
When asked what goals he has this preseason, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC captain and midfielder Danny Griffin made it pretty clear after the team’s first training session this week.
“We want to get off to a good start. The quicker we’re on the same page the better. We’ve always been good defensively, so adding to the attacking group can certainly do that. Our mindset is always to win and we want to win now,” Griffin said.
With majority of its signed players and a handful of trialists, the Hounds will cap the first week of preseason on the road against the Columbus Crew, the MLS’s 2024 Leagues Cup champions and the MLS 2023 Champions in a preseason scrimmage behind closed doors (to the public) on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
While winning matches in the preseason isn’t always paramount, Griffin and his teammates, especially those who experienced a bumpy preseason and start to the regular season a year ago, are determined to have a strong start to the 2025 campaign — and coming away with positive results is clearly a goal.
“The quicker we get up to speed, the better. I don’t want to lose any preseason games. I don’t want to lose any games at all, so that has to be the mindset from the start. Doesn’t matter if we’re playing a college team, or, Columbus Crew this weekend, we don’t want to lose any game. That has to be the mentality going into it.”
A year ago, the Hounds started the regular season with a 0-3-0 mark, and further 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 and winning only three times in its first 18 matches.
Some of the problematic issues with last year’s squad started with 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 Hounds have looked to address this from the start this year, with two significant free agent signings. First, signing Bertin Jacquesson to a contract with the club after the former Pitt standout made a positive impact when on loan late in 2024. Then, earlier this week, on Monday as they commenced for their first training session, the club announced the signing of veteran proven scorer, Augustine Williams.
Jacquesson was not with the team Monday, as Head Coach Bob Lilley acknowledged that the native of France will be late arrival to camp due to some Visa issues, so it might take a little while for him to get caught up with the rest of the squad. Also not arriving due to travel / work restrictions include returning vets Junior Etou and Illal Osumanu along with new signee — another forward — Brigham Larsen.
Lilley along with his assistants Rob Vincent and Jon Busch, have already had a chance to get a good look at the group as a whole and the trialists for five days in training.
Now they will get a chance to get tested against some outside competition. It won’t get any tougher than facing players competing for spots on a Major League Soccer roster, though the Crew’s offseason has been fairly quiet, with very little roster movement — at least compared to many other MLS teams.
Lilley isn’t just using early preseason matches to get a look at the trialists, though the non-roster invitees will be a key part of the group’s make-up.
“We have to start building now so we know how we wanna play,” Lilley explained.
“You know we know that so even in training, we’re already putting things in. You know I’m not gonna take two weeks and just focus on the trial list. We’re putting things in and then for the trialists, it’s kind of up to them. We’ve already seen them in a combine and we like them. It’s kind of up for them to show that they’re coachable, that they’re adaptable, that they’re keeping up. We’re challenging our guys in terms of what we’re working on, so new guys coming in, they’re getting the same instruction, some of that quicker than others. Those that have that ability put themselves in a good position — will earn a contract.”
The veteran head coach, who will be at the helm of a club for the 26th year, is confident that this year’s group should have more cohesion from the start.
“We’ll play this weekend against Columbus and we’ll make some decisions,” Lilley stated.
“You know I really like the group of players that are in now some years we’re shuffling a lot of guys in and out for for three weeks. This year I think there will be some guys that popping in, maybe in weeks two and three, but I don’t anticipate in years as much of a revolving door, which hopefully will let us have a little more stability. The guys that that do make up the core of the team will hit their their level sooner because there’s there’s less chaos. You’re just trying to get them fit. Now trying to get them going and hopefully they’ll find a rhythm sooner rather than later.”
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Following Saturday’s first test against Columbus, the Hounds will return to training at AHN Montour next week, then take on Duquesne University on Saturday, February 8, in its first home preseason match, scheduled to be played at Highmark Stadium. Stay with Pittsburgh Soccer Now for the most comprehensive Riverhounds SC preseason coverage.
