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Riverhounds SC Notebook: What to look for as preseason begins

As we post this article, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC preseason is already off and running, as players who are signed to the squad along with those who’ve been invited to participate as trialists, report to Pittsburgh this weekend with the first official training session to take place on Monday at AHN Montour Training Complex.

Head Coach Bob Lilley along with his coaching staff that includes Jon Busch and Rob Vincent will be a busy trio and have a lot of work to do to finish building the team’s roster to be ready for the season opener in early March.

The Hounds open training sessions with 15 players on the roster.  This means that Lilley, Busch and Vincent will be looking to make anywhere from seven to 10 more additions to the club.

Last week, we put together a makeshift depth chart, but there are some obvious holes that will need to be filled to make the roster more complete, as they are still are a little light at a few positions, namely forward, two-way and attacking wingers and at center back.

Riverhounds 2025 Roster Updates / Tracker: After six seasons in Pittsburgh, Dani Rovira signs with Rhode Island FC

With two goalkeepers, including USL Championship’s 2024 Golden Glove winner, Eric Dick, back for another year, and a pack of versatile midfielders in place, the bulk of the trialists coming in will likely come in form of wingers, forwards and depth at center back.

The Hounds will have players training and playing matches during preseason who are with the club on a trial basis. The list of non-roster invitees will be assembled as preseason gets under way.

Look for Pittsburgh Soccer Now to provide reports from AHN Montour in the coming weeks, plus will be out at some of the home preseason matches.  This past week, the Hounds expanded its preseason schedule, by adding Duquesne to the slate.

Riverhounds add Duquesne to preseason schedule

As the Hounds head into the preseason, I’ve outlined some of things we’ll be watching closely.

Stability at the Core Is Really Good, but Not a Guarantee for Strong Start

The Hounds begin the preseason with 13 players returning from last year’s squad, which should be a postive thing but not exactly a guarantee that they’ll be firing on all cylinders at the start of preseason and the regular season.  A year ago, the Hounds brought back a strong core from a the 2023 Players Shield squad, but a few injuries and key departures, namely losing Albert Dikwa, Arturo Ordonez and Marc Ybarra, proved to be difficult to overcome early on — and put the team in a big hole.

The team started 0-3-0 and stumbled out to a very sluggish start through the first half of the season, at one point sitting nearly double-digit points behind the playoff line.

While preseason results ultimately don’t matter, there were some heads turned with the team’s lack of attacking firepower and production last preseason (losing to WVU, 2-0, in one match), as the influx of new forwards didn’t exactly light things up.

The good news, is that at the core, they have expeirence and leadership in place, primarily in two key areas — in the midfield and in goal.  Club stalwarts Kenardo Forbes (226), Danny Griffin (150) and Robbie Mertz (135) are the three active Hounds with 100 appearances for the team; that group shrunk by one with the departure in free agency of Dani Rovira, who left seventh with 139 matches played. Next in line to join the century club? Fourth-year defender Luke Biasi, who has appeared in 80 matches over his first three seasons in Pittsburgh.

Eric Dick made a name for himself in his first year as the Hounds goalkeeper, riding a strong second half of the season to the Championship’s Goalkeeper of the Year award. Forbes and Mertz check in as the active leaders in goals for the club with 19 and 18, respectively, making them the leading candidates to hit 20 goals for the Riverhounds, a feat achieved by 12 players in team history. Griffin’s 150 games comes with a quirky pair of statistics that underline his tireless work rate marshaling the midfield while not crossing the line into dirty play. Griffin has been booked 25 times in his career, the most in Hounds history, yet his 150 games are the most by a Hounds player who has never been shown a red card in a match.

With a year under their belts in Pittsburgh, the next wave of experienced Hounds includes Jackson Walti, Bradley Sample, Aiden O’Toole and Jacob Randolph.  One thing we’ve seen through the years under Lilley, often times second year players start to find their footing even more.  Walti and Sample each improved through the 2024 campaign and they will be looked at as key connectors in the midfield group.  O’Toole will have his chance, coming back to the Hounds, to have a greater part this season after limited playing time last season.  Randolph is clearly the number two guy at keeper, but can seize on his chances when he gets the opportunity.

What we might be looking for from this core group in the preseason?

