As the curtain comes down on the 2026 USL League Two season, Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 can look back on their debut year with heads high after taking a third-place finish in the seven-team Great Forest Division.
During the 2026 season, the Riverhounds Two helped more than 30 athletes train and develop their skills in a professional environment. Head coach Josh Kremers prides the team on excelling “in a fighting mentality” throughout the season.
“We had a couple games where we could have given up, and regardless of the outcome, we kept pushing,” Kremers said, adding the team had “a willingness to never say die.”
The team finished the regular season with six wins, two draws, and four losses in 12 matches, which placed them just four points out of a playoff spot behind second-place FC Buffalo. Although the team had a packed schedule, Kremers emphasized that the heavy match schedule strengthened the team’s ability to bounce back.
“Having games come every three to four days didn’t make it easy, but you need to have a short memory after the game,” Kremers said.
Along with a demanding match schedule, Kremers found that it was a challenge at first to find consistency and get everyone on the same page.
“With players coming in throughout the first two weeks of the season, it was difficult to find consistency,” said Kremers, who continued saying the team found that consistency “by creating a common language and clarifying certain principles.”
Looking back on the June 3 match when Hounds 2 faced FC Buffalo, Jack Moxom and the defense were able to withstand pressure, including an incredible double save by Moxom in goal, for a third clean sheet and a 0-0 draw against one of the division’s best. The next week, Hounds 2 went on the road an took a point from the eventual division champs, Steel City FC, by also blanking them in a 0-0 contest in which the team carried a good portion of the action.
Nicholas Legendre and Michael Lee added to the fire that Hounds 2 brought to the field on match days. The two led as the team’s top goal scorers in 2026 with Legendre scoring six and Lee netting four throughout the season.
Hounds 2 improved their consistency and communication which led them to win their final home match, 2-1 against Akron City FC, and they ensured they would have a winning record on the season with a 4-0 win on the road against Erie Sports Center to end June.
While players developed new skills, they also made sure to create strong connections to help build chemistry on and off the field.
“This group was great throughout the summer, developing a pretty natural chemistry even when players were coming and going,” Kremers said. “I found that often players had connections that they never even knew about.”
Hounds 2 saw a bit of everything in their first season, from battling extreme heat to quick match day turnaround times, but the team put up a fight until the very end to make Kremers proud of the team’s dedication throughout.
“It’s easy to start leaving or quit when there isn’t much to play for in the end, and this group stuck it out and fought until the end,” Kremers said. “The team’s dedication to the entirety of the season, finishing it out all the way until the last game, brought me a great deal of pride.”
Looking back on the 2026 League Two season, the pre-professional Hounds 2 team proved to be a working model that created a professional environment to help players develop a higher skill set.
During and after the League Two season, a number of the Hounds 2 players were invited by Riverhounds head coach Rob Vincent to join training with the professional team. Those opportunities proved mutually beneficial, giving the Hounds 2 players a chance to experience life in a pro team setting while allowing Vincent and his staff a chance to evaluate the players for future opportunities when those players are ready to make the leap to the next level.
“Integrating over 10 players into the First Team environment means that the model is moving in the right direction,” Kremers said. “A number of players did well in the First Team training environment and caught the eye of staff, which will be helpful in recruiting and utilizing our platform to recruit players in the future.”
To keep up with Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2 for offseason updates, player news and looks ahead to the 2027 season, follow the team at @RiverhoundsTwo on Instagram and X/Twitter.
