PITTSBURGH (Feb. 21, 2026) — A long-range free kick from Lexington SC’s Aaron Molloy brought the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ preseason win streak to an end with Lexington taking a 2-1 win this afternoon at Highmark Stadium.
Albert Dikwa opened the scoring for the Hounds (4-1-0), but their Western Conference opponents fired back with a pair of late goals, the first by Phillip Goodrum before Molloy’s 90th-minute winner.
The quality of the winning finish did nothing to detract from Dikwa’s goal — his second of the preseason — in the 17th minute.
Dikwa was first to get to a long ball forward from goalkeeper Nico Campuzano, but the forward had little support with three defenders tracking back. Instead of cutting the ball backward, Dikwa went for goal, striking the ball on the bounce and lobbing it over the goalkeeper and under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead.
Lexington nearly got the goal back three minutes later. A ball played across from the left side got to Marcus Epps in a wide position on the right, and Epps struck the ball with plenty of power but squarely off the crossbar.
Campuzano came up big for the Hounds with a trio of second-half saves, the best being a diving stop to push behind a half-volley by Lexington’s Alfredo Midence in the 59th minute. But Lexington finally pulled even in the 87th minute from a set piece, as Molloy served a ball into the box that Goodrum was able to head inside the near post.
The match appeared headed toward a draw before Molloy surprised everyone by going for goal with a booming free kick roughly 50 yards from goal. The perfectly placed drive stayed under the bar to put the visitors ahead with only a short stoppage time to play.
The Hounds once again used the match to stretch out their players’ match fitness, as the starting group played 70 minutes before the team made wholesale substitutions for the final 20.
What’s next?
The final week of preseason will be a full week of training for the Hounds before back-to-back matches on the weekend — a 7 p.m. Friday kickoff at home against West Virginia University and a 6 p.m. Saturday match against the University of Pittsburgh at Pitt’s Ambrose Urbanic Field.
Scoring summary
PIT — Albert Dikwa 17’ (Nico Campuzano)
LEX — Phillip Goodrum 87’ (Aaron Molloy)
LEX — Aaron Molloy 90’