As long as they’re healthy, look for Lilley to include but not overwork them in most preseason matches to gradually build their match fitness, but also working on getting the entire group in sync earlier in the season.  There’s no doubt knowing the leadership core they have in place, the Hounds are going to be determined to avoid having another poor start .

Reshaping a More Consistent Attack

Edward Kizza, who has moved on to sign with Indy Eleven, provided stability as a key link-up player in the attack and eventually ended the season as the team’s leading goal scorer, thanks mostly to things finally opening up late in the season.

Otherwise, last season, the Hounds had a revolving door of forwards, from Kazaiah Sterling to Babacar Diene to EJ Johnson — then picking up Enoch Mushagalusa at midseason.  Together that group of forwards produced six total goals in 28 starts.

In September, former Pitt standout Bertin Jacquesson was brought to the club on loan from Real Salt Lake, quickly making an impact.   Jacquesson scored five goals and had two assists in just seven matches.

With Jacquesson’s presence on the attacking line and in open spaces where he thrives, things opened up for Kizza, who rode a goal-scoring streak of give goals in the last five regular season games.  Added to the mix, Robbie Mertz, who started to play higher up in the attack, the Hounds often rounded into a rare 3-4-3 shape under Lilley when things started clicking.

Sure enough, with Jacquesson’s Adidas Next Generation contract with Real Salt Lake ending, the Hounds were able to find a way to get Jacquesson back in Pittsburgh under contract for 2025, with a team option for 2026.

Now, the Hounds have to build greater depth at forward and fill that spot left by the departure of Kizza, who was durable and did a lot of the little things at the top — and became a very reliable two-way player in Lilley’s system at forward.

The addition of rookie Brigham Larsen is an interesting one and one that we’ve seen before by Lilley –bringing in a big-bodied, skillful target forward and finisher at the top of the attack –as a potential threat in the air and someone who can be helpful in high press.  This prototypical player in Lilley’s system has been used as a spot starter but a key player off the bench later in matches.   This is a type of player that the Hounds were missing last season, but always seemed to have in prior seasons under Lilley, whether it was Tola Showumni, William Eyang, Tommy Williamson and Mark Forrest.

With Jacquesson in place as one of the primary attacking pieces, especially in the wider channels of a 3-4-3 or even in 5-3-2 / 3-5-2 attacking formations, the Hounds will need a few more forwards who can complement and fit into the system well.

The re-signing of Junior Etou also provides another reliable presence out wide, as Etou’s been durable, with the exception of late season injury in 2024. Etou spent much of his early pro career as a central, holding midfielder, but in Pittsburgh, his role evolved during the past two seasons, finding a spot as a reliable two-way player on the wing.

Luke Biasi evolved into a reliable defender last season, but is versatile, and can also play out on the wing, especially when the Hounds go into 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 formations.  The Hounds have to replace two players who also logged a lot of minutes on the flank in the past few years — Langston Blackstock and Dani Rovira.

Versatility is something that Lilley and his staff will look for to fill those spots, as they like to have players who are interchangable and flexible with the constant tactical shifting that can go on from game-to-game and within each match.

Center Back Depth

With Illal Osumanu, Sean Suber and Luke Biasi in place, Pittsburgh has a young, athletic, tough group maybe slightly undersized back line core to build around.  They very much could make up the starting center back grouping but there’s still has work to do in building depth particularly at center back.

Pat Hogan signed with Indy Eleven, while they also opted not to pick up contract options for Pierre Cayet , thus Pittsburgh will need to fill in the defending corps with some bigger bodies.  There’s no doubt Lilley and his coaches will be signing and/or bringing more center backs on trial at the start of preseason.  Osumanu, like Biasi could play at outside back if needed, adding more value to playing in Lilley’s system.

Lilley has proven that he can find good, young players who can step into the back line and adjust well to the system — but adding a veteran in this mix would be a plus.  However, one situation that the Hounds likely don’t want to have to deal with at the start of the season is lack depth  at this position.   Last year, due to Hogan being injured and Biasi having little experience, team captain Danny Griffin played in the middle of the back line to start the season — as the Hounds got off to a sluggish 0-3 record.

Riverhounds Schedule, Jan. 25-Feb. 1

Saturday, Jan. 25 — Players report

Sunday, Jan. 26 — Physicals

Monday-Friday, Jan. 27-31 — Practice 10-12 at AHN Montour*

Saturday, Feb. 1 — Preseason game #1 at Columbus Crew (closed to public)

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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Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

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