In Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC’s 4-0 win against Philadelphia Union II this past Saturday at Highmark Stadium, midfielder Kenardo Forbes cemented his name into the record books. With two first-half assists, Forbes broke the USL Championship all-time assist mark with 38 career helpers.
His first assist came in the 22nd minute, and it all started with a beautiful pass from Danny Griffin that hit Forbes in stride on the right side of the penalty box. Forbes then sent a cross into the center of the penalty area just before his momentum carried him out of bounds. Steevan Dos Santos headed the cross into the top-left corner, giving the Hounds a one-goal lead at the time. This assist would tie Forbes with Maikel Chang for the all-time record.
“He’s been working very hard, and it shows,” Dos Santos said postgame. “He reads the game very well, he knows where to be, where to pass the ball. Like [Kenardo] said, we have a connection. He knows where we are going to be and to set us up.”
Forbes would get his second assist off of a corner kick in the 36th minute. He launched the ball into a sea of Philadelphia defenders, through which Thomas Vancaeyezeele was able to rise up and head the ball into the bottom-right corner. This would give Forbes his 38th career helper, making him the USL Championship’s all-time leader in assists.
Maybe the craziest part about the record is that Forbes didn’t know about it until recently.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know about this record until about a week-and-a-half ago,” Forbes said. “I got an email about the record a week or two ago. I didn’t come into the season trying to break the record necessarily.”
Forbes, whose seven assists leads the USL Championship this season, clearly has a knack for pressuring defenses and creating quality chances for his teammates. He will look to add to his record when the club will return to play this Saturday, to face New York Red Bulls II at Highmark Stadium. The match, set to kick off at 7 p.m., will be Pittsburgh’s second straight match at home and will be locally televised on 22 The Point (WPNT).
