Match Previews

Match info

USL Jägermeister Cup Group Stage
Riverhounds (1-2-0) vs. Portland Hearts of Pine (1-2-0)
Date: Friday, July 25
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Fitzpatrick Stadium, Portland, Maine
Odds: Not available
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh+
Streaming: ESPN+
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #PORvPIT and #Grittsburgh

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(July 23, 2025) — The Hounds’ first run through the USL Jägermeister Cup comes to an end with one final group stage match, a first-ever trip to face USL League One newcomers Portland Hearts of Pine on Friday night.

Though neither team is able to advance out of Group 4, which will end topped by either Rhode Island or Hartford, the Hounds enter the match riding a five-game unbeaten streak they are aiming to continue while working some fresh legs into the lineup. The Hounds’ next three matches are their final congested schedule stretch of the season — Friday at Portland, Tuesday vs. Miami and next Saturday vs. Rhode Island make it three in nine days — so once again head coach Bob Lilley will utilize some rotation to preserve his squad’s legs approaching the back third of the season.

How exactly that will shake out is yet to be seen. In the team’s previous Jäger Cup match, a 1-0 win on June 28 against Westchester FC, Bertin Jacquesson netted the winning goal early in the contest, and Jacob Randolph kept the visitors off the scoreboard for his second clean sheet of the season. That match also saw Bradley Sample, Jorge Garcia and Max Broughton drawn into the starting 11, and similar shake-ups are likely in Portland.

Portland, meanwhile, sits eighth in the 14-team League One table, but they have been a tough side to get the better of with a very skewed 4-3-8 record. The team showed its potential earlier in the cup by pulling off a 4-2 win at Detroit, a result that should have the Hounds properly on their guard.

English forward Ollie Wright — a former Championship player with San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley — leads the Portland attack this season with three goals and three assists in league play. Along with longtime Birmingham Legion defender Mikey Lopez, who has nearly 200 Championship appearances to go with an MLS stint in his career, and the Hearts of Pine have some quality in the heart of their lineup.

Facing the League One outfit does bring a novel element to the match. The Hounds have never played in the state of Maine, so Friday’s match will make the Pine Tree State the 35th state to play host to a Riverhounds match. It is also the easternmost domestic venue the Hounds have visited, and only Hamilton, Bermuda (Bermuda Hogges) and St. John’s, Antigua (Antigua Barracuda) have been further East among cities to host a Hounds match.

The match kicks off slightly earlier than usual with a 6:30 p.m. start, and it will be shown live on SportsNet Pittsburgh+ and streamed live on ESPN+. Replays of the match will be shown throughout the weekend on the main SportsNet Pittsburgh channel and on SNP+; see the Hounds’ social media accounts for a full schedule of replay times.

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Downloadable Game Notes

Match info

Riverhounds (6-6-3) vs. Detroit City FC (5-6-5)
Date: Friday, July 18
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, Mich.
Odds: Hounds +170 / Draw +190 / Detroit +160 at Fan Duel
TV: ESPN2
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #DETvPIT and #Grittsburgh

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(July 16, 2025) — The Hounds and Detroit City FC have had plenty of meaningful battles during Detroit’s four seasons in the USL Championship, and another one is on tap Friday night in Michigan for a national TV audience on ESPN2.

This time, the matchup is about positioning in the Eastern Conference. Both teams are on the right side of the playoff line with the Hounds in fifth and Detroit only a point back in seventh, but three points would go a long way toward either team making a charge back toward the top four.

The Hounds won the first regular-season matchup last month, 2-0, behind goals from Perrin Barnes and Robbie Mertz, but this will actually be a rubber match for 2025, as Detroit took a 1-0 win at home in the Jägermeister Cup back in April with a Darren Smith goal in stoppage time.

Low-scoring, tight affairs have been the norm in the series. The Hounds hold a 3-2-4 advantage overall, but in nine meetings, the teams have never combined for more than two goals in a single match.

Mertz right now seems to be the player who could break that run for the Hounds. The in-form midfielder has three goals and an assist in five league matches dating back to that last meeting with Detroit. The four goal contributions make it the second-best five-match run in the Championship for Mertz since his return to the Hounds in the middle of the 2022 season, trailing only the final five regular-season matches of 2024, when he posted a goal and four assists down the stretch.

