With the Pirates flailing, the Steelers middling and the Penguins trying to weather a spate of injuries, one Pittsburgh pro team has taken care of business and emerged as the class of its league.
That’s right: It’s Riverhounds SC playoff season.
The team secured the top seed in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference with a 1-0 victory over the Birmingham Legion last Sunday in Alabama and will host the Legion at Highmark Stadium Saturday night for a quarterfinal playoff match.
“We’re excited to bring a club to the city who’s winning, who’s in the playoffs, who’s hosting playoff games,” defender Joe Greenspan said. “Hopefully we can fill the stadium like we did last year, keep the buzz going and get more wins.”
They’ve done quite a lot of winning this year already. After a slow start, the Riverhounds found their footing and finished with a 19-4-11 record and 68 points, second in the league to the Western Conference’s Phoenix Rising FC.
Not only did the Riverhounds earn the No. 1 seed in the East, but they also managed to go unbeaten at home with an overall record of 10-0-7 at Highmark Stadium. They’re 14-0-11 at home dating back to last season.
“It’s good to have a fortress at home and know you’re going to pick up points at home,” said goalie Kyle Morton, who set a team single-season record for clean sheets with 13 shutouts. “At the end of the year, those points matter, so it’s really good.”
Congrats @kylemorton24 on becoming the single-season clean sheet record holder after capturing his 13th of the season yesterday in Birmingham. #UNLEASHthePlayoffs pic.twitter.com/zHMWi15ynw
— y-Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) October 21, 2019
He’s right: The Riverhounds were only one point ahead of Nashville SC in the standings.
Coach Bob Lilley said he’s proud of the way his team got through early struggles and coalesced into a formidable opponent in any stadium.
“We’ve grown, we’ve matured as a team,” he said. “I think early in the year ... we weren’t playing well, but there was enough experience to grind out some ties, which in hindsight had value at the end when you win by a point.
“We only lost two of our first 11, we just hadn’t figured out how to win tight games. Once we hit that good run where we won five straight [from July 20 through Aug. 14], I think the confidence was within the team. Then it was just a matter of them being able to stay focused.”
Lilley pointed to the team’s depth as one of the keys to success this year. The best example of that came in the season finale against Birmingham when forward Mark Forrest scored the winning goal — his first of the season — in the match’s waning minutes.
HERE’S YOUR CONFERENCE NO. 1 SEED-CLINCHING GOAL!#UNLEASH | #BHMvPIT pic.twitter.com/GTE2REBzLr
— y-Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) October 20, 2019
“I think there’s something to be said for that,” Lilley said. “We got to find a goal somewhere, and a player who didn’t play a lot of minutes this year, has trained hard and has pushed guys when he gets his opportunities, steps forward for the team. The groups tighten, and they’re very deserving for the hard work they put in.”
That hard work could pay off in more than just on-field production. The Riverhounds have a rare opportunity to capture Pittsburgh’s sports consciousness in a way it hasn’t quite been able to since the club was founded in 1998.
“I think we have been building momentum in the city with the things we’ve done the last couple years,” Lilley said. “Obviously, soccer is a global game and we have our following. There are some tremendous sports teams and sports history in Pittsburgh, so it’s not easy to move yourself into that landscape.
“But I think that’s our goal, and we’re highly respectful of what the Steelers and Penguins and Pirates have brought to Pittsburgh, and we’d like to do the same types of things moving forward. These are opportunities for us to get the city excited and hopefully grow as a franchise.”
Greenspan and Morton both shared a variation of the same message for Riverhounds fans: Show up Saturday, be loud and help will the team to a big playoff win.
Lilley is also looking forward to the insanity on the South Side before, during and (hopefully) after the match.
“It’s going to be a madhouse down here,” he said. “It’s going to be an exciting day. I know there’ll be tailgating going on all afternoon. I’m excited to see the environment they’re going to create, and we’ll need them.
“So hopefully this is one of four big weeks coming up for us.”
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxel222
First Published: October 24, 2019, 4:00 a.m.
