PITTSBURGH (April 17, 2026) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 has added a new trio of attacking-minded players with midfielder Daniel Firek and forwards Nick Legendre and Bennett Painter ready to join the team for its first season.
Firek, 20, is joining the team at the University of New Hampshire after completing his junior season this past fall with Lipscomb University, and he led the team in starts and minutes played while registering two assists in his season for the Bisons. Before transferring to Lipscomb, Firek won the Big East regular season title with Akron as a sophomore, playing eight games alongside two current Riverhounds, Beto Ydrach and Mitch Budler, as well as two recently announced Hounds 2 players, Caleb Borneo and Josh Hardin.
Legendre comes to the team after his first season at UNLV as a redshirt junior. He joined Rebels last fall after transferring from Notre Dame, and he scored two goals in his debut season in Las Vegas. The 22-year-old has played soccer all over the world, including time with the Colorado Rapids U-19s, where he led the team in goals, as well as playing for the Rush Select Team in the 2019 Gothia Cup, one of the world’s largest youth soccer tournaments in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Painter, 20, is on his way to Indiana University after finishing his junior season at Bowling Green University with five goals and three assists, giving him a goal contribution on exactly half of the Falcons goals in 2025. A year before, as a sophomore, Painter was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team, leading the team and finishing second in the MVC with 13 goals.
“We are looking forward to adding players that will immediately impact our competitiveness on the field,” Riverhounds 2 head coach Josh Kremers said. “The aim of Riverhounds II is to bring in players who have high potential and a level of understanding of the USL landscape. Both Nick and Bennett bring high levels of attacking threats and have a wealth of experience at the USL League Two level. Similarly, Daniel brings stability and a forward-thinking attitude to the midfield that will allow us to find control in games with the ball. Overall, these three players are what we look for when recruiting players in the Riverhounds organization.”
The Riverhounds 2 season kicks off in exactly one month on Sunday, May 17 when they host the Cleveland Force. Stay up to date ahead of the team’s first USL League Two season on the Hounds 2 News page and on social media by following @RiverhoundsTwo.