Detroit, on the other hand, has been flailing of late, losing five of its last six league matches to slip out of the top four. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that downturn has coincided with a cooling off by Smith after a torrid start. The South African striker had nine goals in his first 10 matches in all competitions for Detroit on May 3, but since then, he has just one tally in the team’s most recent 10 matches, that coming in a 4-2 Jägermeister Cup defeat against Portland.

The Hounds will look to add on to Detroit’s woes Friday night, but doing so would break a trend, as the two teams have drawn at least once during every year they have met. That streak that extends even longer than Detroit’s participation in USL; the teams played a 0-0 preseason draw in 2021 when Detroit was still a member of third-division NISA.

With the match on ESPN2, there will not be a live stream, but fans will be able to watch through the ESPN app by logging into their cable provider.

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Match info

Riverhounds (6-6-2) vs. Loudoun United FC (8-4-1)
Date: Sunday, July 13
Time: 5 p.m.
Location: Highmark Stadium
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Odds: Hounds +105 / Draw +220 / Loudoun +240 at Fan Duel
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: SiriusXM FC, Ch. 157 (English); Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #PITvLDN and #Grittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH (July 11, 2025) — The Hounds have a chance to go a perfect 4-for-4 on their current homestand, and doing so would mean exacting a measure of revenge Sunday evening on a Loudoun United FC team that got the better of the Hounds back in April.

On the heels of a 1-0 win over Western Conference-leading New Mexico, the Hounds have Highmark Stadium trending back to its “Fort Highmark” ways with a 7-2-0 record there in all competitions in 2025. Keeping that rolling would mean closing the gap on the Loudoun team that enters the weekend third in the Eastern Conference, but now only six points clear of the Hounds, who sit tied for fifth.

Robbie Mertz, the Pittsburgh native who netted the lone goal in the New Mexico triumph, earned a spot on the USL Championship Team of the Week, and the timing couldn’t have been better. Sunday’s match will see the first 750 fans in attendance receive a limited edition Robbie Mertz Bobblehead, celebrating the hometown hero who recently became just the third player in Hounds history with both 20 goals and 20 assists for the team.

Milestones aren’t just limited to Mertz, as defender Luke Biasi is poised to make his 100th Riverhounds appearance. Should that happen Sunday, Biasi will hit the century mark facing the same Loudun team he made his professional debut against in a home match back on April 2, 2022.

Biasi and the Hounds’ defense have rounded into form over the past seven weeks, shaking off the four goals allowed in their Open Cup loss at the Philadelphia Union. The Hounds have allowed only three goals in the seven matches since, which includes three shutouts by Eric Dick and another by Jacob Randolph.

Loudoun, meanwhile, comes to Pittsburgh led by Championship goals co-leader Abdellatif Aboukoura, the player that scored the winning goal to beat the Hounds, 2-1, on April 19. Aboukoura has 11 on the season for the Northern Virginia side, and veteran playmaker Florian Valot has six assists for Loudoun, but they will be without their running mate up top, Zach Ryan, who is suspended for the match after being sent off in Loudoun’s last match, a scoreless draw with Orange County back on July 3.

In addition to the bobblehead giveaway, Highmark Stadium will have plenty of family-friendly fun with Sunday being one of the team’s FamFest nights. From 1-3 p.m., kids can arrive early for a Touch-a-Truck event in the stadium’s West Lot and sign up for AMO’s Pups Club. With the early kickoff time, the Tailgate Zone will open at 3 p.m., while gates to the stadium open at 4 p.m.

The match will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network, the first of three national TV matches for the Hounds in a busy July. SiriusXM FC, Channel 157 will air that broadcast live over their satellite airwaves, and the Spanish-speaking audience can catch all the action live on Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2.

Tickets for Sunday’s match are still available through Ticketmaster and at the Highmark Stadium Box Office.

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Downloadable Game Notes

Match info

Riverhounds (5-6-2) vs. New Mexico United (8-4-1)
Date: Friday, July 4
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Highmark Stadium
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Odds: Hounds -105 / Draw +230 / New Mexico +260 at Fan Duel
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Streaming: CBS Sports Golazo Network
Radio: Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #PITvNM and #Grittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH (July 2, 2025) — With two wins from two matches in a four-match homestand, the Hounds will try to keep things rolling when they host Western Conference-leading New Mexico United in a special Friday night contest at Highmark Stadium.

