Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer: Coaches at all levels are elevating the game in our region like never before

File Photo courtesy Duquesne University

We’re just trying to catch our breath, as soccer season is now fully off and running here in Western Pennsylvania, as college and high school seasons kicked off the past two weeks and the Riverhounds are getting into the most crucial part of their 2024 schedule, with just eight matches remaining.

Check out the full Pittsburgh Soccer Schedule for the upcoming week (through Labor Day) below, as the week features Pitt men touring the commonwealth, first they’ll face Penn State in a ACC-B1G showdown then head over to Philly to face Penn, Pitt women are on the West Coast, RMU women face both St. Francis (PA) and then a trip down 79 to Morgantown to face WVU.

The good news for soccer coaches in our region — they’ll mostly earn this Labor Day off — at least from playing games.  As the schedule is clear that day.

But this serves as a good opportunity and time to pay homage to all soccer coaches we have in Western Pennsylvania, from the top of the ladder to those dedicated youth coaches who are doing things the right way in guiding young people in positive ways while teaching and training with focus on development in all aspects of the game.

One common theme that came from this past weekend, and talking with and interviewing many coaches — is that it’s a profession that rewards those who put in the work and are committed to the full process of every season.

By putting in the work, we now have more highly qualified coaches at more levels than we’ve ever seen in our region.  Just look at some of the coaches of our highest level teams/clubs:

• Leading the way, the three highest profile programs in the Pittsburgh area have arguably three of the best coaches that our country has ever produced in their respective domains.  Randy Waldrum (College Women), Jay Vidovich (College Men) and Bob Lilley (Professional) resumes were awfully impressive before they were hired for their respective posts here in Pittsburgh. The success that each has had along with the outstanding coaching staffs that they’ve had helping them along the way has taken each team to new, unprecedented heights.  In their time in Pittsburgh, Lilley, Vidovich and Waldrum have only further solidified their Hall of Fame credentials.  In Waldrum’s case, he’s also brought more attention on the International stage, serving as the manager of Nigeria’s women’s team.
• At Duquesne, both coaches (Al Alvine and Chase Br00ks) have been at the school for more than a decade, each cementing their status in providing stability and each have had their successes on the Bluff.
• With Robert Morris joining the Horizon League at the start of the decade, they’ve brought in highly qualified coaches first with Chris Shaw and Jason O’keefe, and now Jonathan Potter and Michelle Rick, who are keeping their respective programs competitive in one of the most underrated leagues in Division I soccer.
• Kudos also to Steel City FC’s Dan Brower and Tom Ovenden, and the entire crew of coaches they have that have helped elevate their senior teams competing in the NPSL and UWS which has included unprecedented successes in those leagues, but also would be remiss without sending a shout out to Beadling SC’s Matt Fonagy and Beadling staff, who have put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to produce a very strong and competitive WPSL team.

This past weekend, Lilley reached a remarkable milestone.

On Saturday night not only did the Riverhounds earn their seventh win of the season, with an emphatic 3-0 triumph in Birmingham to remain in playoff contention, but Lilley also reached his 400th win — a mark that firmly puts him at the top of the ladder among U.S. professional soccer coaches.  And, guess what?  It’s not even close, as Lilley’s nearest coaching peers, Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley are pretty far behind him when it comes to professional team wins.

We’ll have more on the magnitude of this milestone and more from Lilley, in this week’s Riverhounds Notebook later Wednesday or Thursday.

Pittsburgh Soccer Now team went back to school this weekend as yours truly, Rachael Kriger and Matt Popchock, along with contributions from Randy Warner, who previously provided photos for PSN from Steel City FC matches, were all out at Pine-Richland High School for a three-day weekend of boys high school soccer at the JRK Memorial Classic.

It’s always great to reconnect with many of the high school coaches — who’ve been around the game for a long time, along with those who are new (and we covered as players!) to coaching at the high school level, and working very hard to make a positive first impression.  Seeing so many 20-something-year old’s coaching at the club, high school and college levels is very refreshing.  Two high school programs have seen some of their most noteworthy alums step into Head Coaching ranks.  Last season, fresh out of college and serving in an interim role as head coach during the WPIAL playoffs, led his alma mater, Norwin to WPIAL Class 4A boys title.  This past weekend, Jack Shearer, who also recently played at Duquesne (as well as St. John’s and Mt. Saint Mary’s) — got off to a great start to the season coaching at his alma mater, Central Valley.  The Warriors defeated both Winchester Thurston and hosts Pine-Richland at the JRK Memorial Classic.

Here’s Shearer in his post match interview with PSN’s Matt Popchock…

With 10 teams and 10 games, this weekend’s JRK Classic saw a little bit of everything from teams representing all four classifications and a few non-WPIAL schools too.  Those two non-WPIAL schools, The Kiski School and Wheeling Park (WV) proved to be a terrific non-conference competition for some of the top WPIAL schools, while there were also some very good cross-classification matches that provided good early season tests for everyone. The common theme from our many interviews with coaches after matches was less about the results, but the importance of getting good competition early in the season that will help them better prepare for what’s ahead but also see what they need to work on and improve moving forward.

As we write this, WPIAL section play has already started (that’s right — it’s August 28 but they’re already playing section matches!) — so we’re doing our best to keep up!   We are also looking forward to getting out and about again this coming weekend, as PSN’s Ed Thompson plans to be back out there capturing the action and look for us to keep everyone posted with our daily schedule/previews and scoreboard updates.

Pittsburgh Soccer Schedule (8/27/24 – 9/1/24)

Wednesday, August 28

**WPIAL (High School) — Girls Section Play continues in Class 1A, 2A and 3A plus numerous non-conference matches for both boys and girls

Thursday, August 29 

**WPIAL (High School) — Boys Section Play continues in Class 2A and 3A plus numerous non-conference matches for both boys and girls

4 p.m.  — Pitt (women) at Loyola Marymount – Los Angeles, CA

4 p.m. — Robert Morris (women) vs St. Francis – North Athletic Complex

4 p.m. — Robert Morris (men) at VMI — Lexington, VA

Friday, August 30 

7 p.m. — Pitt (men) at Penn State – State College, PA

Saturday, August 31 

**WPIAL (High School) — Tournaments including Avonworth (Boys & Girls); West Allegheny (Girls); Belle Vernon (Boys & Girls) and Fayette County Coaches (Boys & Girls) along with numerous non-conference matches for both boys and girls

7 p.m. — Riverhounds SC at Indy Eleven – Indianapolis, PA

Sunday, September 1 

**WPIAL (High School) — Tournaments include West Allegheny (Girls) and Belle Vernon (Boys & Girls)

3 p.m. — Duquesne (Men) at Xavier – Cincinnati, OH

5 p.m. — Pitt (Women) at Cal St. Fullerton – Fullerton, CA

5 p.m. — Robert Morris (Women) at West Virginia – Morgantown, WV

7 p.m. — Pitt (Men) at Penn – Philadelphia, PA