The Hounds’ 4-2 comeback win over Memphis 901 FC last Saturday maintained the team’s position atop the Eastern Conference, and that alone is enough to mark it as an important match in the season.
But a confluence of team milestones and personal achievements that all fell in the same 90 minutes — witnessed by 5,466 fans, a record for a regular-season game at Highmark Stadium — make it worthwhile to look back at things that might have been missed in the initial thrill of victory.
#1,000 hits the net
The one achievement most people were aware of — thanks in part to the Steel Army’s handy counter installed behind the East End goal — was the Hounds scoring their 1,000th goal in all competitive matches, a mark 24 seasons in the making.
When Joe Farrell poked the ball over the line for the Hounds’ first goal of the match, it ended a countdown that had been getting attention since the season began with the Hounds sitting 33 goals away from the mark. That total includes all league matches, playoffs and U.S. Open Cup matches, but not goals scored in preseason or in friendly matches. (So, while still memorable a decade later, José Angulo‘s wonder strike against Wigan Athletic isn’t counted.) By hitting the thousand-goal plateau, the Hounds joined the Charleston Battery as the only active USL Championship club to do so.
The significance of Farrell’s goal, both in the context of the game and of team history, wasn’t lost on the defender, who spoke to reporters after the match.
“It’s amazing. This is such a storied franchise, it’s been around for some time, and so many great players have walked through these halls and on this pitch and have worn our colors, so just to get one small goal that happened to be the 1,000th is truly amazing and remarkable,” Farrell said.
“I feel blessed, and every time I wear these colors, I give it my all, and it’s just another day for me. It helped us to get back in the game and propelled us to win the game.”
Rovi opens his account
Goal No. 1,000 was scored by a first-time scorer for the Hounds, but so were Nos. 1,001 and 1,002.
Farrell’s goal was followed in the second half by Dani Rovira‘s bar-down finish at the back post to tie the match and JC Obregón‘s go-ahead goal only a few minutes later. Obregón, who only signed with the club earlier in July, didn’t have to wait long for his first Hounds tally. But it had been a long time coming for Rovira, one of the team’s most tenured and hardest working players, to finally find the back of the net.
Rovira signed his first professional deal with the Hounds prior to the 2019 season, and the Colombian defender worked his way from a role player that first year to becoming one of the most versatile pieces in the arsenal for coach Bob Lilley.
In 98 appearances — now among the club’s top 20 in that category — Rovira has done a little of everything, playing as an outside back, a holding midfielder, an attacking winger and even handling man-marking duties on elite players like FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta. He had done everything the club had asked of him. Everything, that is, except score.
So when Rovira found the next last Saturday against Memphis, there was plenty of pent up joy and exuberance that came out in the celebration.
“It’s definitely a special moment for me and my family. They’re down in Colombia watching, and I’m sure they’re happy right now and celebrating for me. All I want to do every time I step out there is help the team. This time it was with a goal, and it was very special for me,” Rovira told reporters.
By scoring in his 98th match, Rovira played more games for the Riverhounds than any other field player before scoring his first goal. With nine career assists, Rovira also had set up more goals than any player who had not scored for the team, a distinction he shed with one brilliantly struck half-volley.
First-timers club
As mentioned already, Farrell, Rovira and Obregón each scored their first goals for the club in the win over Memphis. Having three players bag their first in the same game is rare, but not unprecedented, as it happened for the third time in Riverhounds history Saturday.
Naturally, the first instance came when the team had a lot of first-time goal scorers, in the inaugural 1999 season. In only the fourth game in team history, the Hounds routed the Raleigh Capital Express, 7-0, on May 20, 1999, at Bethel Park High School. Four players — Justin Evans, Michael Butler, Michael Apple and Jaman Tripoli — all scored their first for the Hounds in that game. (For reference sake, that game got the team goals No. 4-10 on the way to 1,000!)
Perhaps surprisingly, the second instance was much more recent. The Hounds blasted Philadelphia Union II by a 6-0 score on July 18, 2020 at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., and in the second game of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Ropapa Mensah, Danny Griffin and Lukas Fernandes each lit the scoreboard for the first time as Hounds.
The King’s half-century
Just as the finishing touch on Rovira’s tying goal came with a little history, the setup also led to another never-before-seen number. And as so often is the case, it was the captain, Kenardo Forbes, making history.
Forbes’ delivery, a left-footed chip to the back post, became his 50th assist as a member of the Hounds when Rovira slammed the ball into the net. With another helper — putting him one off the USL Championship lead in 2023 — the Jamaican midfield maestro continued to pad his advantage as the all-time playmaker in both club and league history.
At 50 assists with the team, Forbes could end the season with twice as many assists as any other Hounds player; second-place Kevin Kerr had 27 during his Pittsburgh tenure. And on the league-wide table, Forbes now has 61 assists in the USL Championship regular season, putting him 10 clear of the nearest competitor, Hartford Athletic’s Danny Barrera.
An All-USL selection in all five of his seasons in Pittsburgh, Forbes’ influence on the team’s success so far this season has him positioned to make it 6-for-6. Meanwhile, a hot run through the season’s final two months could land the captain the league’s assists title, one of the very few honors that has evaded the veteran and former league MVP finalist.
Comeback kids
Finally, one note that should bring a smile to the face of any longtime Hounds afficionado: Saturday’s win after trailing 2-0 was the first time the Hounds have rallied to victory after trailing by multiple goals in eight years.
The last time? The Miracle on the Mon, May 30, 2015, against the Harrisburg City Islanders, when the Hounds stormed back from trailing 3-0 and 5-3 to score a famous 6-5 victory at Highmark Stadium.
