This article is part of a series this week recapping the biggest moments — on and off the field — for Riverhounds SC in 2021. A new moment will be revealed each day until we hit No. 1 on New Year’s Eve. Scroll to the bottom for links to previous installments in the series.
There’s no debating that Russell Cicerone’s first year in a Riverhounds uniform was one of the best by a goal scorer in team history.
With 16 goals, all in league play with the U.S. Open Cup cancelled, the Michigan native put up the third-highest total in a league regular season for the Hounds. Only surpassed by the 22-goal A-League MVP season of Thiago Martins in 2003 and the 18-goal USL campaign by Rob Vincent in 2015, Cicerone’s 2021 total bested even the 2013 MVP season of José Angulo and the 2018 breakout year for Neco Brett, both of whom finished on 15 goals.
But in a season filled with game-winning goals and excellent playmaking — let’s not forget his eight assists on the year — no game stood out more than the show Cicerone put on for the home fans on Aug. 22 against Atlanta United 2. The first career hat trick for the fifth-year pro catapulted the Hounds to a 4-1 win, earned USL Championship Player of the Week honors and thrilled an end-of-summer Sunday crowd of 3,177.
What makes the hat trick all the more remarkable is that the match got off to the worst possible start for Cicerone. After winning a penalty less than two minutes into the match, Cicerone stepped up but was denied by Atlanta goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo, the only penalty miss on the season for the Hounds leading scorer.
But Cicerone quickly shook off any disappointment, and by the fourth minute, the Hounds were on the board thanks to a great ball played through the defense by Alex Dixon for a simple finish.
Goals by Atlanta’s Darwin Matheus and the Hounds’ Tommy Williamson made the score 2-1, and in the 31st minute, Cicerone got his second.
Taking on defender Bryce Washington with a series of 1-on-1 moves, Cicerone showed the veteran savvy to turn the first-year pro out of Pitt, creating enough space to fire a shot into the bottom-right corner of the net.
The first Hounds hat trick since 2019 was completed in the 67th minute, as Cicerone got into the goal box to tap in another feed from Dixon for a 4-1 lead. Cicerone would be substituted for in the 83rd minute, allowing the scoring star to get one last ovation from the appreciative crowd.
Those goals — Cicerone’s ninth, 10th and 11th of the season — also helped him to a runner-up finish in USL Player of the Month voting for August. After the game, the striker said the hat trick was his first since high school, having not accomplished the feat during a decorated college career at Buffalo.
Cicerone would go on to win the Steel Army supporters’ group Player of the Year award and finish seventh in the USL Championship for both goals and assists, making him the only player in the Top 10 in both categories. He will get a chance to make more “Best of” moments for the team in 2022, as the club picked up his contract option for next season, keeping him in Pittsburgh for an encore performance.
More of the Best of 2021 series:
No. 5: Youth Is Served — Borso makes Pro Team debut under Academy contract
No. 4: Hats off for Russell — Cicerone nets first career hat trick in win over Atlanta
No. 3: It’s good to be King (Kenny) — Forbes claims club’s all-time assists record
No. 2: New home sweet home — Construction nears completion on new AHN Montour facility
No. 1: Hounds clinch on one Rowdy night — Victory over Tampa Bay solidifies playoff berth
