The Riverhounds walked away with its second-ever home playoff win at Highmark Stadium, as they played Hartford to a scoreless stalemate that had to be decided by a dramatic penalty kick shootout, with the home side pulling through on Saturday night.
The Hounds needed a collective performance emblematic of the team’s resiliency to get through a physical, cagey affair, which required managing emotions and staying focused through 120 minutes in the run of play, with additional mental fortitude and confidence to get the result in the shootout.
Riverhounds survive cagey playoff tussle with Hartford in penalty kick shootout
Once the whistle blew, the Hounds endured a very shaky start but eventually took control, mostly dictating terms against a Hartford Athletic team that brought a high-level of intensity, had very talented pieces lurking and were well-coached.
For the Riverhounds, coming away with an elusive postseason victory on home turf, was especially gratifying for the players and fans alike
Sean Suber, who converted the clinching penalty kick, may have summed it up best.
“It was a playoff match. Playoff atmosphere. We weathered the storm,” Suber said during the post-match press conference.
“It was a battle out there. Going 120 minutes is not easy. Especially on the body and in playing them being a physical team that they are. But I feel like everyone kept their head in the right moments. We put in a good performance and got the win.”
The reward — the Riverhounds get to fight another week and get to play in the Eastern Conference Semifinals at home, thanks to a massive upset that took place a bit further down the Ohio River, as Detroit City FC stunned Louisville City FC, 1-0.
This was Pittsburgh first playoff win since 2022, when they defeated Birmingham in a match that also went to a penalty kick shootout. In fact, three of the last four Hounds’ playoff matches have been decided by penalties.
In the Highmark Stadium era, this is only the third time the Hounds have made it this far in the USL Cup tournament (to the Eastern Conference Semifinal Round).
After years of postseason disappointments, the Riverhounds finally pulled out a knockout round thriller that they — and the Pittsburgh soccer fans — could celebrate on home turf.
The Hounds head to the next round firmly believing they have not even played their best soccer with added swagger that’s needed to carry them through the challenges that postseason, knockout soccer tournaments bring.
Personnel, Formation & Tactics
Vincent and the coaching staff kept the starting eleven the same as it’s been for the past few weeks, with the same 3-4-2-1 (5-4-1) fluid formation, depending on where the wingers are and the central midfield rotation moved when on the ball and when getting behind the ball into defensive shape.
The Hounds squad rotation — critical component of a 120 minute-plus match — were spread out and mostly practical. Since Luke Biasi picked up an early yellow card — his night was cut short to 62 minutes, replaced by Perrin Barnes. Jackson Walti came on in the 78th minute for Charles Ahl, who took his share of punishment throughout the match, then Guillaume Vacter went down with an injury late in the second half, which brought Illal Osumanu into the match in the 88th minute.
The Hounds opted to bring on Bertin Jacquesson at the start of extra time, for Bradley Sample. With these moves, the Hounds played the last 12-plus minutes of regulation with Griffin a bit higher with the attacking mids, but once Jacquesson came into the match, the former Pitt man joined the attacking higher line, while Griffin dropped back to partner with Walti in the central midfield.
Takeaways
Managing Emotions and Surviving a Very Shaky Start
Pittsburgh Soccer Now’s Mark Goodman wrote in his match preview that this showdown with Hartford would be a match that would be less about tactics and talent but fueled by drama with both teams carrying over bitter taste in each team’s mouth after the way the previous match ended.
In the September 20 match at Hartford, Pittsburgh walked away from a very tight and testy affair with a 2-1 win, but the match was clouded in controversy. Hounds captain Danny Griffin and Hartford’s Marlon Hairston exchanged words in stoppage time with Pittsburgh leading, 2-1. Hairston then went to officials and accused Griffin of using a racial slur. Officials spoke with Griffin, who emphatically denied it. Hartford players walked off the pitch.
The USL Championship’s investigation found no evidence to support the claim by Hairston and the Hounds ended up holding on to a critical slight edge in the standings, which would prove beneficial in earning home field advantage for the playoff match.
Fast forward to Saturday night.
As soon as the whistle blew on Saturday night, Hartford’s intense emotions were evident from the start.
The Latics came out swinging and throwing major haymakers.
Only seconds into the match, Hairston unleashed a shot from the edge that forced Eric Dick into making a quick reaction save.
