PITTSBURGH (Aug. 29, 2023) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC defender Dani Rovira was selected to the USL Championship Team of the Week for Week 25, the league announced this afternoon.
It is the second Team of the Week honor in the past three weeks for Rovira, who has been a veteran presence and provided excellent two-way play for the Hounds at both right back and left back.
Rovira had his first two-assist game last Wednesday in the team’s 4-3 win at Hartford Athletic. He set up the team’s third goal by providing the cross that allowed Marc Ybarra to head in his first career goal, and in the 88th minute, he picked out JC Obregón at the top of the box, allowing the striker to turn and shoot for the game-winning goal. On the opposite end, Rovira won all three tackles he contested and gained possession of the ball six times in total.
Rovira moved to the bench in the Hounds’ second match of the week, a 0-0 draw at defending champion San Antonio FC, but he did appear as a late substitute to help maintain the shutout.
The two assists give Rovira 12 as a member of the Riverhounds, putting him one away from being the only defender to crack the team’s all-time top 10 in that category.
Rovira was joined in the weekly honors by striker Albert Dikwa, who earned one of the bench spots this week. Dikwa scored the first two goals in the win over Hartford to pull into a tie for the Championship lead with 14, and he won four fouls in the road draw at San Antonio, where he finished with the TV cameras catching a torn jersey representative of his hard-working 89-minute effort.
The Hounds remain in first place in the league standings entering their final weekend off of the season. They come back from the Labor Day holiday with a home match Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. against Loudoun United FC.
