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Krepps: A novice guide to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

If you ask any Yinzer how many major sports teams the city of Pittsburgh has, they would likely say three. That’s in reference to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. But many people overlook the fact that The City of Champions has been home to a fourth professional sports franchise for over 20 years. While it may not be an NBA team, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds are a successful professional soccer franchise that deserve more recognition.

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Despite being the most popular sport on the planet, soccer is not as popular in the United States. There are a wide variety of reasons why this is the case such as the competitors of basketball and football. There is no future in which the Riverhounds will become more popular than the Steelers.

The goal of this piece is to shed light on the Riverhounds franchise and give aspiring fans the chance to be caught up to speed. Given how uncertain sports can be amidst this pandemic — the Steelers and Ravens in Week 12 was delayed three times — it is a good idea to pick up another sports team. I am here to tell you why the Riverhounds should be that team.

Early Years

On March 11, 1988, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC was founded by Paul Heasley. Heasley’s main motivation for creating a soccer franchise in Pittsburgh was that his son, Lucas, was a passionate soccer player, but had no local role models in the area.

The Riverhounds are a part of the United Soccer League Championship (USL Championship). The USL is a notch below Major League Soccer (MLS) serving as the second-tier league in the United States for men’s soccer which you can see in the diagram below.

In their early years, the team went through many struggles on generating a stable framework for a soccer franchise. The Riverhounds skipped around local high school football and baseball stadiums as their home field. From 1998 to 2012 the Riverhounds were sold three times, had four stadiums and even skipped out on the 2007 season due to business issues.

Despite struggling in stability, the team was performing well on the pitch. In 2004 the team capped off a remarkable season with a 17-2-1 regular-season record which clinched the division title. Striker David Flavius led the team in this era and went on to become the Riverhounds all-time leader in every major statistical category. In 2010, the Riverhounds placed third in the regular-season standings and went on to play in the semifinals in the USL playoffs.

Highmark Stadium’s Impact

On Jan. 10, 2012, it was announced that the Riverhounds would be getting a permanent home. The location would be right in the heart of Pittsburgh at Station Square. The stadium’s price tag of $7 million was to be paid by private investors and corporate sponsors. Hence the name Highmark Stadium. Highmark stadium holds 5,000 spectators and can be expanded up to 18,500 seats.

The impact of Highmark Stadium was not something that was overlooked by residents of Pittsburgh. The opportunity to have a stable home in the middle of the city is something that Jason Kutney, a member of the Riverhounds ownership group, was fond of.

“With Mount Washington on one side, the river and skyline on the other, and us right here in the middle of it all. This is where we needed to be, right in Pittsburgh where everyone could see us. We knew that, and we’re here. We’re real,” Kutney stated to DK Sports Pittsburgh in 2012.

Highmark Stadium was finished in 2013 and for the past seven years the Riverhounds have called it home. In 2018, owner Tuffy Shallenberger took over the team and rebranded it to match the other pro-sports teams in the city with a black and gold logo. This has since ushered in a new era of Riverhounds soccer.

Riverhounds Greats

David Flavius

The Riverhounds have had oodles of good players come through the organization including the aforementioned striker David Flavius. Flavius leads the franchise in games played with 183, goals with 58 and points with 141. Flavius played for the Riverhounds for eight seasons and was named the team MVP four straight seasons in a row. He led the Riverhounds in scoring five of the eight seasons he was on the team and was named to the team’s Hall of Fame in 2019.

Justin Evans

Justin Evans was the first ever Riverhound as Pittsburgh’s first pick in the 1999 expansion draft. Evans, a midfielder, bounced around in his soccer career and spent three different stints with the Riverhounds. He finished his career with 101 games played, 14 goals and 22 assists for 50 points. In his first year with the hounds Evans tallied 14 assists which is still the most single-season assists in franchise history. Evans went on to coach the Riverhounds from 2010 to 2014 as well as become a founder of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Youth Academy. In 2019, Evans was named to the Hounds’ Hall-of-Fame.

Kevin Kerr

Kevin Kerr was a midfielder for the Riverhounds from 2013 to 2019. Kerr is second in both games played with 192, and goals with 32, in franchise history. In the 2015 season Kerr had a career-high 10 goals and nine assists in 26 games including a hat-trick against the Harrisburg City Islanders. He leads the Riverhounds in all-time assists with 26, which he set last season before retiring in 2020.

Neco Brett

Although the only played two seasons with the Riverhounds, Neco Brett was an unstoppable force. After playing for Robert Morris University, Neco Brett signed with the Riverhounds in 2018 and played with the team in the 2018-19 season. Brett, in just one season scored a mind boggling 30 goals with 28 of them coming in the regular season.

Hunter Gilstrap

Gilstrap is one of the greatest goalkeepers in Riverhounds history spending six seasons with the team. In 2010, Gilstrap won the USL-2 goalkeeper of the year award. He posted six shutouts, 74 saves and had a goals against average (GAA) of only 1.0 in 18 matches. Throughout the mid 2010’s Gilstrap served as the team’s elite starting goalkeeper. 

The Current Riverhounds

This year’s Riverhounds season had to adjust to the ongoing pandemic. The Riverhounds were the first professional sports team in Pittsburgh to play since the COVID-19 shutdown. The Riverhounds went on to play a 16 game season finishing with a 11-1-4 record. The team lost to Louisville City FC in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, 2-0.

Slowly but surely the Riverhounds are making a name for themselves as a top name in the USL Championship. This past season marked the third straight year the Hounds have clinched a playoff spot with 10 or more wins. In an early August game midfielder Kenardo Forbes tallied his 39th assist which made him the all-time leader in assists for the entire USL.

Due to the uncertainty of the world and how often USL rosters can shift around, the current roster of the Riverhounds is not set in stone. Whatever the case may be there will certainly be talented soccer players in the city of Pittsburgh.

Why You Should Watch

As mentioned before, soccer is the most popular sport on the planet, yet its impact is not as prominent in Pittsburgh as other sports. Soccer is an entertaining sport that focuses on team strategies rather than individual performances. Getting up and down the field is harder than it looks as tough defenses are put into place and goalies can cover more of the net than you think.

Soccer has the up and down action of basketball, the scoring chances of hockey, and the strategic plays of football and baseball. Playoff game atmosphere is something that is overwhelming in any sport and soccer is the same. People go crazy for this sport.

The Riverhounds play 16 games in a season, which is much less compared to the Pirates 162 game season. It is not asking much to say that you should watch a Riverhounds game every now and then. Hounds games are typically on Saturday nights which won’t interfere with religious Steeler Sundays. 

Ever since the opening of Highmark Stadium the Riverhounds have slowly but surely started to gain popularity in Pittsburgh. Due to COVID-19 next season is still up in the air but the “Steel Army” is still seeking members to join the Riverhounds’ fandom. All Riverhounds games are streamed on ESPN+ and tickets can be bought online at www.riverhounds.com. Also, I would also recommend following the Riverhounds themselves on Twitter @RiverhoundsSC. As well as Matt Gajtka (@MattGajtka), John Krysinsky (@JohnKrysinsky) and our very own Rachael Kriger (@RachaelKriger).

The post Krepps: A novice guide to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Castle.



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