For 85 minutes, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC appeared to be on pace for a detrimental loss.
But an own goal off Louisville City FC in the 86th minute, and a penalty goal by Kenardo Forbes in the 90th minute allowed the Riverhounds to tie Louisville, 2-2, and maintain second place over Louisville (third, 48 points) in the United Soccer League’s Eastern Conference playoff race.
In Bob Lilley’s inaugural season as head coach, the Riverhounds are on the cusp of completing one of their greatest seasons in franchise history. With 50 points and six games remaining on the schedule, the Riverhounds (13-4-11) are firmly in the mix for a top-four playoff seed and home playoff game, which the franchise hasn’t played host to since 2004.
The Riverhounds success has yet to translate to bigger crowds. Entering Saturday, Highmark Stadium ranked 25th overall out of 33 teams with an average of 2,333 fans per game, fewer than the 2017 average of 2,639 in a non-playoff year. The draw Saturday drew a crowd of 2,558.
It’s almost certain that the Riverhounds will clinch a playoff seed for the first time since 2015. But one thing is less certain — will the city of Pittsburgh pay attention?
Andrew Lubahn, an Erie, Pa. native, Cathedral Prep alumnus and Riverhounds midfielder, is optimistic. As a winger for Louisville City FC in 2016, he played in front of crowds that averaged 7,218 fans per game, the third-highest average in the USL.
Louisville City FC was founded in 2014, just four years ago. In that span, it has established itself as one of the highest-drawing teams in the league. Louisville has a strong soccer culture, Lubahn said. As a whole, Pittsburgh has a stronger sports culture with three professional teams that have won multiple championships.
Success is an important part of Pittsburgh’s sports scene, Lubahn said. And success is something the Riverhounds will need to maintain if they want to compete with the USL heavyweights, attendance-wise.
“Fans are spoiled with good choices,” Lubahn said. “At the same time, the way soccer is growing in this country, if we can continue to win, people in the city love winners and there’s no reason why they wouldn’t love a winning soccer team.”
A playoff appearance this season would hold more weight compared with past berths, as the USL gained Division II status a year ago, a tier under the Major Soccer League in the United States Soccer Federation’s hierarchy. Prior to 2017, the USL was Division III.
Lilley has seen the relationship between success and fan support firsthand. During separate stints as head coach of the Rochester Rhinos from 2009-2011 and 2014-17, he compiled a 87-37-53 record and made the playoffs in each of his six seasons there. Rochester won the USL Cup in 2015.
The Rhinos ranked second overall in USL attendance from 2011-14, and third in 2015. Rochester fell to ninth overall in 2016, and 22nd overall in 2017 with consecutive second-round playoff exits following a championship.
Entering his first season with the Riverhounds, the goal was to hit the ground running. The next step is re-introducing a new brand of Riverhounds soccer to the public. Lilley believes the highest attendance-drawers in the USL have benefited from coming into the market at a time in which soccer has grown in popularity in America.
The top six teams in overall attendance this season — FC Cincinnati, Nashville SC, Sacramento Republic, Indy Eleven, Las Vegas Lights FC and Louisville City FC, were all founded after 2012. San Antonio FC and Phoenix Rising FC, the seventh and eighth teams in attendance this year, also were founded after 2012. Lilley said the Riverhounds, which were founded in 1998, haven’t had that same benefit.
The Riverhounds underwent a slight rebrand in February, introducing a new name in Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, and a new black-and-gold crest to further align itself with Pittsburgh’s other teams.
The ultimate goal is to add additional playoff berths, this season and beyond. Lilley also hopes that more people will come to appreciate the quality of USL soccer, which has improved with the league’s expansion in recent years.
“It’s important for us to keep making that case for why we deserve attention in the Pittsburgh market,” Lilley said. “It’s a competitive market. People are used to winning around here. That’s the challenge for us. If we want to be taken seriously, we have to prove that we can be a winning team.”
Omari Sankofa II: osankofa@post-gazette.com and Twitter @omarisankofa.
First Published: September 16, 2018, 2:00 a.m.
