Press Releases

PITTSBURGH (December 23, 2021) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC and head coach Bob Lilley have agreed to a new, three-year contract that will keep the USL Hall of Famer in charge of the Hounds through the 2024 season.

Lilley, 55, has led the Riverhounds since 2018, and in his four seasons in Pittsburgh, he has become the club’s all-time leader in wins and games coached with a 66-25-34 record across 125 matches in all competitions. The Hounds have qualified for the USL Championship playoffs in all four seasons under Lilley — the first time the club has reached four straight postseasons — and, in 2019, finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

“Since Bob came to Pittsburgh, he has turned the Hounds into a winning team that can compete with anyone in the league,” Riverhounds SC owner Tuffy Shallenberger said. “Keeping a coach of his caliber here is important for our team, as we’re ready to take that next step and start bringing championships back to Pittsburgh.”

In 21 years as a head coach at the pro level, Lilley has accumulated a 317-149-130 record with the Hershey Wildcats, Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, Detroit Ignition (indoor), Rochester Rhinos and the Riverhounds. He is a five-time Coach of the Year winner, won USL championships with the Whitecaps (2006) and Rhinos (2015), and has qualified his team for the playoffs in all 21 seasons.

Lilley is currently the longest-tenured coach in the USL Championship with the same club. His tenure slightly outpaces Tampa Bay’s Neill Collins and Tulsa’s Michael Nsien, both of whom took over their respective teams during the 2018 season, Lilley’s first year in Pittsburgh.

Visser, rest of pro staff returning in 2022

Along with Lilley, the remainder of the Hounds’ pro team staff remains intact for the upcoming season, led by top assistant Dan Visser.

Visser, 35, is the longest-tenured member of the pro team — player or coach — having joined the Hounds midway through the 2016 season under previous head coach Dave Brandt. Visser joined the Hounds with experience as both a head coach and assistant at the college level, most recently at the U.S. Naval Academy under Brandt.

Lilley kept Visser on his staff after he arrived in 2018, and in 2019, Visser moved into the top assistant role he holds now, a multi-faceted role that ranges from leading training sessions to new player recruitment to scheduling and operational duties with the pro team.

“What Dan does for the team is really important, and sometimes I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves,” Shallenberger said. “Having Bob and Dan back together brings a lot of stability to this team, and that’s going to let us keep building forward.”

Also rejoining the staff for a second year is assistant coach Michael Behonick, who will work primarily with goalkeepers as he serves on the staff of both the Hounds and University of Pittsburgh. Will Marshall, who is the Riverhounds Development Academy’s Director of Goalkeeping, will also serve as an assistant with the pro team for a second year.

PITTSBURGH (December 6, 2021) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC has kicked off its preparations for 2022 by picking up contract options on nine players who will return next season.

Headlining the group locked in for next year is Kenardo Forbes, an All-USL Second Team selection and the team’s longest-tenured player, who will be back for a fifth season in the Pittsburgh midfield. Forwards Russell Cicerone and Alex Dixon, the team’s top two scorers from a season ago, also will return for a second season in the Steel City.

The center of the defense will remain stable with second years secured for former Pitt defender Shane Weidt and Trinidad and Tobago internationals Mekeil Williams and Jelani Peters. Midfield staple Todd Wharton and speedy wing back Ezra Armstrong also return for another year with the Hounds, while versatile and energetic defender/midfielder Dani Rovira will return for his fourth season with the club.

The Hounds and coach Bob Lilley are negotiating with other players whose contracts with the Hounds ended in 2021, as the team seeks to keep building upon a group that went 17-8-7 this season and qualified for a club-record fourth consecutive USL Championship playoff berth.

With the nine players already slated to return, a good foundation is already set in place for 2022.

Much of last season’s scoring punch remains, led by Cicerone, who had a career-best 16 goals last season. Dixon had nine goals and a team-best nine assists in 2021, and Forbes, the club’s all-time assists leader, finished with a personal best of five goals to go with six assists. Led by those three, the nine optioned players accounted for 36 of the team’s 52 goals — 69.2 percent — a season ago.

Wiedt and Wharton were ever-present in their first seasons with the Hounds, as both appeared in all 32 games in 2021 while recording 29 and 24 starts, respectively. Williams and Peters also were regular starters on defense, though both missed time with the Hounds after they were called up for international duty with Trinidad during last summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Rovira had a breakout year in his own right in 2021. The Colombian went from a part-time role in his first two seasons with the Hounds to playing 29 of 32 games and logging a career-high in minutes as a wing back, holding midfielder and occasional outside midfielder. Armstrong also grew into his role during his first year with the Hounds, providing a speedy two-way threat on the flank and making 11 of his 14 appearances in the second half of the season.

PITTSBURGH (November 22, 2021) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC midfielder Kenardo Forbes was named to the USL Championship All-League Second Team for the 2021 season, the league announced this afternoon.

Forbes, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, is the all-time assists leader in both USL Championship and Riverhounds history, and this is the fifth time in the past six seasons that he has been named an All-USL player after making the First Team in 2019 and 2020 and the Second Team in 2016 (with Rochester) and 2018. He has been an All-USL player in all four of his seasons in Pittsburgh.

This year, Forbes finished with six assists and five goals, the latter of which was a career-best for a single season. The man known as “King Kenny” to both teammates and fans was also tied for fourth in the league with 63 chances created, and his 7.56 xA (expected assists) was third in the league.

Forbes was always a factor on the ball for the Hounds, as he completed 1,163 of 1,414 passes (an 82.2 percent rate that was second on the team. Playing in 31 of 32 games (starting 28), Forbes ranked in the top five on the team of virtually every statistic — offensive and defensive — including minutes, touches, tackles won, duels won, crosses and shots on goal.

This is the seventh consecutive year the Riverhounds have placed at least one player on either the All-League First Team or Second Team, the longest such active streak in the USL. In four years under coach Bob Lilley, the Hounds have had nine All-USL selections, four of them belonging to Forbes.

PITTSBURGH (Oct. 22, 2021) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is pleased to hear today’s decision by the USL Championship to order a replay of the final 24 minutes of our team’s match Oct. 16 against Miami FC.

As a club, the Riverhounds fully agree with the league’s decision. Based on past precedent set by FIFA and its member federations when there has been a clear misapplication of the Laws of the Game, we believe a replay is the fairest outcome for both our team and Miami FC, and it will allow the result to be settled by the players on the field.

We wish to thank the USL Championship and the Professional Referees Organization for their diligence under these unusual circumstances.

The Riverhounds are eager to move forward and complete their remaining three regular-season matches, beginning with tomorrow’s scheduled match at 7 p.m. against the Charleston Battery, as we prepare to compete in next month’s USL Championship Playoffs.