Captain’s Quarters: ‘Draws aren’t cutting it for us’ says Griffin

Welcome to part three of the 2024 Captain’s Quarters, a recurring series where PSN’s Colton Coreschi sits down with Pittsburgh Riverhounds captain Danny Griffin at each quarter mark of the season to discuss recent performance, the state of the team, and other topics of interest.

You can check out part one, our first quarter edition, here.

Captain’s Quarters: Griffin talks team growth, youngster development, and the pursuit of constant improvement

And you can check out part two, our halfway edition, here.

Captain’s Quarters: Griffin on maintaining focus during slump, turning the corner after win over Roots

Editorial Note: This interview took place prior to the Hounds’ 1-1 draw against Indy Eleven on 8/31.

When last the Captain’s Quarters sat down with Riverhounds lead man Danny Griffin back in mid-July for our halfway check-in, things seemed grim. The Hounds were coming off a 10-match winless streak, six straight without a goal scored, and had plummeted down the Eastern Conference standings. But in the final days before our midseason interview, a miracle – the Hounds broke out at home against Oakland with a five-goal romp against one of the Western Conference’s best seemingly out of nowhere (and very much easing the tension before that chat with Griffin, thankfully).

Now, sitting in early September, making the playoffs at all remains the Hounds’ biggest challenge, but the vibes couldn’t be more different. Since that 5-0 win over the Roots, the Hounds have not lost a match, going eight straight unbeaten. The downside? Five of those eight games have resulted in draws vs. three wins. Ordinarily, any team would take such a run, but given the Hounds mid-season slump and where that left them, it simply hasn’t been enough. With 27 matches played (including Saturday’s draw against Indy, after this interview was conducted), the Hounds sit on 32 points, ninth in the Eastern Conference and just outside the playoff picture.

The next seven games, however, provide a tremendous opportunity – with six contests against Eastern Conference opponents. That includes matches against Rhode Island, Birmingham, Loudoun, and Miami FC – all winnable contests against teams also vying for the lower playoff positions or even lower in the standings – as well as two tougher match-ups against Tampa Bay and Charleston. rounded out by one struggling Western Conference opponent in El Paso. While the road for the Hounds in the final stretch is tough, that slate of chances to earn points against (and deny points from) those directly challenging them for playoff position is all a team can ask for in Pittsburgh’s position.

Following the conclusion of the Hounds’ 2-2 draw against Colorado Springs several weeks ago, defender Sean Suber called every match a playoff game from that point forward. It’s a mentality the entire team holds, and one Griffin echoed following the club’s 3-0 win on the road in Birmingham on August 24th.

“Yeah, right now for us our mentality is to go into every game for three points – draws aren’t cutting it for us,” Griffin said of the team’s state following the Birmingham win. “To get those draws at home was upsetting for us, but we definitely responded. You know, [Edward] Kizza with two goals and EJ [Emmanuel Johnson] smart with Kenny [Forbes] on the set piece to get the 3-0 win on the road, keep a clean sheet. There are some chances we felt like they got off of our mistakes, so obviously a lesson in those, but it was still good coming off those ties, even undefeated. Our mentality, our mindset now, is three points every time we’re out there, home or away, so it was definitely good to respond in that fashion.”

“We obviously know where we are in the standings, so right now it’s just focusing one game at a time, and we know if we take care of our business, other things will fall,” said Griffin of the current state of play. “Everyone still has to play each other, so even having the extra game played, if we just take care of our business, we know we’ll get on the right track. That’s the most important thing for us, just worry about ourselves and just do what we need to do to get those three points on the weekend. When we play those teams in our conference, it’s even bigger, and will thin out the playoff field from here on out – but I think that’s good for us if we go in with the mentality of seizing three points.”

One of the biggest takeaways from that 3-0 win in Birmingham wasn’t simply breaking a three-match draw streak and picking up some huge road points, it was how the Hounds did so. It’s been an anemic year for the Hounds attack, with just 27 goals scored leaving them bottom-three in the Eastern Conference and bottom-quarter league-wide in that metric. The Hounds leading goal-scorer is Edward Kizza with just seven, a far-cry from Albert Dikwa’s league-leading total in 2023, leaving him tied for 20th league-wide.

And while the Hounds are happy to spread the love around – with Griffin himself having 4 goals as the second-leading scorer this year for the club – there has been a not-so-quiet understanding that more needs to come from those up top. So to have Kizza record a brace and Emmanuel Johnson lock things up in Birmingham was a much-needed boost to a forward line that must help propel the Hounds if there’s to be post-season soccer in Pittsburgh.