While the soccer match is the main event, Friday’s match marks the return of the Hounds’ Independence Day home matches, a tradition in the early years of Highmark Stadium before the 2020 pandemic interrupted the nearly annual event. As was the case from 2013-19, fans will be able to remain in the stadium after the match to enjoy the City of Pittsburgh’s fireworks display without having to worry about finding a good viewing spot or a place to park at the last minute. Fireworks begin at 9:35 p.m., and tickets are still available for the match through Ticketmaster and the Highmark Stadium box office.

The Hounds are 4-2-1 in seven Independence Day matches at Highmark Stadium — including two wins in the first two seasons under Bob Lilley — but those have little bearing on this year’s match, which will be a challenge against a potent New Mexico squad that is sixth in the Championship with 21 goals scored.

New Mexico has done it with balance in attack, as six different players have multiple goals for them, led by four from Luiz Fernando and five assists from Mukwelle Akale, another player with multiple goals in 2025. They have also been solid, if not spectacular, at the back with only 14 goals allowed, and that starts with one of the Championship’s most experienced goalkeepers, Alex Tambakis, who is one clean sheet away from tying the league’s all-time record of 58 career shutouts.

The Hounds were able to get some regular players rest last week in the Jägermeister Cup win over Westchester SC. Eric Dick and Guillaume Vacter both had the full night off, while Jackson Walti, Luke Biasi and Augi Williams all played limited minutes off the bench last Saturday, and all will be available to fill their usual roles Friday night, as will Bertin Jacquesson, who opened his scoring account with the lone goal in the 1-0 win.

Highmark Stadium will still open at its normal time — Tailgate Zone at 5 p.m. and gates at 6 p.m. — after the USL W League semifinals being played earlier in the day. The full day of soccer will be the debut of this month’s new food specials, which include Beef Brisket Nachos at the Nacho Junction stand, as well as the return of two summer favorites to the train grill on the East End: footlong chili dogs and cheeseburgers topped with pineapple, Swiss and a teriyaki barbecue sauce.

Friday’s match will air live on both SportsNet Pittsburgh (joined in progress after Pirates baseball coverage) and SportsNet Pittsburgh+ (in its entirety), and CBS Sports Golazo Network will carry the live stream of the coverage. Re-airings of the match will be shown on SNP and SNP+ throughout the day Saturday, and Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 will have the Spanish-language radio broadcast live on Friday night.

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Downloadable Game Notes

Match info

USL Jägermeister Cup Group Stage
Riverhounds (0-2-0) vs. Westchester SC (0-2-0)
Date: Saturday, June 28
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Highmark Stadium
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Odds: Not available
TV: KDKA+
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #PITvWES and #Grittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH (June 26, 2025) — The Hounds step back out of USL Championship action for their third match in Jägermeister Cup play when they face USL League One foe Westchester SC for the first time ever Saturday at Highmark Stadium.

Neither side is mathematically eliminated from the competition after each dropped their first two matches, but it would require two wins — and a fair share of favorable results elsewhere — to advance to the Cup’s knockout rounds. But regardless of their odds to move on, the Hounds will want to maintain their momentum at home after winning their last two league matches at their home ground.

Coming off a 2-1 win in which they blitzed the Tampa Bay Rowdies early with two goals in the first 20 minutes, the Hounds will also try to take the game to a Westchester team that has only four wins on the season, two of which came against lower-league opposition in the U.S. Open Cup. Augi Williams regained his scoring touch by netting his second of the season in the Rowdies win, and though he didn’t get credited for an assist, Robbie Mertz continued his strong rate of creating chances with the corner kick he served leading to a Rowdies own goal.

Because the Jäger Cup match falls on the regular schedule — and with no midweek matches until next month — the Hounds can start their strongest lineup on normal rest. However, there are likely to be some tweaks to the lineup, starting at the back, where Jacob Randolph has started both previous Jäger Cup matches in goal for the Hounds.

Westchester, a first-year club, is still getting its footing but has its share of talented players, led by top scorer and former Hounds forward J.C. Obregón (6 goals) and veteran playmaker Conor McGlynn (4 goals). Their team is coming off a 10-day layoff since their last match, but they have a little momentum of their own after claiming a 2-1 road win at Forward Madison behind goals by Obregón and another Championship veteran, Prince Saydee.

At the stadium, fans will want to arrive early to partake in another $1 Beer Night promotion, with I.C. Light on sale from 5 p.m. until kickoff in the Tailgate Zone and in the stadium after gates open. Tickets for the match are still available on Ticketmaster and at the Highmark Stadium Box Office.