Less than a minute later, Hartford put a ball past Dick, with Samuel Careaga with a burst to the edge of the endline — found room to drive a low shot into goal.
Hounds fans — many of the 4,932 in attendance would breathe a sigh of relief — as Hartford forward Kyle Edwards was offside on the initial shot.
“They really flew out the traps. We looked really nervous. We were making some poor decision. We turned a lot of balls over really cheaply. Defensively we were a step late. I was sitting there on the bench, hoping we would get through that spell,” Vincent added.
“They were smelling blood and putting balls forward.”
As the proceedings began to get chippy as both sides were flying around in the first 10 minutes, Luke Biasi was caught behind Hartford’s Michee Ngalina, then made contact — drawing the match official to pull out the book for a yellow card.
The Hounds’ most carded player this season was already put into the books early in the match.
Things weren’t going well.
For the next 10 to 12 minutes, the match saw numerous stoppages, culminating with Dick’s knock down of Hartford’s Joey Farrell as both went up for a high ball at far post.
“It’s playoff soccer,” Dick acknowledged.
“They were going to come out flying. We were going to come out flying. We were fortunate with the start they had. We had to get our feet wet. We have to be a little bit more prepared there, as a group. But it was a wake-up call for us.”
The Hounds bench had to endure some nervy moments, but still had confidence that the 11 on the field would get back control of the match.
“When we got to the 20, 23rd minute or so, we looked at each other and said I think we’re through the worst of it now. Then we settled into a little bit of a rhythm.”
The Hounds started to inch forward with more regularity — with winger Junior Etou starting to make some advances up the left side, to mixed results, while Charles Ahl kept a possession alive in the 26th minute on the right edge of the attacking third, the shifty attacking midfielder drew a foul.
This set up Pittsburgh’s best chance of the half on a set piece, which came when Robbie Mertz’s free kick sent to the back post connected with defender Beto Ydrach, who redirected a blazing header low and toward the inside right post.
Only a diving save by Hartford keeper Antony Siaha prevented the Hounds from taking the lead.
From that point, the first half played out with the Hounds really getting more comfortable on the ball — owning the possession edge by a 64/36 differential and most importantly, started to dictate terms of the match.
Second Half Slugfest
The second period things shifted to an even tighter affair.
Shots were hard to come upon for both sides. The Hounds held a slight edge in the last 45 (3-2).
While Pittsburgh had the better of the play, the flow of the match slowed down again — and things started to get physical with a few hard fouls, confrontations and a slew of yellow cards picked up by the frustrated visitors.
In the 58th minute, a skirmish took place after whistle when Mertz, trying to keep possession with defenders closing in, fell down on the ball, but wouldn’t get up. With a couple Hartford players trying to pry the ball away, center match official Elijio Arregui blew the whistle, initially to call Mertz for delaying. Following the scrum, Arregui handed out yellow card to Mertz and Hartford keeper Antony Siaha.
Physical play continued three minutes later when Hounds forward Augi Williams was knocked to ground near the edge of the box, drawing potentially the loudest roar from the crowd in the second half.
With the chess match taking place, Hartford mostly operated on the counter, while the Hounds were more patient on the ball, keeping its overall possession edge in the match.
There were a few chances, but nothing of substance.
Griffin slipped Mertz through toward goal in the 68th minute, but a sliding block kept him from hitting the target.
Another collision between Hairston and Augi Williams set off more frustration from Hartford. Arregui ruled a bad foul on Hairston, pulling out a yellow card on the veteran midfielder. The incident happened right in front of Hartford’s bench, which erupted when the call didn’t go its way — then the official also booked Head Coach Brendan Burke with a card for dissent.
Mertz had one more chance in stoppage time on a cross from Ydrach. Players from both teams dove and threw their bodies to get the ball, and Mertz was barely beaten to the crucial touch at the top of the 6-yard box.
Superb Defending and Cautious Played Ruled Extra Time
With each side looking for a breakthrough — neither really could find many answers. – and the same carried through in extra time, with no decisive moments or chances — giving way to the match being decided on penalties.
In recent past playoff matches the Hounds have found themselves in some open-ended extra time periods with multiple goals being scored in Birmingham in 2022 and against Brendan Burke’s Bethlehem Steel FC in 2018.
That wasn’t the case on this night.
