Forbes, Cicerone and former Hound Robbie Mertz earn USL Championship Team of the Week honors

Former Riverhounds SC midfielder and Pittsburgh area native, Robbie Mertz, picked up USL Championship Team of the Week honors for week 17.

In addition, fresh off their 3-0 win on Friday at NY Red Bulls II, the Hounds also landed a few weekly honors for the first time in a while, as Kenardo Forbes was named to the Team of the Week, while Russell Cicerone was on the bench.

Mertz recorded both assists on Tristan Trager’s goals against El Paso Locomotive FC on Saturday night and completed 31 of 32 passes while winning 7 of 10 duels in the 2-2 draw at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.

Forbes became the first player to reach 50 regular season assists in the USL Championship’s history and played a role in the Hounds’ second goal as well while making five interceptions and seven recoveries in Pittsburgh’s 3-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls II.

Cicerone earned his spot on the bench for a two-goal performance that catapulted him into the team lead for goals (with seven).  At the halfway point in the season, Cicerone is back on track and appears to be primed to make a run at coming close to last year’s career high and team leading 16-goal output.

Atlanta United 2 forward Tristan Trager voted the Championship Player of the Week presented by Konami eFootball after bagging a pair of goals in each of Atlanta’s outings during the week as the side claimed four points out of six.