The Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC return to regular season United Soccer League play with a match versus the Indy Eleven at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 13, at F.N.B. Stadium.
The second-place Eleven (5-2-3) will feature the return of goalkeeper Eric Dick, who helped lead the Riverhounds to the USL Championship last fall. Dick enters the match third in the league in saves, while Bruno Manuel Rendon leads the offense with a league-leading six goals.
Pittsburgh’s Albert Dikwa is tied with Rendon with six goals of his own, while the Riverhounds are tied for fourth place in the Eastern Division with a 5-4-1 record. The top eight teams in each conference will qualify for the 2026 USL Championship Playoffs
The Hounds are coming off their third Prinx Tires USL Cup match where they faced the Charleston Battery June 6 in South Carolina. The Riverhounds (1-0-2) were in desperate need of a tournament victory but came away with a 0-0 draw. In the shootout phase, the Battery (2-0-1) picked up the extra point by outdueling the Hounds 4-2.
The first half was bereft of scoring, but the Riverhounds had excellent chances by Trevor Amann and Eliot Goldthorp and backup goalkeeper, Mike Sheridan, made an excellent save on the Battery’s Graham Smith in close to end the scoreless half.
The second half was, again, a defensive battle with Pittsburgh’s Victor Souza having an impressive all-around game to keep Charleston off the board. Goldthorp had another opportunity to provide for the game’s first goal, but Charleston’s goalkeeper, John Berner, continued to keep the Hounds at bay.
The latter portion of the half saw the Riverhounds having to play with only 10 men when Lasse Kelp was sent off for receiving his second yellow card infraction. The second half ended scoreless, and the teams advanced to the shootout, which saw Pittsburgh’s Robbie Mertz and Jackson Walti score on their attempts, while Jorge Garcia and Aldi Flowers-Gamboa came up empty. Charleston scored on all four of its attempts versus Sheridan.
Sheridan finished with three saves in regulation and his second consecutive clean sheet. The Battery outshot the Hounds 11-8. Pittsburgh must now win its next USL Cup match against Washington D.C.’s Loudon United and get help from other teams to advance to the next round as a wild card.
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