Preview: Stakes can’t get any higher for Riverhounds’ match up vs Albert Dikwa, Marc Ybarra and Rhode Island FC

Former Riverhounds F Albert Dikwa will return to Highmark Stadium for first time since last season's playoff defeat. Photo courtesy Rhode Island FC

The stakes couldn’t be any higher on Saturday night for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC when they face a Rhode Island SC squad that comes to Highmark Stadium for the first time ever, touting a former Hounds’ leading scorer and USL Championship’s Most Outstanding Player in 2023, Albert Dikwa along with another former Hound, Marc Ybarra.

With 27 matches played (including last Saturday’s road draw against Indy) the Hounds sit on 32 points, ninth in the Eastern Conference and just outside the playoff picture. 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.

Actually, the next seven games provide a tremendous opportunity for Pittsburgh – with six contests against Eastern Conference opponents including Rhode Island, the league’s newest expansion club which has held its own separating themselves from the current pack of teams battling to stay over the playoff line.

“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 in his exclusive interview with Pittsburgh Soccer Now‘s Colton Coreschi for regular feature, Captain’s Quarters.

Not that the Hounds are looking ahead, but following Saturday’s match vs Rhode Island, the Hounds will also face 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.

“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.”

But the focus for the players and Bob Lilley along with his coaching staff will be getting the full three points against a Rhode Island FC team that they played to a 0-0 draw in April, and currently ahead of them in the standings

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.

The Hounds will also be without the services of two key players: midfielder Junior Etou and defender Pat Hogan.

Hogan is suspended after his harsh dismissal against Indy, and Etou s away with the Congo National Team for African Cup of Nations Qualifiers, meaning Lilley’s hand will be limited at both center back and left wing back.  However, to shore things up on the wing, Pittsburgh did make a move this week, to bring on former Pitt standout, Bertin Jacquesson, on loan from Real Salt Lake.

As far as players on international duty, the Hounds are not alone; Rhode Island is also missing one of their regulars, Jojea Kwizera, who is suiting up for Rwanda this weekend.

A Closer Look: Rhode Island FC

This matchup is highlighted by the return of last year’s Player of the Year and Golden Boot winner, Albert Dikwa, who leads Rhode Island with seven goals this season, the same number as Hounds top scorer Edward Kizza.

For Dikwa, it will be the first time back at Highmark Stadium, since he tasted bitter defeat in the first round of the USL Championship playoffs.  It was a crushing loss for Dikwa and many of his former teammates who he will face on Saturday.  In fact, Dikwa was the last Riverhounds player to leave the field that night, as he sat there alone in the middle of the pitch with his thoughts after his greatest season as a professional came to a crashing halt.

Dikwa has since found a home in Rhode Island where he has been part of a solid team of veterans and some strong young, talented players.  The visitors have other options in attack; Frank Nodarse has five goals, Noah Fuson has four, and 11 players have multiple goals for Rhode Island, the league’s fifth-highest scoring team with 39 goals.

Another former Hound, Marc Ybarra, has been a mainstay in the midfield for RIFC, as he’s among team leaders in minutes played (2011) and boasts three assists.

Back in April, we provided a detailed scouting report on RIFC, ahead of the first match up with Pittsburgh, which ended in a nil-nil draw.

Preview: Riverhounds face wicked challenge vs Albert Dikwa, Marc Ybarra and expansion Rhode Island FC

Despite their high-scoring ways, Rhode Island has more draws than any other team in the league with 13.

On the flip side, the Hounds still hang their hat on defense — they remain tied with Charleston for the second-lowest goals allowed total with 25 — but that has been a different route to the same result with 11 draws, second only behind Rhode Island.

Rhode Island FC’s shutout win over Birmingham added to an attacking force that currently sits fifth in the USL Championship with 39 goals so far this season. Against Birmingham, JJ Williams added to that tally with a goal and an assist off the bench, becoming only the second Rhode Island FC player to register multiple goal contributions off the bench in a single match. In its last three matches, the Ocean State club has scored six goals from six different goalscorers. Of those six, three were defenders in Frank Nodarse, Turnbull and Grant Stoneman, while Joe Brito, Williams and Chico rounded out the scoresheet. With 14 different players making up RIFC’s total scoring tally this year, the options for Head Coach Khano Smith are plentiful as the club looks to break into the top four in the Eastern Conference this weekend for the first time in club history.

Rhode Island FC has been one of the hardest teams to score on of late, allowing only one goal in it’s last four matches and keeping three of its nine total clean sheets in that time. The club’s back-to-back clean sheets marked the first such streak since RIFC and Pittsburgh met in April, and its 198 minutes without conceding marks the second-longest run in club history. The recent run of defensive form includes a pair of defensive selections to the USL Championship Team of the Week, with goalkeeper Koke Vegas and defender Stephen Turnbull getting the nod in back-to-back weeks. Vegas matched a season-high five saves in a 0-0 draw with Loudoun United FC, including his first penalty save in second-half stoppage time to secure the shutout, while Turnbull scored the match-winning goal against Birmingham in the heart of a defensive line that limited The Three Sparks to just four total shots.

