ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the second time this season, the Riverhounds were undone by a disputed referee’s decision against the USL’s top team, the Rochester Rhinos.

Unlike in April at Highmark Stadium, when a non-call immediately led to the Rhinos’ winning strike, this rain-drenched 1-0 defeat Saturday night at Sahlen’s Stadium turned on the sound of referee Jaime Herrera’s whistle in the 79th minute.

Rochester’s Tony Walls served a short ball into the penalty area, where Riverhounds defender Anthony Arena was called for pushing Alex Dixon to the turf. The resulting protest got coach Mark Steffens and assistant Niko Katic booted from the match by Herrera, and Walls pumped the penalty kick behind keeper Calle Brown.

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Three nights after a spotlight match for soccer in Pittsburgh, the atmosphere at Highmark Stadium could hardly have been more different.

But the USL season must go on and, despite not truly shifting into gear until the final 20 minutes, the Riverhounds checked a couple items off their to-do list in blanking expansion FC Montreal, 1-0, before 1,015 on a dreary, soggy Saturday evening.

They not only became the last of 24 USL teams to record a league shutout but also preserved a one-goal lead at Highmark for the first time in three chances, this in contrast to squandered late advantages against Louisville City FC and Saint Louis FC.

Couple that with two extra-time goals allowed in Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup loss to D.C. United, and the Riverhounds were rather motivated to close it out against an inexperienced group in FC Montreal, the feeder program for the Montreal Impact of MLS.

“It seems like it’s been a long time coming,” assistant coach Josh Rife said. “We’ve been on the wrong end of some games where you feel like you have most of the play and you’re creating opportunities.”

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The Riverhounds entered Wednesday’s anticipated confrontation with Major League Soccer’s D.C. United as the obvious underdogs, but they came out of it talking like they were favorites.

And deservedly so.

Two extra-time goals propelled United past the Riverhounds, 3-1, in a fourth-round U.S. Open Cup match before an overflowing crowd of 3,988 at Highmark Stadium, but the home side strongly felt it deserved better.

“I don’t know how it looked from the outside, but I thought we dominated,” Kevin Kerr said after another tireless effort in the attacking midfield. “We created a lot of chances, so it does sting.”

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It would be a stretch to call Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., rival cities, but their pro sports confrontations have been memorable.

Most of that shared history comes on the ice, where the Penguins and Capitals have faced off eight times in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But don’t forget the 1925 World Series, claimed by the Pirates in seven games over the Walter Johnson-led Senators, or the final sporting event at Three Rivers Stadium, a Steelers win over the Redskins on a drizzly December afternoon.

However, while there have been underdogs in previous Pittsburgh-Washington get-togethers, there has never been one quite like what an overflow crowd of 4,000-plus will witness at 7 p.m. today at Highmark Stadium, where the Riverhounds will host D.C. United of Major League Soccer in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup tournament.

“Nobody expects us to win, so this is a great opportunity to do something special,” team president Richard Nightingale said Tuesday. “Suppose we do win … it’ll be phenomenal.”

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For every action, there is a reaction. But it doesn’t have to be an overreaction.

That was the predominant feeling expressed by the Riverhounds after they tried to defend a late lead but locked up in a 1-1 draw with expansion Saint Louis FC Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium. Rob Vincent’s 73rd-minute penalty kick brought the lead, and Jeremie Lynch’s 84th-minute header equalized.

After the Riverhounds’ back-and-forth madness of last week’s 6-5 win over Harrisburg, attack-minded coach Mark Steffens said the pendulum swung too far the other way.

“Disappointing,” Steffens said. “All week, we worked on defending because we gave up five goals last week, but we didn’t create the number of scoring opportunities we have been doing. I’m happy on one side of the ball, but not so much on the other side. We have to play to our strengths.”

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