Saturday’s match will air live on KDKA+ and stream in-market on KDKA.com and everywhere else on ESPN+. The Spanish-language radio broadcast of the match will be carried by Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2.

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Downloadable Game Notes

Match info

Riverhounds (4-6-2) vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies (2-8-2)
Date: Saturday, June 21
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Highmark Stadium
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Odds: Hounds +115 / Draw +230 / Tampa Bay +200 at Fan Duel
TV: KDKA+
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #PITvTBR and #Grittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH (June 19, 2025) — A return to the friendly confines of Highmark Stadium will provide a boost to the Hounds, as they kick off a stretch of eight home matches in their next 10 overall by hosting the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday night.

The Hounds will want to get out on the front foot against the Rowdies after last weekend’s 1-0 loss in Indianapolis that was the first time since 2021 the Hounds were held without a shot on goal. The aim will be a performance more like the team’s previous home match, a 2-0 win over Detroit in which the Hounds pulled off the same feat, holding their visitors without a shot on goal and to just one shot total.

Despite the uneven start to the season, the Hounds are 4-2-0 at home in all competitions in 2025 — 3-1-0 in USL Championship play — and all four of the wins have been clean sheets for Eric Dick and the Hounds defense. Apart from center back Illal Osumanu, who is questionable after pulling up with an injury against Indy, the Hounds expect to have a full compliment of players to put their best foot forward beginning the homestand.

The Rowdies, meanwhile, have been uncharacteristically poor to begin 2025, with a 2-8-2 record leaving them second from the bottom of the Eastern Conference. However, many of their quality pieces of recent years remain, including Laurence Wyke, Lewis Hilton and Manuel Arteaga, the latter two of whom combined for the game-winning goal in stoppage time last weekend for the Rowdies in a win over in-state rival Miami FC. Their attack has been spearheaded by young Canadian Woobens Pacius, who has five goals for Tampa Bay on loan from Nashville SC.

It will be an entertaining night at Highmark when it concludes with the team’s second Firework Frenzy postgame show. The fireworks will cap the team’s Soccer is for Everyone Night, when we celebrate the diverse groups that unite here in the City of Pittsburgh and around the sport of soccer. Tickets for the match are available through Ticketmaster and at the Highmark Stadium Box Office.

Coverage of the match will be aired live on KDKA+ and streamed on ESPN+. The Hounds’ partners at Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 will also have a Spanish-language broadcast of the match available on air and online.

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Downloadable Game Notes

Match info

Riverhounds (4-5-2) vs. Indy Eleven (2-3-5)
Date: Saturday, June 14
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Michael A. Carroll Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind.
Odds: Hounds +190 / Draw +230 / Indy +125 at Fan Duel
TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh
Streaming: CBS Sports Golazo Network
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #INDvPIT and #Grittsburgh

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(June 12, 2025) — The Hounds will be on the hunt to win three consecutive league matches for the first time this season on Saturday, when they travel to face one of their most familiar opponents of recent years, Indy Eleven.

Coming off an excellent performance to dispatch Detroit, 2-0, the Hounds want to keep their momentum going on both sides of the ball.

From an attacking standpoint, new dad Robbie Mertz is coming off a vintage performance with a goal and an assist to earned his first-ever USL Championship Player of the Week honor. The energy of Mertz and Danny Griffin harried Detroit into mistakes, and with Augi Williams occupying center backs with his runs, the Hounds were able to find plenty of space working the ball from side to side, leading to the goals by Mertz and Perrin Barnes jumping into attack as a wing back.

Defensively, the Hounds were stout, despite a small lapse in the final minutes. The team held Detroit to only one shot and a expected goals (xG) number of 0.02. Both of those numbers tied the lowest allowed by the Hounds since the USL began using Opta stats tracking in 2017, and it led to Eric Dick recording his 20th clean sheet as a member of the Hounds, tying Jahmali Waite for third-most in team history.

In Indy, the Hounds face an opponent that hasn’t won in the league since their third match of the season, but the Eleven are no easy-beats, having drawn 50 percent of their matches — 5 out of 10.

Elvis Amoh leads Indy with four goals this season, but the hosts have their share of firepower with former Hounds forward Edward Kizza and always creative and dangerous Aodhan Quinn, who leads the team with four assists, in the midfield. The weak link for Indy has been their defense with 20 goals allowed, which ties them for the second-most goals allowed in the Championship and the most in the Eastern Conference.

