Hounds Welcome New Striker, Jamaican Romeo Parkes

On the heels of the departure of Rob Vincent to DC United, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds moved quickly to sign another goal scoring threat, Romeo Parkes, pending receipt of his international transfer certificate.
 
Parkes is a Jamaican national team forward most recently played for Isidro Metapán in El Salvador’s top division where he scored 10 goals during the team’s run to the Apertura championship in December 2014.
The 25-year-old Kingston native has represented the Reggae Boyz at full national team level as well as at the Under-23 and U-20 brackets.  In two appearances with the National Team, he has not scored any goals.
Here’s a YouTube clip of some of Parkes’ highlights…

 
Parkes began his playing career in his home country with St. George’s. He played for three other Jamaican teams before moving to Central America in 2014.
This acquisition quickly answers some of the questions about what the Riverhounds will be doing to replace the loss of Vincent, who scored 21 goals in all competitions in 2015.
Head coach Mark Steffens has brought significant firepower to his attack during the off season with the addition of Corey Hertzog, Zak Boggs, Alex Harlley and now Parkes.
In addition, the Hounds return a few dangerous players including All-USL second team selection, Kevin Kerr, who scored 10 goals and had nine assists on the right flank and Lebo Moloto in 2015 and Lebo Moloto who tallied six goals and seven assists in the attacking midfield spot in Steffens’ 4-2-3-1 formation.
Something tells me we’ll still see a lot of goals scored at Highmark Stadium this year.
There will be significant competition in preseason among all players for spots in the lineup.   The Hounds will begin preseason with a friendly against Penn State University on February 28 at State College.