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Albert Dikwa could play a key role for the Riverhounds in the playoffs.
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Striker Albert Dikwa has provided Riverhounds with a boost heading into the USL playoffs

Courtesy of Riverhounds SC

Striker Albert Dikwa has provided Riverhounds with a boost heading into the USL playoffs

After heading home the winning goal in extra time in Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC’s 2-1 victory last Saturday against Philadelphia Union II, an odd scene greeted Albert Dikwa.

In a pressurized moment late in the match, and with his team still jockeying for playoff position, Dikwa had provided a triumphant exclamation point, a moment that would usually be met with a sold-out home stadium going crazy, the joys and anxieties leaving fans’ bodies in a cathartic burst.

With a global pandemic and a crowd that could be counted by hand, however, he was surrounded by relative silence and jogged calmly up the sideline to the Riverhounds’ bench.

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“When you score goals, you just lose your mind,” Dikwa said after the win Saturday. “Like today, I saw my roommate, Tony Walls, and I wanted to share that moment with him.”

Pittsburgh Riverhounds striker Albert Dikwa celebrates after scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 victory on Saturday night.
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With playoffs on horizon, Riverhounds ride late header to 2-1 win

For whatever sense of euphoria he was deprived of in that moment, Dikwa has given his team plenty to celebrate in his short stay with the club.

Punctuated by his heroics last week, Dikwa has provided a jolt for the Riverhounds in his six games with the team. In that time, he has scored three goals, ranking him sixth on the team. It’s a mark that may not seem impressive at first glance, but Dikwa has reached it in just 245 minutes, meaning he has averaged a goal for every 82 minutes he is on the field. The five players ahead of him have played 1,391, 1,355, 1,072, 879 and 629 minutes this season.

As the Riverhounds head into their first-round USL Championship playoff game against Louisville City FC on Saturday, they do so with the confidence of knowing the kind of offensive potency they have waiting on their bench.

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“I see him growing every week with our guys, and the guys are more and more comfortable with him,” Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley said. “I would expect he’ll play a big part as we go forward in the playoffs.”

Over the past three weeks, Dikwa has not only been productive, but he has come through for his team in the match’s most crucial moments.

With the Riverhounds locked in a 0-0 stalemate in the 81st minute against Loudoun United on Sept. 19, Dikwa sneaked behind the opposing back line, received a through ball and out-maneuvered the charging goalkeeper to give his team its fifth-consecutive victory and keep it atop its group standings. Last week, with a first-place finish in the group still at stake, Dikwa headed home a corner kick from Kenardo Forbes, finding space in a crowded box to do so.

“I wish he had a full season with us,” Lilley said after the win.

Indeed, the 22-year-old Dikwa only joined the club in August and didn’t make his first appearance until a Sept. 1 game against Loudoun in which he scored the third and final goal in a 3-0 rout. With that late arrival came an acclimation period, not so much to a specific system the Riverhounds employ — their tactics change from game to game, Lilley said — but to the players who were now his teammates.

“It’s all about connections, all about focusing, all about listening,” Dikwa said.

“When you haven’t lived in that through training camp and the season, sometimes you’re a little late to recognize situations,” Lilley said. “I think he has adjusted quickly. I think he has made contributions quickly.”

Though he has only started in one of the six games he has played, Lilley said that’s due more to his team being in the enviable position of having, as he put it, “more than 11 starters.”

Coming off the bench has also given the Riverhounds whatever tactical advantage comes from throwing in a player mid-game with a different skill set from its other strikers. In contrast to 6-foot-4 Steevan Dos Santos and, to a lesser extent, six-foot Ropapa Mensah, the team’s primary forwards, Dikwa isn’t quite as physically strong, instead relying more on his speed and shiftiness.

The Cameroon native has used those traits to great effect this season. Despite the relatively limited playing time, Dikwa has been an active presence in every game in which he has appeared, ranking third on the team in shots and fourth in shots on goal.

Whatever spark he can provide will be needed against a Louisville team that finished the regular season with 35 points, tying it for second among all USL Championship clubs. The Riverhounds won the only matchup between the two sides this season, a 3-1 road triumph in the first game of the abbreviated season on July 12, but Louisville has improved in the time since then, with an 11-match unbeaten streak stretching all the way back to late July.

There’s a connection between the two clubs beyond the stretch of the Ohio River that links the pair. Last season, Louisville came to Highmark Stadium and knocked off the Riverhounds, the eastern conference’s No. 1 seed, 2-1, in the conference semifinals, abruptly ending one of the best seasons in club history.

Revenge is only at play so much, though. For Lilley and his players, it’s merely another opportunity to advance their championship aspirations.

“We’ve matched up well, but every one of those games have ended up tight,” Lilley said. “We’ve shown over the past three years that we’re consistently one of the top three teams in the east and we’re still trying to get to the top of the league. We’re trying to go for that every year. When you do that, there’s going to be some neighbors who are always going to be around.”

Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG

First Published: October 9, 2020, 1:30 p.m.

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Albert Dikwa could play a key role for the Riverhounds in the playoffs.  (Courtesy of Riverhounds SC)
Courtesy of Riverhounds SC
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