As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression.
A home opener is a major date on any team’s schedule, but even more so today when Riverhounds SC hosts the Charlotte Independence at 7 p.m. For the first time in more than 18 months, the Hounds welcome back the fans they hope to impress.
It is the ninth home opener in the history of Highmark Stadium, and though the Hounds hold just a 2-4-2 record in those matches, there also is no shortage of memories from those nights.
Highmark’s first opening on April 13, 2013 was a 2-1 loss to the Harrisburg City Islanders, but from the pre-match tailgates to the fireworks after dark, the sellout crowd of 4,000 got to experience so much more as their team settled into its new, permanent home after years of high-school hopping.
Justin Evans, a player for the Hounds in the very first home opener at Bethel Park High School on May 1, 1999 and the team’s head coach in 2013, has only the fondest of memories of that first night on the Mon.
“It was tough to delineate between nervousness and emotion walking out of the locker room,” Evans said. “It was excitement, really, hoping to put on a good show with this backdrop and everyone being excited about the stadium. But looking back on all the work that went into making this stadium come to fruition here, it was super special and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
José Angulo scored the first goal in the new building and scored again in the 2014 home opener, a controversy-laden 4-3 loss to the Wilmington Hammerheads. But the all-time opening night star at Highmark Stadium is the man who scored the last Hounds goal in that 2014 game, Kevin Kerr.
Kerr, who still holds the stadium record for both appearances and goals, was the catalyst behind the first Hounds win in a Highmark Stadium home opener in 2015. He scored the only Hounds hat trick even in a home opener and the first Hounds hat trick at Highmark in a 5-2 win over Harrisburg. Those goals account for three of Kerr’s team-record six strikes in home openers.
The former all-league selection, who, like Evans, now coaches in the Riverhounds Development Academy, played coy after his scoring outburst in that 2015 win.
“I rarely get one (goal), so to get three is a bit of a surprise,” Kerr said immediately after that match. “It’s like the gaffer (Coach Mark Steffens) said, you couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
That “script” can be the hardest thing to predict in a home opener because of how early in the season it is.
Some years, it yields high drama, like in a 3-3 draw with New York Red Bulls II in 2016. Other years, it can be a dud of a match, like the 0-0 draw with Penn FC to start 2018. And even when it brings heartbreak, such as when ex-Hound Tyler Pasher scored a stoppage-time winner last season in a 1-0 loss to Indy Eleven, there are always moments to remember.
So what will be the moment to remember from this year’s home opener? With fans in attendance for the first time in so long, the best memories could end up belonging to the players, who will be fueled by the sort of support they missed all of last season.
“That’s what people come to play for Pittsburgh for, to play here at Highmark Stadium in front of the fans and in front of the city,” current Hounds forward Russell Cicerone said. “I’m real excited for it. I think we’ve trained really well, and we’re going to put out a strong performance.”
“It means everything, when your mind starts to talk to you and your body is tired, just trying to push through it,” Evans said. “You hear the crowd behind you, and they genuinely want to win. They want to win for the city, and they want to beat the other team. … It really does make all the difference in the world having them get behind you.”