The Hounds forced their will on the match. With Hartford looking to get forward on the counter, the Hounds were prepared as defensively they were well-organized and superb.
Pittsburgh limited a potent Hartford attack to a scattered shots output (6), with the majority of the Latics’ attempts (4) a coming outside the box. Battle-tested Hartford, who lifted the Jagermeister Cup last month, were the fourth highest scoring team in the Championship, with 48 goals.
“I thought we did some amazing things. They are a tough team,” Dick stated, with the backline combining for 25 arial duels won.
“Our whole back line won tonight. The number of headers that Gui (Vacter), Sean (Suber) and Beto (Ydrach) won tonight — we didn’t give them (Hartford) a lot.”
The missing piece for Pittsburgh was finding quality attacking moments in the run of play. The home side were in control for large portions — owning the possession battle in carrying over 60 percent of the ball.
On the flip side of the numerous positives for the Hounds, for the second straight match, they couldn’t muster a goal in the run of play. Still, Pittsburgh brought plenty of pressure to the tune of 39-12 advantage in crosses and held a considerable edge in earning corners (8-1) but could only manage one shot on target for two-hours of work on the pitch.
All the emotion and energy that came out of the first 20, 30 minutes of the match — it seemed — had been replaced by more cautious and methodical play in Extra Time.
In fact, you could look at the only chances for either side coming on set pieces.
Hartford needed to scramble away multiple corners and Suber missing the mark on a header just before the midway point.
Jacquesson slipped a ball through to Mertz in the box late in stoppage time, but it was a sliding block by former Hounds defender Joe Farrell that again kept the Hounds’ man from testing Siaha.
“We felt like if anything were to happen (in the run of play), we’d be on the right side of it,” Vincent said.
“We told the guys in the break at extra time, we’re in control. Keep doing what you’re doing. We didn’t want to be so gung-ho. to push too much forward to grab the winner. I think overall, the balance of play, especially after the first 23 minutes, we did a lot of good things.”
Hounds Made of Sterner Stuff in the Shootout
“It was a playoff atmosphere,” Suber said of the match intensity.
After 120 minutes battling it out, both teams huddled up to prepare for penalty kicks
“We had to clear our heads and get ready for the moment.”
For Pittsburgh, it was the fourth penalty kick shootout in the postseason in the Highmark Stadium era and only the second on home turf. Turning back the clock to 2018, it was Brendan Burke’s Bethlehem Steel FC who prevailed in a shootout that went beyond the first five, all the way to the eighth shooter, without a goalie making a single save.
When the Hounds prevailed in shootout at Birmingham in 2022, Jahmali Waite stood tall to make a couple key saves.
On this night, Vincent and the coaching staff, including Dan Visser, Kenardo Forbes and Jon Busch, started to prepare as the clock wound down in the second period of regulation.
“We put together a short list of players,” Vincent explained.
“When they came off the field, we check with the players to make sure they were okay. Once we knew they were (physically) good to go, we were all set. It was a pretty collaborative and smooth process.”
Having a veteran keeper, Eric Dick, provided Pittsburgh with an advantage heading into the deciding kicks.
Dick has stopped penalties with the Hounds in regular season matches a couple times last year.
During the break time, he had a few words with goalkeeper coach Jon Busch to prepare for the moment.
What were they talking about?
“Building confidence. We worked on these during the week. For the goalies, there isn’t pressure,” Dick then provided an enlightening perspective.
“It’s a freaking PK shootout. I love it. If I can bring energy by making a save, that amps up the guys even more. We were talking about getting in the right mindset. The biggest thing with PKs is you don’t want to go too early, make it easy on them. Some guys will look at what the goalie is doing, then pass it in. You want to put all the pressure on them, as it should be.”
When they stepped back on to the field for penalty kick shootout, the Hounds brought a quiet confidence with the team’s best players this season rising to the challenge.
Hartford went first, setting the stage for Dick to face a one-time former teammate (with Swope Park Rangers in 2018) and former league Golden Boot winner and Most Outstanding Player, Hadji Berry.
“I overlapped with him at KC, back in the day,” Dick shared.
“I approach PKs with you put the pressure on the kicker. Don’t go early. Read the body shape. We do research. We look at tendencies. I had a feel of how he was approaching the ball. I waited. Waited, then went. There’s research. And there’s luck.”
