Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer: ‘Ragtag’ Steel City FC group of wily veterans begin Open Cup quest

It was quite a Saturday that saw a sequential Men’s quadruple-header filled with eight hours of continuous soccer action that included a Riverhounds whirlwind 24 hours and win to clinch playoff spot, Robert Morris men settle for a draw as things got wacky late at the NAC while Duquesne and Pitt men continued road struggles in conference play.

Now, we turn the page to Sunday that features two of Pittsburgh’s Division I women’s teams (Robert Morris at 1 p.m. and Duquesne at 2 p.m.) in action, but also, Steel City FC begin its US Open Cup quest facing FCY NY in Open Cup 2026 qualifying match at Founders Field (3 p.m. | Live Stream)

With most academy players still in high school seasons and college players also away, Steel City FC Head Coach Dan Brower has assembled a roster with a mix of recent college players and wily veterans who’ve been around and part of the club who will look to push them forward in this match.

“Our ragtag bunch has been at it for the past several weeks,” Brower told PSN on Friday.

“We’ve been able to put together a squad that is understanding each other fairly well and we are ready as we can be.”

PSN’s Colton Coreschi will have coverage from Founders Field on Sunday.

On top of all this, High School regular season is winding down, but we’re just getting revved up as it will be a busy weekend to begin finalizing our WPIAL postseason projections as the playoff brackets will be released on Wednesday.  We are also excited to share that we’ll have new edition of High School Coaches Corner to share early this week, as coaches addressed topics about the upcoming postseason, gave shout outs to outstanding players by classification and section and more!

Looking back at Saturday Quadruple-Header for the sickos…

We did our best to keep up on Pittsburgh Soccer Now‘s active social media platforms as the Riverhounds, Robert Morris, Duquesne and Pitt men were all in action.

The big story of course came at Highmark Stadium, where the Riverhounds — without Bob Lilley for the first time in eight years — took care of business, as the steady guidance of Rob Vincent as acting Head Coach with Jon Busch, Kenardo Forbes and Sporting Director Dan Visser on the bench steered the group forward in beating Indy Eleven, 2-0.

Riverhounds beat Indy, 2-1, to punch ticket to eighth straight postseason

Earning an eighth straight postseason appearance is the baseline standard set by Bob Lilley.

The Hounds on Saturday followed a familiar formula in how they’ve been playing for the past couple months (good start, on front foot early) but they sustained control over the match well into the second half, finding an elusive second goal — which proved to the be the difference.  There will be time in the next 24 hours for some film review — then should be able to follow up with a new Takeaways and Player Grades to drop on Monday.

Also, be sure to check out Ed Thompson’s amazing photo gallery, capturing the action on Saturday night at Highmark, plus we had some help from our friend, La Mega Media’s Amadeo Eichberg, who was there to get post match reaction from Rob Vincent and Danny Griffin.

Photo Gallery and Post Match Reaction: Following a whirlwind 24 hours, Riverhounds outlast Indy in Rob Vincent’s debut at the helm

Robert Morris remain unbeaten in Horizon League with a caveat, while Pitt and Duquesne fall on the road to first place ACC, A10 foes …

Robert Morris men are still unbeaten in conference, which means they haven’t lost to a Horizon League opponent since last October before they made an impressive run to win the league’s conference tournament.

However, Jon Potter’s team was seconds away from sealing a win but had to settle for a draw against Cleveland State.  Check out the full details in our match report:

All the action comes late as Robert Morris men’s soccer settle for 1-1 draw with Cleveland State

Pitt and Duquesne played first place opponents to stand-offs in the first half of their respective matches on the road, but in both cases, the home team pulled away with strong second half efforts in route to wins.

Pitt men’s soccer road woes continue in 2-0 loss at No. 1 Stanford

PITTSBURGH SOCCER SCHEDULE (10/12 – 10/26)

John Krysinsky

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).