“It’s definitely important for us, so to get those two on the scoresheet, Babacar [Diene] getting the assist, it’s big,” Griffin said of the team’s struggles to score via their forwards this year. “We know what we have in there when there’s a job to be done. Not only to get the goals, but you see what they do defensively, the work they put in pressing the defenders and wreaking havoc up top – just being a pain to defenders. That’s the biggest part of it – stretching the lines, creating space for the midfield. You saw on the weekend they did a good job of it because of the way we played, the chances that created, we had more room for even more goals than we scored. It’s just about capitalizing on our chances, and our forwards did that [in Birmingham]. They just need to keep finding that rhythm.”

A jolt of creativity that led to Johnson’s goal off a late set-piece was also a welcome sight, one we simply had to ask Griffin about. A short-take into the box from Kenardo Forbes went directly to Johnson, uncovered inside the 18-yard box, who coolly slotted home the dagger goal.

“Obviously we work on set pieces, but on that one yeah, that was just smart from Kenny,” explained Griffin of the Hounds’ stellar set piece goal against Birmingham. “We were setting up something different and EJ was on the other side of the wall when Kenny told him to move off. He was giving him the eyes and knew it was on, and they didn’t send the defender, so it was an easy play for Kenny – and a smart play from him and EJ. They’re both so capable, and it was a great finish by EJ.”

It's the elder statesman to the 21-year-old!@Ej_johnson22 with his second of the year, cleverly set up by the @USLChampionship assists king, @KenardoF. 👑#BHMvPIT #HOUNDTAHN pic.twitter.com/ExqCPtMNOK

— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) August 25, 2024

So while the Hounds attack has work to do, it’s quite remarkable and a statement to the efforts of those responsible for keeping the ball out of their own net, that the Hounds remain in playoff contention thanks to their stout defense. Despite the relatively few goals this season, the Hounds have a net-positive goal differential, thanks to one of the most stifling back lines and goalkeeping units in the league. Their 25 goals allowed are joint-best in the Eastern Conference with Charleston (and Phoenix in the West), and trail only the Sacramento Republic league-wide.

The reason the club remains just two points out of the playoffs with every chance to still earn their way into the knockouts is due to the consistent, reliable play of guys like Luke Biasi, Illal Osumanu, Pat Hogan, and Sean Suber in defense, as well as Eric Dick in goal. Combined with heavy pressing and pure effort tracking back from Griffin and company in midfield, and Junior Etou and his fellow wingbacks, the feeling remains around the team that if they can just figure things out moving forward, the defense will keep this team in positions to win games every week.

“They’re very reliable, we have constant communication from the back – I hear it all game from Patty [Hogan], Luke [Biasi], [Sean] Suber, Illal [Osumanu], all those guys,” Griffin said of the team’s strong defensive record in 2024. “There’s experience there, and of course Eric [Dick] in the back being a leader as well. It’s been excellent from them, keeping all the clean sheets, and there’s obviously more we can do to limit other team’s chances – like those mistakes from this weekend. But overall, they’ve been incredibly solid, they’re organizing groups, their athletic as ability, their wits – there’s experience on that back line and they showed it on the weekend. We’re relying on them, and obviously the more clean sheets we can get, if we can score goals we’ll lock up three points. But yeah, they’ve been excellent these past few games and we just have to keep on that path.”

With Griffin and the Hounds most recently battling to a difficult 1-1 draw with Indy Eleven – in which Griffin scored to give the Hounds a lead despite being down to 10-men for 86 minutes, only to see the advantage equalized at the very death by Indy – the challenge begins anew with an important home contest against Rhode Island FC. With the visitors sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference, five points and one match clear of the Hounds, three points is a must as the club attempts to spoil Dikwa’s Highmark homecoming.

Off the volley!🚀 Yesterday’s @PALottery Play of the Game goes to Danny Griffin’s 73rd minute goal.👏#INDvPIT #HOUNDTAHN pic.twitter.com/7rAgRH4J1F

— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) September 1, 2024

Then it’ll be on the road to an extremely difficult Tampa Bay, alternating home and away the rest of the year, hosting Birmingham, then away to Miami, home again to Charleston, out to Loudoun, and closing at Highmark against El Paso. As Griffin said, draws are no longer enough, and the Hounds are in make-or-break mode going all out for three points to hopefully ensure our next Captain’s Quarters is not the last of the 2024 season.

We’ll be back with part four from Danny Griffin with our ‘End of the Regular Season’ Captain’s Quarters post in late October.

Colton Coreschi