead.
Not a minute later, the Riverhounds would see their lead disappear. A corner kick in the 81st minute was the turning point of the match.
The corner was nodded into the box by Drew Yates, then flicked on by Bilal Duckett. Sainey Touray brought the ball down and found the back of the net for the late equalizer.
In the 87th minute, the Islanders broke out on three on two advantage. Yann Ekra laid the ball off to trailing Garrett Pettis who took a one-time shot finding the net for the 3-2 advantage.
The second match of the the two game weekend was at City Island in Harrisburg, PA versus Antigua Barracuda FC.
The match was changed from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm due to the east coast heat, then delayed another thirty minutes due to the inclement weather. It finally started at 8:30 pm and was very physical from the beginning.
Although there was no scoring for most of the game, Antigua racked up six fouls and the City Islanders added two of their own.
The scoring itself did not start until the 71st minute of the match when Antigua midfielder, Matt Aldred collected the ball at the top of the 18 yard box after it trickled through a swarm of players in the penalty area. Aldred volleyed the ball toward the net, however it took a deflection off of Jason Pelletier and fooled Noble, to put Antigua Barracuda FC up 1-0.
More late magic during the weekend would earn the Islanders a draw in stoppage time. After a quick build-up on the right side, Collin Zizzi launched a cross into the six yard box which was met by a diving Touray for the late equalizer.
Harrisburg pick up a much needed four points out of the weekend, moving them up to fifth place in the standings, jumping from seventh over the Richmond Kickers. The City Islanders' next match is Friday July 13th on City Island at 6:00pm.