Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC will play its first game of the 2018 season against Nashville SC at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 24 at Nissan Stadium.
Kicking off their inaugural season last weekend, Nashville SC dropped a 2-0 result to reigning league champion Louisville City FC. This Saturday will mark the club’s first home match in regular season play.
The Hounds will see two familiar faces on the opposing side of the pitch Saturday in Taylor Washington and Lebo Moloto. During their time in Pittsburgh, Washington played in 29 games in 2017, while Moloto made 51 appearances and scored seven goals across two seasons from 2015-16. Moloto played a full 90 minutes in Nashville’s first game, while Washington came on as a sub in the 85th minute.
Strengths
Wide range of scoring: Despite being shut out against Louisville, Nashville SC displayed a knack for getting scoring from a wide range of contributors during the preseason. The club saw seven different players notch tallies in four forwards, three midfielders, and a defender. Leading the way was forward Alan Winn with three goals.
Goalkeeping: Starting in goal for Nashville is previous Tampa Bay Rowdies goalkeeper, Matt Pickens. In 2017, Pickens earned 10 shutouts for the Rowdies and helped lead the team to a third-place finish in the USL Eastern Conference.
Weaknesses
First season: As an expansion side, this will be Nashville SC’s first season playing together in the USL Eastern Conference. First-year clubs have produced a mixed bag of results when it comes to success on the pitch. Since 2011, the USL has seen 20 teams debut, not including 2018 newcomers Atlanta, Fresno, Las Vegas and Nashville, with only eleven of those teams making the playoffs in their first year.
