Staunch defense spurs surge in standings for Riverhounds

What a difference a year can make.

With a new head coach and new blood on the roster, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Soccer Club has gone from cellar dwellar in 2017 to second place in the United Soccer League.

For Coach Bob Lilley, that meant changing the culture.

“I did feel like we needed to tighten up the locker room a bit and put higher demands on guys, and thankfully, guys have bought in,” he said.

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They’re doing it with flair. Forward Nico Brett, who once starred at Robert Morris University, has a knack for scoring, and is just one goal off the league lead.

“That’s my job, to score goals. I’m a striker. You know what I mean?” Brett said. “That’s my job, to score goals, so I don’t really like to celebrate a lot. But the guys always try to tell me I need to celebrate sometimes.”

Pittsburgh always loves a strong defense.  The Hounds have a 0.14 goals against average, led by goalkeeper Dan Lynd, a University of Pittsburgh alum, who has a USL-best nine shutouts.

“The guys in front of me have been great, making my job easy a lot of the time, which is a goalkeeper’s dream,” he said.

The Riverhounds have 17 games left in the season. Their next match is July 21 at Highmark Stadium.

Cox Media Group