Takeaways and Player Grades: Push for elusive two-goal lead finally pays off in Riverhounds’ playoff clinching win

It wasn’t just another important match for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday when they pulled through to put together a solid effort from the start through the first 77 minutes, then held off Indy Eleven for a 2-1 win that would put them into the USL Championship postseason for the eighth consecutive season.

The win came under the cloud of playing for the first time in the past eight years without the club’s most successful coach ever, Bob Lilley, who has been put on administrative leave by the club, as announced Friday night, less than 24 hours before the match.

Under the capable direction of acting Head Coach Rob Vincent, along with Jon Busch, Kenardo Forbes and Sporting Director Dan Visser on the bench, the Hounds pushed forward for a crowd-pleasing result.

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

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

The coaches and players made sure they crossed that important achievement off the list for this season.  Now, the Hounds (11W-10L-7D, 40 points) can focus on the playoffs by looking to earn a top four seed, which could give them a home field match in round one.   It won’t be easy.  Hartford is playing lights out right now and is a likely lock for the No.

3 spot. They lose the tiebreaker to the next two clubs ahead of them (Loudoun United FC at 41 points and North Carolina FC at 40 points).  With two matches remaining for all these teams, anything is possible.

In winning on Saturday, the Hounds followed a familiar formula in how they’ve been playing for the past couple months (good start, on front foot early, dictated terms for most of the contest) and for good parts of the past eight seasons under Bob Lilley.

Vincent emphasized the importance in the club’s approach to the match in going about business as usual in his post-match comments.

With sustained control over the match well into the second half and finding something that both Lilley and Vincent have talked about in recent post-match interviews — getting an elusive second goal when controlling the match — proved to the be the difference.

Riverhounds Personnel, Tactics and Formation

Back in the lineup were two of the squad’s most valuable players this season — Eric Dick and Robbie Mertz.    Dick was, according to Vincent’s comments after the match, rested the previous two matches, to give Jacob Randolph some much-needed playing time in back-to-back starts (1-o win vs Las Vegas and 3-1 loss at Miami).   Mertz hasn’t had any serious injuries but was held out and was not in the 18 for the Miami match.

In a match where both sides were playing direct a lot in the first 30-plus minutes, the Hounds started to carve out more opportunities in the final third.  While the average positions chart had Danny Griffin and Bradley Sample in the dead-middle spot on the pitch, Griffin made the most of his opportunities getting forward.

Vincent and the coaching staff had some more options to add to the match squad rotation with both Jackson Walti and Perrin Barnes healthy again, and both came on in the 74th minute as the first subs (for Mertz and Junior Etou). Also coming on were Bertin Jacquesson (for Augi Williams), Brigham Larsen (for Charles Ahl) and Illal Osumanu for Luke Biasi.

Match Takeaways

Patience, precision and a well-timed run contribute to critical first-half breakthrough… 

On Saturday, it was an even match in the early going, with Indy carrying the ball deeper and generating more shots, forcing Dick into making a few saves: first smothering a free kick by Aodhan Quinn.

Quinn then nearly put the Eleven ahead on a counter-attack chance in the 22nd minute. The veteran found space alone in the left side of the box, but Dick again came up with a stop by getting his fingertips to a low shot, redirecting the ball around the far post.

The Hounds were owning the possession battle through the first half hour, but Indy was more dangerous on the counter.

Pittsburgh needed to flip the script.

They finally did that in the 38th minute.

The Hounds broke through in the 38th minute when Augi Williams caught up with a cross from Robbie Mertz.  Williams played a clever ball across the goal box, where Griffin was there from very close range to smash it high and just under the crossbar to give the Hounds a 1-0 lead.

This goal put on display the strengths of each player involved — showing patience, precision and excellent timing.

Mertz showed patience on the left width.  Instead of charging hard down to the left corner or endline, he kept his head up, saw how his teammates were progressing into making their runs into the box, then went back to his right side to send an out-swinging ball to the far post area.  It was a ball that was played into pocket of space where Williams could track it down.  As the ball nearly bounced away and over the endline, Williams cleverly found a way to cutback a one-time liner from a difficult angle that scorched through the goal box.

It required a perfectly timed run by Griffin to get to the spot — which the Hounds’ captain sensed he needed to be in the right place at the right time.

“A lot of times I run to the box and try to free myself to pick up a second shot, whether it’s a knockdown like the one in Charleston,” Griffin said.

“Augi played a great ball on the cross and I threw my body at it.”

Pushing until putting up an elusive two-goal lead… 

If you’ve read any PSN Riverhounds analysis pieces, coverage or listened to quotes from Vincent, Lilley and players before this match, one constant theme heading into this match was how wasteful this team has been in many games despite putting a lot of pressure on opponents when in a winning position or tied in a match.

• 2-0 Loss to Louisville: Hounds couldn’t capitalize when they controlled the first half, then the league leaders turned things up a notch to score twice in the second half.
• 1-0 win vs Las Vegas, after scoring an early 1st half goal, they couldn’t put away a team that had a minus-27 goal differential and were travel weary and looked awful in the first half.
• 3-1 loss at Miami:  After completely dominating the first half and carrying a 1-0 lead into the second half, the Hounds fell apart, allowing three 2nd half goals.

On Saturday night, this appeared to be a group hell-bent on getting that second goal.