When Berry stepped into his shot, Dick went in the same direction, but maybe most importantly, extended his whole body, using his trailing leg — made the save.
Dick’s save set the tone.
What followed were brilliant, clinical finishes from Bertin Jacquesson, Robbie Mertz, Augi Williams.
In the next two rounds, Hartford matched Pittsburgh shot-for-shot, including former Hound, Joey Farrell notching one of the Latics conversions.
With the first shot in the fourth round, Hartford’s Samuel Careaga sent his ball way up into the Highmark Stadium suites.
This set the stage for Suber to take the clinching shot.
“I wasn’t too nervous because we had two chances to win it,” Suber admitted.
The one Hounds who played every minute of every league match this season, took his time approaching the ball.
“I wanted to wait until he was on his line and didn’t want to restart my routine. Just wanted to keep everything in flow and hit it for real.”
Suber came through with the game winner by slotting his shot into the lower right side.
“I knew the guys would make theirs. I knew how much work they’ve done,” Dick said.
“I had to make one save. I was thankful to guess the right way. To make the save. I am so happy we won.”
“The guys had the pressure to knock them down. And they did.
Vincent acknowledge that the next man up was Beto Ydrach, but with the first four kickers taking care of business, the Hounds were through to the Conference Semifinals and Highmark Stadium turned into a ‘Black Aht’ party atmosphere.
Dick acknowledged that he — and the players were motivated to give the fans at Highmark Stadium a special moment and cited that playing at home gave the team the extra edge they needed.
“I get chills every night I step foot out there,” Dick said.
“Not only because of the backdrop, but the fans. They’re so relentless and supportive. That’s such a weapon.”
The Hounds and their fans will get a chance to do it all over again, next Saturday, when they’ll have an opportunity for a playoff rematch with the team that ended the club’s magical 2023 campaign on a sour note, Detroit City FC.
Player Grades
Starting IX
| 1 | Eric Dick | GK — 8 — in command throughout though really wasn’t tested at close range thanks to team’s defending. That PK save was right up there with one of the biggest in club history |
| 23 | Guillaume Vacter 88‘ | DF — 7 –with Hounds on ball a lot — Vacter had 71 touches, seven passes into final third and remains a defensive force (won 8/9 duels). Had to come out at end of regulation as he was holding his leg — maybe something worse than cramp? |
| 5 | Sean Suber | DF — 7.5 — commanded well in the middle of backline. Had four headed clearances, six defensive recoveries, won 9/12 duels. Hit the pressure cooker PK clincher. |
| 16 | Beto Ydrach | DF — 7 — nearly had the go-ahead goal at the back post in first half if not for great save; won 8/13 duels but also had team high 21 (!!) passes into final third |
| 13 | Luke Biasi 8‘62‘ | MF — 6 — Had an early yellow card but kept composure after to still keep up intensity to create one chance and have four defensive contributions |
| 8 | Junior Etou | MF — 6 — lots of time on the ball (99 touches) on the left width to mixed results as he got five touches inside the box, with eight passes into 18 while also drawing four fouls. |
| 2 | Danny Griffin (C) | MF — 6 — very workmanlike performance on a night where Hounds controlled possession, with 14 passes into the final third, drew few fouls, four recoveries but just three of his 87 touches came inside the opposition’s box. |
| 15 | Bradley Sample 90‘ | MF — 6 — much like Griffin, steady and reliable 90-minute shift, with 94% passing accuracy while also mixing it up well with six recoveries |
| 9 | Augi Williams | FW — 5.5 — Credit for his hard working 120 minute effort when covering a ton of ground, won 8/17 duels, was chasing down balls, drew two fouls and was drawing defenders. In 120 minutes — however — you probably want the target forward to have more than 37 touches and one-shot attempt. |
| 12 | Ahl 78‘ | FW — 6.5 — doing what he does well — shifty and dangerous on the ball — drew a match high five fouls but only had three passes into the final third and didn’t have any touches in the opposition’s box. |
| 14 | Mertz 58‘ | FW — 7– vintage Robbie Mertz. Created the most chances in match (5), was always in the mix for second balls (to varying success — only won 9/22 duels), drew three fouls but around traffic — and was trying to be aggressive in final third as he had three shot attempts blocked along with six touches in opposition’s box. |
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