Of course, Hounds matches with Indy are usually nail-biting affairs, as 12 of the 15 all-time meetings between the teams have been settled by a goal or fewer. And Indy remains the only team the Hounds have played every season since 2018, the year the Eleven joined the Championship.

This week’s road match will be televised locally on SportsNet Pittsburgh, which will also show multiple re-airings throughout Sunday and Monday on both SNP and their SNP+ alternate channel. The match will also be streamed live for free on CBS Sports Golazo Network.

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Downloadable Game Notes

Match info

Riverhounds (3-5-2) vs. Detroit City FC (4-2-5)
Date: Saturday, June 7
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Highmark Stadium
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Odds: Hounds +105 / Draw +200 / Detroit +250 at Fan Duel
TV: KDKA+
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #PITvDET and #Grittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH (June 5, 2025) — If history has shown anything, fans should expect a close matchup when they pack Highmark Stadium to see the Hounds host Detroit City FC on Saturday night.

It is the ninth competitive installment between the two teams, who have drawn half of their meetings since Detroit joined the USL Championship in 2022. The most lopsided results in the series are the Hounds’ two 2-0 wins — both at home in 2023 and 2024 — though Detroit got the upper hand in the first of three scheduled meetings this year, a 1-0 result in Michigan that was part of Jägermeister Cup competition.

Spearheading the Detroit attack is South African striker Darren Smith, who already has 10 goals in all competitions this year, one of which was the stoppage-time game winner against the Hounds in the Jäger Cup. Unlike some of the defensive-oriented Detroit teams of the past — last year’s Detroit team was second only to the Hounds in goals allowed — this year’s team is more in the middle of the pack for offense and defense with 15 goals scored and 13 allowed in league matches.

For the Hounds, jump-starting the offense is a priority. Robbie Mertz came tantalizingly close to putting the team ahead early last week, but two minutes after Mertz’s header off the inside of the post, Rhode Island got the game’s only goal against the run of play to send the Hounds to their third 1-0 defeat of the year.

Getting on the front foot is arguably the most essential thing for the Hounds. In USL matches since the start of 2024, the team has a 15-2-4 record when getting the first goal but a 0-16-3 mark when conceding the opening goal of a match. Danny Griffin has been on target a team-leading four times overall (three in USL play), and the coaching staff has expressed their belief that if Augi Williams and Bertin Jacquesson continue to move, create space and get behind defenses, the goals will come for their talented forwards.

The Hounds have a clean injury report and will only be missing defender Beto Ydrach, who remains away with his national team as Puerto Rico aims to advance to the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifying.

The match kicks off the club’s White Aht Weekend, in which both the Riverhounds and Riveters, who play Sunday, will debut all new white kits. Fans are encouraged to wear white to the game, and they will be able to pick up new White Aht-theme merchandise in the Team Store.

At the stadium, the start of a new month means a pair of new food specials are being unleashed with a Bacon Beer Cheese Burger at the East End train grill and nachos with slow-cooked pulled pork at the Nacho Junction stand on the West End. Sticking with the White Aht theme, fans will also be able to get limited edition, white-logo souvenir beer cups in the pub and Tailgate Zone, and the first 750 fans in attendance also will get special Highmark Stadium replica coasters upon entering the stadium.

The key Eastern Conference rivalry matchup will be aired live on KDKA+ and streamed live on ESPN+, with a re-airing on KDKA+ at 1 p.m. Sunday — a perfect table-setter before coming down to the Riveters’ match at 5 p.m. Sunday. Our partners from Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 also will have the call in Spanish on the air and over the internet.

Tickets for Saturday’s match are still available through Ticketmaster and at the Highmark Stadium Box Office.

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Downloadable Game Notes

Match info

USL Jägermeister Cup Group Stage
Riverhounds (0-1-0) vs. Rhode Island FC (1-0-0)
Date: Saturday, May 31
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Highmark Stadium
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Odds: Not available
TV: KDKA+
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #PITvRI and #Grittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH (May 29, 2025) — The Hounds got back in the win column last weekend, but the quest for a league winning streak will have to be put on hold as the team jumps back into USL Jägermeister Cup play with a home game Saturday against Rhode Island FC.

