Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer: College conference play begins and Riverhounds return to action

Photo courtesy Ed Thompson

The Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer has been typically rolling out early each week since its inception last month, but Labor Day weekend threw a monkey wrench in our plans to post a new ‘Pulse’.

Hope you had a nice, relaxing Labor Day weekend and stayed out of the heat as much as possible.

The Pittsburgh soccer calendar is absolutely packed — as it always is — this time of year.  Our contributors have been busy keeping up with the local soccer scene, especially Dominic Campbell and Zac Weiss on the Pitt and Duquesne beats.

We look forward to sharing an announcement in next week’s Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer about our coverage and the site moving forward.  Stay tuned!!

Both Robert Morris teams continue to push on without a loss to open the season (combining for a 8-0-3 record!!), following the women’s team’s 3-0 victory at Mount St. Mary’s, on Wednesday.

This weekend, essentially starting on Thursday provides a return for Duquesne and Pitt’s teams.  Who would have thought that the one program on a losing streak, is the Pitt men, who were handed their second straight loss against a top-10 team on Tuesday night, losing to Marshall, 3-1.  Dom Campbell was there, and has the recap.

Pitt falls to No. 2 Marshall at home, 3-1

High School season is really in full swing, and we have been trying to keep up, mainly with our daily WPIAL Scoreboard and intermittent WPIAL Soccer Watch posts.  Look for another WPIAL Soccer Watch that will preview some very interesting Saturday match schedule.

Speaking of High School soccer, Fiona Mahon, a junior at Avonworth, who helped lead the Lopes to back-to-back Girls 2A WPIAL titles, made her college commitment official this morning.

Bama Bound! I found a sweet home in @AlabamaSoccer. Can’t wait to get to the place where legends are made. ROLL TIDE! #committed #rolltide@UACoachHart @UA_Athletics @HoundsAcademy @AGSLopes @PrepSoccer @TopDrawerSoccer @ImYouthSoccer @pghsoccernow @PGSportsNow @TribLiveHSSN pic.twitter.com/5SVfTybN9f

— Fiona Mahan (@FionaCMahan) September 7, 2023

Finally, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC return after a bye week.  As of Thursday morning, they also remain in first place, thanks in part to Memphis 901 FC, who defeated second place Tampa Bay, with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory on Wednesday night in the City of Blues.

A crazy start to Week 27! 🤪@Memphis901FC fought back from a late deficit to defeat the @TampaBayRowdies 3-2.#MEMvTBR | https://t.co/UaJAtzwfqV pic.twitter.com/ok5tVLnkRL

— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) September 7, 2023

On Wednesday, I had a chance to catch up with Head Coach Bob Lilley and second-year midfielder Marc Ybarra on the latest edition of the Sounding Off on Soccer podcast.   The Hounds are gearing up for their last six matches (three at home starting with Loudoun United FC on Saturday).

Sounding Off on Soccer: Hitting homestretch of regular season with Riverhounds HC Bob Lilley and MF Marc Ybarra

The full weekend schedule is listed below.

There’s plenty of soccer going on in the area, so don’t be shy about sharing your thoughts with us on our Social Media platforms and you can always email us too at @pghsoccernow@gmail.com, and I’ll be happy to answer ‘Mailbox Questions’ in future editions of the Pulse of Pittsburgh soccer.

JK

PITTSBURGH SOCCER SCHEDULE

(9/7/2023 – 9/12/2023)

 

Thur Sept 7	Duq W	6:00 PM	H	F. Dickenson	Rooney Field
	Pitt W	7:00 PM	A	Xavier	Cincinnati, OH
	WPIAL Boys Section play
Fri Sept 8	RMU W	4:00 PM	A	Lemoyne	Syracuse, NY
Sat Sept 9	Pitt M	7:00 PM	H	Wake Forest	Ambrose Urbanic Field
	Duq M	7:00 PM	A	Niagara	Niagara, NY
	RMU M	7:00 PM	A	Northern Kentucky	Highland Heights, KY
	HOUNDS	7:00 PM	H	Loudoun United FC	Highmark Stadium
	WPIAL Girls Section play + Boys non-section
Sun Sept 10	Duq W	1:00 PM	A	Kent State	Kent, OH
	Pitt W	7:00 PM	A	Cincinnati	Cincinnati, OH
Mon Sept 11	WPIAL Boys Section play
Tues Sept 12	WPIAL Girls Section play