Pittsburgh Riverhounds

FINAL: Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 1, Las Vegas Lights 0

by
John Krysinsky
September 28, 2025

Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

USL Championship Soccer

FINAL: Riverhounds SC 1, Las Vegas Lights FC 0

Match Statistics: USL Championship Match Center

Match Summary

They may have waited a day to play the match, but the Pittsburgh Riverhounds took care of business, defeating Las Vegas Lights, 1-0, at Highmark Stadium on Sunday night.

Augustine Williams scored his team leading eighth goal of the season on a first half penalty kick conversion, while goalkeeper Jacob Randolph posted his first clean sheet in league play.

Etou wins it ✅@augiwilliams scores it ✅@RiverhoundsSC takes the lead from the spot! pic.twitter.com/f184a1WqKJ

— USL Championship (@USLChampionship) September 28, 2025

The Riverhounds were on the front foot — especially in the first half — bringing waves of pressure as they held significant advantages in crosses (16-0 in the first half), shots and corners, but could only convert when veteran winger Junior Etou drew a foul in the box in the 28th minute.

Las Vegas carved out more chances in the second half as Pittsburgh failed to put the match away.

With the win, Pittsburgh moves within one point of Hartford, two behind Loudoun United FC (who drew with Tampa Bay), with four matches remaining.

Check back on this thread and stay with Pittsburgh Soccer Now for a more detailed recap along with post-match reaction from Highmark Stadium.

Match Day Updates

The Riverhounds will host Las Vegas on Sunday evening, as the visitors ran into some travel issues in getting to Pittsburgh, so the match has been moved back to Sunday.

We’ll have the latest updates on the match here.

Post match with Head Coach Rob Vincent and Junior Etou

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Second Half

FINAL — PITTSBURGH 1, LAS VEGAS 0

90’+3 — Giorgio Probo nearly steals one with Randolph coming out of goal — but can’t convert.

90’+2 — Nice ball in from Walti to Larsen, but LVL goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena comes off his line to deny the rookie a chance to double the lead.

88′ — Dangerous enough ball in from Biasi nearly bends into Larsen but it’s cleared out for corner.

87′ — Sub — Hounds

IN — Brigham Larsen
OUT — Augi Williams

86′ — Williams gets behind defender but having trouble getting a quality first touch on it — and misses his shot right of goal.

83′ — Near chance for Hounds! Corner to near post — redirected to Vactor who can’t connect from very close range!

81′ — SAVE! Randolph dives to his right — as a dangerous, low shot comes through from Giorgio Probo after Hounds failed to clear.

80′ — Subs – Hounds

IN — Jackson Walti
OUT — Junior Etou

72′ — First wave of subs for Hounds… And they’re of the attacking variety:

IN — Bertin Jacquesson, Chase Boone
OUT — Robbie Mertz, Charles Ahl

68′ — Las Vegas free kick from fairly close range. It’s hit well by Gennaro Nigro — right at Randolph — who saves it with ease.

59′ — Creativity continues — as Hounds transition along right side, Mertz backheels a ball for Biasi to run onto it. The winger delivers a cross into middle of box for Williams who can only get a little — not great — contact on it and misses the target.

54′ – Havoc in the box as Vacter wins the header but it bounces between bodies. A half-clearance to the top of the box, but Ahl’s follow-up effort on the volley goes high!

50′ — Bradley Sample with time in middle of box — sends lifted shot that bangs off the bar.

46′ — No changes for the Hounds as second half start.

First Half

HALF — PITTSBURGH 1, LV LIGHTS 0

Hounds convert with Augi Williams’ PK. Junior Etou was a force in the first half getting his way on left edge Pittsburgh bringing plenty of pressure — dominating crosses (16-0!!), corners (5-0!!), shots (8-2, 1-1 on target) & 58 percent possession.

In addition — Hounds pressure resulted in Las Vegas with 30 clearances.

Need to do more with it though.

45′ — Mertz pulls off a Maradona as he enters attacking third — then sends a shot but it had too much lift and power.

45′ — Hounds completely owning possession battle now — over 64 percent of the ball.

37′ — LVL finally create something — but it took for Hounds defender Sean Suber to trip up — leading some space for Johnny Rodriguez to send a bending shot from left edge of box inside the right post but Hounds GK Jacob Randolph makes the save.

34′ — Etou again continues to cause issues for LVL — getting behind defender again — sends a shot which is saved — then another off rebound but is blocked.

29′ — GOAL — RIVERHOUNDS 1, LAS VEGAS 0

Augi Williams buries the PK!

Williams’ team leading 8th goal of the season

27′ — PENALTY! Junior Etou is taken down by Younes Boudadi.

22′ — Hounds controlling possession for the most part (the stats also back it up). After Junior Etou keeps a ball in — sends ball to top of arc area where Beto Ydrach launches a shot from 25 yards that sails just over the right corner.

11′ — Hard collision in the box — and its Hounds’ Charles Ahl who ran into LVL GK Raiko Arozarena. Clever chip from Griffin put ball in 50/50 land.

8′ — excellent build-up from Hounds concludes on left edge for Junior Etou who sends a hard, low ball forcing Raiko Arozarena to get down and stop it from getting further.

6:06 p.m. — Match has kicked off!

Riverhounds lineup pretty similar to recent matches with one exception — Jacob Randolph gets the nod in goal. It’s Randolph’s first start in a league match this season.

Here for a Sunday soccer at Highmark— anchoring @pghsoccernow’s coverage for @RiverhoundsSC v @lvlightsfc @USLChampionship pic.twitter.com/LxMfcgtmd2

— John Krysinsky (@JohnKrysinsky) September 28, 2025

STARTING LINEUPS

Additional questions can be directed to ticketing@riverhounds.com.

— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) September 27, 2025

What’s at Stake

It’s this simple… if the Riverhounds want to keep pace in the race to finish in the top four of the Eastern Conference, they’ll have to put together a three-point performance on Sunday against a travel-weary Las Vegas Lights squad.

All of the teams the Hounds are chasing picked up points on Saturday. The Hounds remain in sixth place with 34 points, while Hartford (38 points) won 2-0 at Colorado Springs, Loudoun United FC (38 points) drew, 2-2, vs Phoenix and North Carolina (40 points) defeated The Miami FC, 1-0, on Friday.

In the midst of controversy, the Riverhounds came away with an impressive 2-1 victory at Hartford on Saturday, putting the club in position to make a final push towards finishing into the top four spots, and possibly earning a first-round playoff home match.

Pittsburgh (9W-9L-7D, 34 points) moved up to 6th place in the standings with that win, with five matches remaining.

“We want to keep pushing for as high of a finish as we can get. We’ve got to keep pressing forward,” Bob Lilley, Riverhounds Head Coach said after the Hartford win.

Las Vegas Lights side that is a league-worst -23 goal differential and in 11th place in the Western Conference standings, they have a similar injury report as last week, with Perrin Barnes (ankle) and Aidan O’Toole (knee) out and Jackson Walti (adductor) questionable.