And that didn’t come easy — but the Hounds didn’t go back into a shell after the goal.  They continued to press and press.

For the next 40 minutes of the match, it looked like the same old story.

The Hounds nearly doubled the lead in first half stoppage time when another Mertz cross was put into dangerous area, with Williams redirecting a header that just missed getting inside the top left corner.

Pittsburgh continued to keep the field tilted in its favor early in the second half, as Williams missed on a few chances, while Hunter Sulte denied chances from Riverhounds midfielders Bradley Sample and Charles Ahl in the 55th and 58th minutes.

The Hounds remained on the front foot through the 76th minute when they doubled the lead on a well-executed corner kick, when Bradley Sample served up a ball to the near post, where Suber rose up to redirect the ball into goal off a header.

Letting Foot Off the Gas…

True to form, the inevitable happened.

In the closing 10 minutes, Indy finally found some rhythm as the Hounds sat deeper, generating a number of chances, and eventually capitalizing when James Musa converted on this chance to beat Hounds’ keeper Eric Dick in the 87th minute.

Outside what is now proving to be a signature win at Hartford, which required a strong late match effort to get the game-winner, the Hounds have struggled late in matches down the stretch.

Having the two-goal cushion was immense.

Allowing a goal off a long throw-in proved to be Indy’s kryptonite in exposing the Hounds, taking them out of what was a well-organized defensive structure all evening in the run of play.  It took a quick bounce and an opportunistic effort that caught all 10 Hounds field players off guard as a unit, leading to the Indy goal.

Out of their desperation to clear the initial ball, they didn’t close space quick enough — and probably should have had someone marking Jack Blake, whose volley attempt from outside of the box spun off the outside of his foot. The awkward delivery fell perfectly at the back post for Musa, who finished unmarked on the spinning ball.

Now, holding onto a 2-1 lead, sitting back the entire time wasn’t going to work.

With five minutes of stoppage time added, the Hounds pushed forward, nearly finding a third goal when sub Bertin Jacquesson unleashed a chance from the top of the box, but it was saved by Hunter Sulte.

Indy was not able to sustain another quality chance, leaving the players and coaches a chance to celebrate a win and clinching a playoff spot following a tumultuous 24-hour period.

John K’s Riverhounds Player Grades

Starters 

1	Eric Dick	GK – 7 — good performance in return. Solid throughout — coming off his line and on a few tricky corners.  Was left without support on goal.
23	Guillaume Vacter	DF — 6 — this guy has proven himself to be a defensive machine on the backline.  More of a unremarkable, but workmanlike outing
5	Sean Suber	DF — 8.5– terrific night with 13 defensive contributions and 12 clearances, 11 (!!) of his 47 touches were in opposition box (a crazy number for a center back).  Oh, and that goal.
16	Beto Ydrach	DF — 6.5 — had 58 touches with six passes into final third.  In good form as he goes to play for Puerto Rico vs Argentina.
13	Luke Biasi	MF — 6 — nine passes into final third, as always, the two-way work sometimes goes under the radar but otherwise, pretty quiet night.
8	Junior Etou	MF — 7 — those bursts of energy were there as they were against Vegas (but not as effective the week before at Miami). Feels like the 31 year-old is good for 70 minutes a match because of how hard he plays. Beyond that, might be a stretch.
2	Danny Griffin (C) ‘‎	MF — 8 — One of his best games this season. DG was outstanding from box-to-box in controlling tempo when on ball — not always forcing the ball and retaining possession when necessary but also took more opportunuities getting forward and it paid off with the goal
15	Bradley Sample	MF – 7 — more touches than we’ve seen him have in recent stretch when starting. Drew a few fouls, had nine passes into final third. Created a chance and had a shot on target. Getting more comfortable playing alongside Griffin.
9	Augi Williams	FW – 7 — solid work to run down Mertz cross and get assist on first goal. Overall had his chances — missed on one and had another saved. buy propecia online in the best USA pharmacy https://4naturalwellness.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/html/buy-propecia.html no prescription with fast delivery drugstore   Couple other moments where he rushed some things but overall good night.  Committed four fouls — harkened back memories
12	Charles Ahl	FW — 5.5 — less touches meant less of an impact in this match.  Often dueling with very big backline from Indy, lost 6/7 aerial duels, drew one foul and committed another. Needed to get him into more positions on the ball in and around the box, as he’s proven to be a handful and one of the most creative players Pittsburgh has. Had just two touches in opposition box
14	Robbie Mertz	FW – 6.5 — doesn’t get credit for assist but was instrumental in first goal. Drew three fouls and with 60 touches, important to have ball at his feet a lot on edges of final third — good things happen. purchase elavil online in the best USA pharmacy https://bluebonnetendocrinology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/html/purchase-elavil.html no prescription with fast delivery drugstore

Reserves 

31	Randolph	DNP
3	Barnes	Sub — 74′ — Made first appearance for first time since early September.
17	Larsen	Sub — 87′ — continues to be used late in matches.  Feels like the big fella’s due for a late-match moment.
28	Osumanu	Sub — 87′ — quick shift but helped secure lead
20	Bouregy	DNP
42	Walti	Sub – 73′ — Second match back since being out for a few weeks. Having Walti (or Sample) as an option off bench is a good thing — as depth will be important in playoffs
10	Jacquesson	Sub – 83′ — stretched the field and had decent chance on frame in stoppage time