Here’s How Rhode Island lined up last week vs Birmingham…

Rhode Island FC Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Koke Vegas, 22-Jackson Lee, 30-Nate Silveira
DEFENDERS (7): 2-Nathan Messer, 3-Stephen Turnbull, 4-Collin Smith, 5-Grant Stoneman, 6-Morris Duggan, 15-Frank Nodarse, 16-Gabriel Alves, 24-Karifa Yao
MIDFIELDERS (12): 8-Jack Panayotou, 12-Clay Holstad, 17-Jojea Kwizera, 18-Joe Brito, 19-Kevin Vang, 20-Zachary Herivaux, 21-Kofi Twumasi, 23-Marc Ybarra, 25-Kevin Orduy, 28-Conor McGlynn, 77-Amos Shapiro-Thompson, 80-Isaac Angking
FORWARDS (4): 9-JJ Williams, 10-Chico, 11-Noah Fuson, 14-Mark Doyle

Match-ups to watch & Riverhounds Projected Starting XI

Of course all eyes will be on Dikwa vs the Hounds back line/defensive midfield to see how Pittsburgh’s outstanding defensive corps work to contain not just Dikwa, but a fairly well-balanced attacking group that can hurt opponents in different ways.

If you don’t already know by now, Dikwa does not have to score to be effective — as his work rate is never to be questioned.  However, his team leading seventh of the season came in a big spot a few weeks back, as late game-winner to beat Oakland.

Ladies and gentlemen, Albert Dikwa's 50th career @USLChampionship goal 🤩 #WickedGoodGoal | @capellisport pic.twitter.com/uDZQ0EHxHc

— Rhode Island FC (@RhodeIslandFC) August 18, 2024

In that first match, the Hounds were in major scoring funk early in the season, and that continued at Rhode Island, in a match where chances were hard to come by for both sides.

The best looks of the game came when either side could get out in the transitional phase. That’s what Pittsburgh does here, looping in their wing backs and a refreshed forward line before RIFC can find their shape.

This quality of chance was ultimately rare; both of these… pic.twitter.com/1TwVwNzbso

— John Morrissey (@USLTactics) April 14, 2024

The ‘Big Chance’ for the Hounds didn’t come against Rhode Island until the 77th minute, when Babacar Diene received the ball in the box and smartly cut a pass back to the front of goal, where Edward Kizza’s close-range effort was stopped by goalkeeper Jackson Lee. The rebound fell to Emmanuel (EJ) Johnson, who struck the follow-up with power, but Lee recovered across goal to tip the ball over the bar and deny the Hounds with a highlight-reel save.

Once again, the build-up looked great.  But the Hounds couldn’t convert.  There have been very deep lows and some highs when it comes to the Hounds’ attacking fortunes this year.  Of late, they’re trending positively, despite last week’s 1-1 draw at Indy where they had to play most of the match down a man, as they still found a way to score and take the lead. Overall, the Hounds have scored six goals in its last three matches, including a pair of back-to-back matches with multiple goals for only the third time this season. One of those results, a 3-0 victory over Birmingham Legion FC two weeks ago. Ironically, last week, Rhode Island doubled-up the Legion FC too — by a 2-0 margin.

With Hogan out, the Hounds still have some solid options at center back but lose some height and strength in the air.  They could also conceivably move Biasi, who has excelled this season as part of center back rotation, to left back in a four man backline, and move Rovira to the right back spot and/or Blackstock.  It’s likely with Etou out, Jacquesson, typically a right (MF) winger and sometimes a forward (he was part of 4-2-4 rotation a Pitt on the wide right), conventional wisdom might be that he could be inserted into the starting lineup, but it seems more likely the Hounds would use him off the bench if they’re looking to stretch the field in second half.  But if they go to a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2, then Jacquesson could be still be utilized as a starter out wide.

Projected Starting XI 

• GK – Eric Dick
• Winger/OB (L) – Dani Rovira
• CB – Luke Biasi
• CB – Sean Suber
• CB – Illal Osumanu
• Winger/OB (R) – Langston Blackstock
• CMF –  Jackson Walti
• CMF – Danny Griffin
• AMF – Robbie Mertz
• F – Edward Kizza
• F – Emmanuel Johnson

Bench options:

• GK – Gabe Perrotta, Jacob Randolph
• D –  Jake Kent-Loop, Pierre Cayet, Dani Rovira
• MF – Kenardo Forbes, Aiden O’Toole, Bradley Sample, Nate Dragasich, Bertin Jacquesson
• F – Babacar Diene, Enoch Mushagalusa, Kazaiah Sterling

Not available:

• Pat Hogan (red card suspension)
• Junior Etou (international duty)

Match info

Riverhounds (7-9-11) vs. Rhode Island FC (8-5-13)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 7
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Highmark Stadium
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Odds: Hounds +110 / Draw +220 / Rhode Island +230 (FanDuel)
TV: KDKA+
Streaming: ESPN+
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on Twitter
Match hashtags: #PITvRI and #HOUNDTAHN