The two teams met last weekend in Rhode Island, and the Hounds came away with the 1-0 victory on the strength of a Danny Griffin strike that landed him a Goal of the Week nomination. Eric Dick matched his season high with five saves in the clean sheet performance aided by a Team of the Week outing by center back Guillaume Vacter.

The Hounds had a full week of rest to prepare for the match with Open Cup play now in the rear view, and most of the squad will be available for selection. The lone absence will be Beto Ydrach, who is away with the Puerto Rico National Team for a pair of crucial FIFA World Cup qualifiers in early June.

Rhode Island, meanwhile, will be looking to reverse their short history with the Hounds after being shut out in all three previous meetings — two Hounds wins and a 0-0 draw in the first-ever matchup. Former Hounds striker Albert Dikwa would seem to be the most likely man to break that streak, but Rhode Island also created chances in last week’s meeting through Maxi Rodriguez and Clay Holstad, highlighting their multiple dangerous options.

In terms of contending for the Jägermeister Cup, the Hounds would be all-but eliminated with a loss after falling 1-0 at Detroit in their first match of the competition, making a result at home a necessity. Rhode Island, meanwhile, were convincing 4-1 winners over League One’s Westchester SC, and they will be looking for a second win to maintain their spot atop Group 4.

Saturday’s match is the Hounds’ Military Appreciation Night, and it is also the return of the team’s most popular promotion, $1 Beer Night. The $1 beer special is presented by IC Light, and the promotion will be available in the Tailgate Zone starting at 5 p.m. and in the stadium from 6 p.m. until kickoff. Tickets for Saturday’s match are still available through Ticketmaster.

KDKA+ will once again have the live broadcast of the match, along with a re-airing at 1 p.m. Sunday. ESPN+ will be streaming the match, and Spanish-speaking listeners can listen to the call on Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2.

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Downloadable Game Notes

Match info

Riverhounds (2-5-2) vs. Rhode Island FC (3-3-3)
Date: Saturday, May 24
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Centreville Bank Stadium, Pawtucket, R.I.
Odds: Hounds +370 / Draw +250 / Rhode Island -145 at FanDuel
TV: KDKA+
Streaming: ESPN+
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter
Match hashtags: #RIvPIT and #Grittsburgh

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(May 22, 2025) — With the glamour of the U.S. Open Cup behind them, the Hounds are ready to turn their attention back to league play and an important matchup Saturday at last year’s Eastern Conference champion, Rhode Island FC.

Both the Hounds and Rhode Island find themselves occupying the back half of the East playoff spots — Rhode Island is sixth and the Hounds eighth — entering a match that will officially mark the season being one-third of the way complete. That makes this match an early-season six pointer and an important spot to try and grab three points to keep pace with the top four.

The Hounds will have to shake off weary legs in their eighth road match out of the last 10, and to cut down on travel, the team flew directly to the Ocean State from Philadelphia after waking up the next day from their Wednesday night Open Cup match. While some will likely be bidding for a 180-minute week — midfield stalwarts Danny Griffin and Jackson Walti each have yet to come off the field in 2025 — coach Bob Lilley will have to gauge how much each of his players has in the tank after a light Friday training session.

Jorge Garcia, the Hounds’ scorer against the Philadelphia Union, logged 28 minutes Wednesday, as did Aidan O’Toole. Bradley Sample (unused substitute) and Jason Bouregy (not named in lineup) are fresher still, while Robbie Mertz and Bertin Jacquesson both were pulled just after the hour mark, making Augi Williams the only forward/attacking midfield player to go a full 90 against the Union.

Rhode Island has the luxury of being at home in what will be the fourth-ever game at their new Pawtucket home, Centreville Bank Stadium at Tidewater Landing, as well as not having played a midweek match. Former Hounds Golden Boot winner Albert Dikwa is coming back from injury and just getting back into his team’s regular rotation this month, while other former Hounds Marc Ybarra and Dani Rovira also have been unavailable for a large chunk of the season.

Low-scoring matches have been the norm for both teams this season, and they also played to a 0-0 draw in their first-ever meeting in Rhode Island a year ago. Only 19 combined goals — for and against — have been scored in Rhode Island’s matches this year, and only five teams have a lower total than that, one of which is the Hounds with a league-low 16 goals scored in their nine contests.

Saturday afternoon’s match will be available to watch live on KDKA+, and the game will be re-aired at 1 p.m. Sunday. ESPN+ will have the live stream of the match, as will the KDKA website for in-market audiences.

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Downloadable Game Notes