It was only three and a half years ago — the start of the 2022 season — that Luke Biasi arrived in Pittsburgh as part of a fresh rookie class that included the likes of Arturo Ordóñez, Nate Dossantos, Marc Ybarra and more.
Now, in 2025, only Biasi remains with the Hounds of the first-year pros from that team. And the next time Biasi appears on the field for the Hounds, the now-veteran defender will hit a milestone only 17 other players have reached: 100 appearances in a Riverhounds uniform.
With Biasi’s milestone making him this year’s first player to join the “Century Club,” we look back at the players who have spent the most time as fixtures in the Hounds’ lineup.
1. Kenardo Forbes — 226
The club’s all-time appearances leader since taking over the record early in his final season, 2024, King Kenny was almost irreplaceable in the lineup as he rolled off a team-record six straight All-USL Championship seasons from 2018-23. While safe through this season, Forbes’ title as the record holder and only “double-century” player could fall as early as next year to another player later on the list.
2. David Flavius — 195
3. Kevin Kerr — 194
Flavius, the St. Lucian international who still holds the club’s goals record during a tenure from 1999-2006, barely held on to his appearances record from Kerr, who retired in 2019 as the club’s assists leader before Forbes climbed that chart, as well.
4. Danny Griffin — 170 (active)
If Forbes’ record is to fall anytime soon, it will be the doing of Griffin, the Hounds’ current captain. His Ironman status is illustrated by the fact Griffin, like Biasi, hit the century mark in July of his fourth year. The difference? Griffin did so despite a pandemic-shortened 2020 season and a brief 2023 stint in MLS Next Pro.
5. Gary DePalma — 157
A 2024 Riverhounds Hall of Fame inductee and the highest Pittsburgh native on the list (for now), DePalma was the first to hit the century mark. He did so mere games before Flavius and a handful of other members of the original 1999 Hounds, who through injury, MLS loans and other means, all reached 100 games with the Hounds slightly after the midfielder/winger.
6. Robbie Mertz — 154 (active)
In the midst of one of his most torrid runs in recent seasons — a game-winning goal and Team of the Week selection this week being the latest evidence — the Hounds’ current Pittsburgh native is showing he has plenty left in the tank to continue his climb up the list.
7. Mike Green — 141
8. Dani Rovira — 139
9. Sterling Flunder — 135
Next on the list are a trio of long-serving stalwarts of the Highmark Stadium era. Their numbers received a boost from the increasing number of games on the USL Championship schedule over the past decade-plus, but all three spent at least six seasons in Pittsburgh and share the common thread of becoming crowd favorites for their steady work ethic.
10. Nathan Salsi — 126
The club’s captain through some of the team’s lean years in the late aughts, Salsi’s total would likely be higher if not for the schedule in those years being just 20 games. To that end, look no further than the team’s three seasons from 2006-09 (2007 was the hiatus year). In those seasons, Salsi played all 60 regular-season contests, including all 1,800 minutes in 2009.
11. Randy Dedini — 125
12. Jaman Tripoli — 112
Dedini, another club Hall of Famer and the top goalkeeper on the list, and Tripoli, his teammate on the original Hounds, reflect the relative continuity on the roster over the first five seasons.
13. Hunter Gilstrap — 110
14. Jason Kutney — 108
Gilstrap and Kutney stretched across eras during their playing career, both continuing into the Highmark Stadium era before hanging up their boots. In Kutney’s case, retirement was when he transitioned fully into a front office role as CEO, a role he picked up before the start of the stadium’s construction, while for Gilstrap, it meant a shift into coaching goalkeepers for the First Team and the Hounds Academy.
15. Justin Evans — 107
Evans, the Hounds’ first-ever signing, pieced together his century over multiple stints. After time playing in MLS and in Europe, he returned to the Hounds in a player-coach role under Gene Klein in 2008-09 before taking over as head coach from 2010-14 and becoming the only person with a century’s worth of matches played and matches coached (112).
16. Michael Apple — 106
17. Phil Karn — 104
The Century Club winds down with two more players from the original Hounds, a pair of high-scoring attackers from Ohio and Eastern Pennsylvania, respectively. Karn’s career wound down shortly after the Hounds, and he now coaches in the Philadelphia Union Academy, while Apple continued on as a player, even playing indoor soccer for the Detroit Ignition, where he was coached for one season by current Hounds boss Bob Lilley.
No. 18 on the list will belong to Biasi when he next steps on the field, very likely when the team hosts Loudoun United FC at 5 p.m. this Sunday. That means the milestone would come two days before Biasi’s 26th birthday and against the team he faced at home in his pro debut back on April 2, 2022.
And for those looking beyond for the next potential Century Club member? That would be Junior Etou, who came off the bench last week against New Mexico United to make his 80th appearance for the Hounds. With 20 matches more, he would have the distinction of being the first African-born player to hit 100 with the Hounds.
