It’s Week 4 of the USL Championship regular season and Bethlehem Steel FC is getting ready for a rematch of First Round of the 2018 USL Cup Playoffs against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Tickets are still available for Steel FC’s third home match at Talen Energy Stadium, so grab yours here.
Who is Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC?
Pittsburgh has had a rough start to 2019 after hosting the club’s first home playoff match in 2018 and losing to Steel FC. With one point in two road matches against the Tampa Bay Rowdies (2-0-1) and Swope Park Rangers (0-1-1), things haven’t started the way that Pittsburgh would have wanted. It won’t get any easier for the Riverhounds with two more matches away from home before returning to Highmark Stadium.
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC has been in USL since 1998 and plays their home matches at Highmark Stadium close to downtown Pittsburgh. Despite being founded in 1998, the Riverhounds just hosted their first home-playoff match in club history in 2018. Pittsburgh is still looking for that first home-playoff win, as Steel FC advanced in last season’s matchup 8-7 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the run of play.
Pittsburgh on the field
Pittsburgh is one of those teams that live in the air. They have no problem launching those long, direct balls and forcing you to beat them in aerial duels. You probably shouldn’t expect the ball to be on the ground too much in this match and definitely expect a lot of changes in possession. This is a team that has a lot of height throughout and uses it frequently on set pieces.
Currently, Pittsburgh holds a 0-1-1 regular-season record, with two goals to their name. Both goals came in the club’s match against Swope Park Rangers. The first was scored by Tobi Adewole from a Kenardo Forbes’ cross into the box. The second came from the penalty spot and was converted by Anthony Velarde in second-half stoppage time.
Steel FC hosts Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC at Talen Energy Stadium at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 30. Single-match tickets are still available for this match here.
Players to watch
Kenardo Forbes – The creative engine for Pittsburgh. If you lose track of him, he’ll cause problems out of nothing in the attacking third.
Joe Greenspan – A big target on set pieces. He’s 6’6” and can easily win those 50-50 balls in the box.
Steevan Dos Santos – Another big body that can win those direct balls in the air. He’s a big problem on the attack and allows them to just launch it and let him come down with the ball.
Injuries/Suspensions
None
Head coach
Bob Lilley – Lilley is in his second season with Pittsburgh and is the club’s 10th Head Coach in its history. During his first campaign with the club, Lilley led the Hounds to a 15-5-14 record, which includes the second-highest win total in team history. The squad also posted a club-record 17 shutouts during regular season play. Lilley previously served as the Head Coach of the Rochester Rhinos, Vancouver Whitecaps, and the Montreal Impact during the latter two clubs’ USL days. Across his 18 seasons of head-coaching experience at every level, Lilley holds an all-time record of 270-133-111, has logged at least a .500 winning percentage during every regular season, and has never had his team miss the postseason.
