Match info
Riverhounds (0-3-1) at Rhode Island FC (0-1-3)
Date: Saturday, April 13
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Beirne Stadium, Smithfield, R.I.
Odds: Hounds +185 / Draw +220 / Rhode Island +135 (FanDuel)
TV: KDKA+
Streaming: ESPN+
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on Twitter
Match hashtags: #RIvPIT and #HOUNDTAHN
(April 11, 2024) — The Hounds will look to get a result on the road for the first time in the young season on a trip to face the newest addition to the USL Championship, Rhode Island FC, when they meet Saturday night on the campus of Bryant University.
It is the first-ever meeting between the clubs and just the third home game in Rhode Island’s history. The hosts have drawn both their home matches thus far at their temporary home — the team will move into a permanent stadium of its own in Pawtucket in 2025 — taking a 1-1 draw with New Mexico in their inaugural match on March 16 and staying resolute last weekend to earn an impressive 0-0 draw with Eastern Conference co-leaders Charleston.
Rhode Island’s top threat is the Hounds’ top scorer of a season ago, Albert Dikwa, who left via free agency in the offseason. Dikwa is the only Rhode Island player to have scored so far this season with three goals to his name; the team’s other goal to date was an own goal. Former Hounds midfielder Marc Ybarra has also been a regular for Rhode Island, and his responsibilities could be increased Saturday. Fellow midfielder Conor McGlynn, who went to Rhode Island in the offseason from Hartford, is suspended for the match after being sent off against Charleston last week.
The Hounds have their full squad to select from, and after their most impressive outing to date last week in a 0-0 draw with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, widespread changes seem unlikely. The team posted its first clean sheet of the season with the trio of Luke Biasi, Pat Hogan and Illal Osumanu being utilized as a starting group for the first time, while goalkeeper Eric Dick was awarded a bench spot on the USL Championship Team of the Week for a two-save clean sheet that included a key free kick stop in the 83rd minute.
Kazaiah Sterling and Langston Blackstock joined Hogan in making their first starts of the season against Tampa Bay, and both played a role in the Hounds creating the bulk of the scoring chances in the match. Sterling on multiple occasions made runs into the box that freed space for Edward Kizza and trailing midfielders like Robbie Mertz, while Blackstock delivered five crosses and had 77 touches on the ball — both team highs — while working the right flank from the wing back position.
The Hounds have been slow starters on the road in defeats at New Mexico and Louisville, so keeping the momentum of last week going will be important with the match in Rhode Island being the first of back-to-back road games. The team has not scored the opening goal in a match this year, which was a big part of last season’s success, as the Hounds were 17-0-2 when scoring first in league matches in 2023.
With the road trip to Smithfield, R.I., the Hounds will be playing in an unfamiliar venue for one of only two times this season, and those matches fall on consecutive weeks. After Beirne Stadium on Saturday, the Hounds will play next Saturday at the new Phoenix Rising Soccer Stadium, which opened last year. It is the team’s first-ever game in the state of Rhode Island, making it the 34th U.S. state where the Hounds will have played a match, and it marks a return to the state for Danny Griffin, a New England native who played collegiately at nearby Providence College.
Saturday’s match will be shown live on KDKA+ and streamed on both the KDKA website locally as well as nationally on ESPN+. In addition to the live broadcast, fans will be able to watch a replay of the game on KDKA+ at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Fans who want to gather to watch the match alongside their fellow Hounds supporters are encouraged to go to Saturday night’s watch party at The Pitch on Butler, located at 4717 Butler St. in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. Enjoy the match and a $3 IC Light draft special during the game at The Pitch on Butler.
