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Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer: All eyes are on the postseason, plus Pittsburgh Dynamo host 2025 US Open Cup Qualifier at Highmark Stadium

Highmark Stadium. San Diego Loyal
Photo courtesy Mark Goodman

The postseason push is on!

And it’s not just the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, who will conclude its long, 34-game regular season Saturday with a berth in the USL Cup Playoffs on the line, but pretty much every Division I college program are wrapping up their regular seasons looking to solidify their playoff chances.

And of course, we’re knee-deep in following and keeping up with the High School postseason, as WPIAL playoffs have reached quarterfinal round in all classification and City League teams are poised to begin PIAA Playoffs soon too.

We take a closer look at where everyone stands here in this space below, but there’s another Pittsburgh soccer team hoping to get into another tournament.

That’s right, on Sunday, Highmark Stadium will be hosting another match on October 27, when Greater Pittsburgh Soccer League’s Pittsburgh Dynamo (Spearmint PDFC) will be hosting FCY New York in the Third Round of qualifying for the 2025 Lamar Hunt United States Open Cup tournament.

We don’t know a whole lot about the Dynamo, who are an adult team from the long-running Pittsburgh Dynamo organization, based out of the East End of the City of Pittsburgh that has been fielding recreational, youth and adult soccer teams for decades.  In fact, my oldest son — got his start playing youth soccer on the fields at the Blue Slide Park in Squirrel Hill!

What do we know about this Dynamo squad who will be fighting to get into the proper USOC tournament?  Not much.  They competed in the Greater Pittsburgh Soccer League’s Premier Division, posting a 7-1-4 record in the regular season.  Here’s a look at their roster, as Nick Foster, serves as the team’s coach. We’ve been trading communication with Foster, and hope to touch base with him before Sunday’s match.  Here’s a look at the Dynamo’s roster.

Riverhounds SC

On Wednesday, Tampa Bay and Hartford played to a 2-2 draw, which keeps the Riverhounds in the 7th place spot they occupy in the Eastern Conference standings with every team now having one match left to play.

We’ve been keeping up with the USL Championship’s playoff race and where the Hounds stand with separate updates.  Here’s the latest along with the standings below:

USL Championship Playoff Race Update: If Riverhounds win season finale, they’re in playoffs

Pitt Men’s Soccer

With two games to go (Friday at  home vs Virginia; Nov. 1 at Syracuse) The Panthers (11-3-0 overall, 5-1 in ACC) are in a great position to take the ACC regular season title, as they lead in the Standings with 15 points.  Stanford (3-0-3) and Clemson (4-2-0) are behind them with 12 points.

Despite sliding to No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, further look at their standing Nationally and in the NCAA tournament field, keep in mind that Pitt is still the top team in the RPI and the NCAA Tournament Seeding Committee, which revealed its first preliminary seeding, has Pitt second among the 16 teams that made the cut.

 Duquesne Men’s Soccer 

The Dukes are on a roll, having won 11 straight home matches and for the second week in a row, landed in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, at No. 23.  Duquesne is also tied with George Mason (both 5-1 record) at the top of the Atlantic 10, as each team has two league matches remaining.

The Dukes will travel to face UMass on Saturday, while George Mason, who they defeated last week, will be hosting St. Bonaventure.  The teams will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, November 2, as the Dukes host Fordham and George Mason travels to take on VCU.

St. Louis (3-0-3), who handed Duquesne its only loss this season, also has two matches remaining vs George Washington and Dayton.

Robert Morris Men’s Soccer

With three matches left, the Colonials are also sitting atop their league standings (4-1-1, 13 points in the Horizon League), with a very big match lurking at Oakland on Saturday.

Head Coach Jonathan Potter was a guest on Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast earlier this week.

Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast: Robert Morris Head Coach Jonathan Potter has the Colonials in 1st Place

Potter helped guide the Colonials into contention in just his second season, with a roster that includes numerous hold-0vers like captain Gabe Norris (Highlands / Steel City FC) and some exciting newcomers (Gilley brothers).

Pitt Women’s Soccer

The ACC is about as tough a conference in Women’s Soccer as anywhere in any collegiate sport, and the Panthers are having challenges replicating their success from a year ago.  Head Coach Randy Waldrum has often said that it’s harder to get into the ACC tournament (as one of the top six teams) then the NCAA tournament.  The Panthers (9-4-3 overall, 3-3-2. 11 points in ACC) had a tough setback at Florida State on Sunday keeping them behind in the quest to return to the ACC tournament.  They’ll host Wake Forest on Thursday, then wrap up the regular season at Notre Dame next week, so it won’t be easy but two positive results, should help them in their standing and give them enough

Currently the Panthers are on the bubble as a contender for an at-large NCAA tournament berth, landing 32nd in the RPI, thus, picking up a couple wins or a win-draw in the last two games would give them a much needed boost to return the NCAA tournament for the third straight season.

Duquesne Women’s Soccer

The Dukes (8-6-0 overall, 3-5-0 with nine points in A10) are currently on the outside looking in, as they hope to secure a berth in the A10 postseason tournament.  Duquesne will conclude its regular season on Thursday and Sunday, against St. Joe’s (2-1-5, 11 points) and George Mason (1-4-3, 6 points).  The consensus is that the Dukes will need to take both matches to secure a spot in the top eight.

Robert Morris Women’s Soccer

Under first year Head Coach, Michelle Rick, the Colonials (3-2-3, 12 points  in Horizon League) are right in the mix for a playoff spot for the second straight year, but will need to finish strong, especially if they want to host a match again like they did last year.

The Colonials finish the season in a key match vs Wright State (in the mix with 11 points) on Saturday in Moon, then travel to Youngstown State next Wednesday to wrap the regular season.  Two wins or a win and a draw should be enough for RMU to cross the finish line with another postseason appearance.

Pittsburgh Soccer Schedule (10/24 – 10/29)

Oct 24 (Thurs)
WPIAL
Q-FINAL ROUND PLAYOFFS
7:00 p.m. Home DUQ W Saint Joseph’s Pittsburgh, Pa. (Rooney Field)
7:00 PM Home PITT W Wake Forest Pittsburgh, PA (Ambrose Urbanic Field)
Oct 25 (Fri) 7:00 PM Home PITT M Virginia Pittsburgh, PA (Ambrose Urbanic Field)
Oct 26 (Sat)
WPIAL
Q-FINAL ROUND PLAYOFFS
Noon Away DUQ M Massachusetts Amherst, Mass.
1:00 PM Home RMU W Wright State Moon Township, Pa. (North Athletic Complex)
1:00 PM Away RMU M Oakland Rochester, Mich.
7:00 PM Home RIVERHOUNDS SC El Paso Pittsburgh, PA / Highmark Stadium
Oct 27 (Sun) 12 Noon US OPEN CUP QUALIFIER PITTSBURGH DYNAMO FCY New York Pittsburgh, PA / Highmark Stadium
1:30 p.m. Away DUQ W George Mason Fairfax, Va.
Oct 28 (Mon)
WPIAL
SEMIFINAL RD PLAYOFFS
Oct 29 (Tues)
WPIAL
SEMIFINAL RD PLAYOFFS

John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of 'Miracle on the Mon' -- a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).

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