The Pittsburgh soccer calendar will stay populated through the end of the week.
Because it’s November — that means it’s knockout soccer season.
Over the weekend, the Riverhounds, Pitt men’s soccer and Robert Morris men’s soccer will each be playing to keep their 2025 seasons going. In addition, Steel City FC’s makeshift squad found out who its opponent will be and where they’ll be playing as they’ve reached the Fourth and final round of qualifying for the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
In addition, the PIAA boys and girls’ soccer tournament continues on Saturday, with eight girls teams and eight boys teams from Western PA schools looking to make it all the way the PIAA Championship, which will be played the following weekend.
Riverhounds Pushing for another home playoff Black-Aht, and Sell-Aht too
For the first time since 2019 and only the second time since Highmark Stadium opened, the Riverhounds will host a second consecutive playoff match, the USL Championship Semifinal when they face the upset darlings of the First Round, Detroit City FC (7:30 p.m. ET kickoff).
Last week’s First Round playoff match a near-sellout crowd of 4,932 fans to Highmark Stadium. Considering that two or three weeks ago, the Hounds chances to host one playoff match were 50/50 at best — now they have postseason matches in consecutive weeks.
As soon as last week’s match ended, the club started pushing information for fans about purchasing tickets for the next round.
As of late Thursday afternoon, the club is reporting that ticket sales are ahead of last week. Club spokesperson Matt Grubba also shared with Pittsburgh Soccer Now that the Tailgate Zone and Gates will still open at 5 and 6 p.m. respectively, even with the 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
If you are curious about Hounds home playoff record and attendance in the past, here’s a quick snapshot:
- September 20, 2001 — vs Charleston (1,152) at Bethel Park Stadium (W- 2-1, won two match H/A aggregate, 5-2)
- September 26, 2001 — vs Rochester (1,073) at Bethel Park Stadium (W- 2-1, lost two match H/A aggregate, 4-2)
- August 21, 2004 — vs Harrisburg (776) at Moon High School (W – 3-1, won two match H/A aggregate, 7-1)
- August 18, 2006 — vs Charlotte (2,113) at Falconi Field, Washington, PA (L – 0-4, lost two match H/A aggregate, 1-6)
- October 20, 2018 — vs Bethlehem Steel FC (5,189) at Highmark Stadium (D – 2-2, lost in PK shootout, 8-7)
- October 26, 2019 — vs Birmingham Legion FC (5,627) at Highmark Stadium (W – 7-0)
- November 2, 2019 — vs Louisville City FC (6,073) at Highmark Stadium (L – 1-2 [A.E.T.])
- October 21, 2023 — vs Detroit City FC (6,123) at Highmark Stadium (L – 0-1)
- November 1, 2025 — vs Hartford Athletic FC (4,932) at Highmark Stadium (D – 0-0, won in PK shootout, 4-2)
Be sure to check out my column this week addressing how the club’s organizational stability has been put to the test, with the current coaching situation, but in the current USL Championship climate, the Hounds still have been a relatively stable franchise, especially when it comes to the day-to-day operations for the team.
As stakes become greater in topsy-turvy USL, Riverhounds’ organizational stability put to test
On the field, the team is gearing up for what should be a tough contest against a Detroit City FC team that will be very sound defensively. Look for more pre-match coverage, as Mark Goodman will have more from the team’s training on Friday.
We are also getting word that defender Guillaume Vacter, who left last week’s match with a leg injury, will be listed as questionable for the match.
Pitt Survives and Advances with rare win on the road and at Clemson
Heading into Wednesday’s match at Clemson, Pitt men’s soccer, by virtue of what felt like an underachieving 1-4-3 record in ACC this season, landed as a 13-seed in the conference tournament.
This meant playing on the road (where they have not won all season) and at Clemson, where they’ve never won (0-4).
Don’t tell Jay Vidovich the odds.
The NCAA coaching legend led the Panthers to one of the program’s biggest upset wins.
Pitt men’s soccer kept its season going with an impressive, 1-0, win at Clemson on Wednesday night, when Lasse Dahl scored in the 8th minute, then the Panthers put together a gritty and stout defensive performance, keeping the potent Tiger attack, which still held edges in shots (20-5) and corners (8-0) on the fringes for most of the match.
What the reward for Pitt? Well, the good news is 5-seed Duke also lost, meaning Pitt will now travel cross-country, to face 12-seed Cal on Sunday (2 pm ET).
The Panthers (6-6-5 overall) began the ACC tournament with RPI of 63, will realistically either need to win out in the tournament, or at the very least, make it to the conference final to get considered for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.
Defending Champions Robert Morris will face Milwaukee to open Horizon League Tourney
With Tuesday’s 3-0 victory at Wright State, Robert Morris Colonials, the Horizon League’s defending champs, clinched a spot in the in the league’s Men’s Soccer Championship tournament.
By virtue of finishing as the league’s 5-seed in what turned out to be another tight race this season, RMU (3-1-5 in conference play) will be on road, heading to face Milwaukee, on Sunday, at 2 p.m. (ET).
If anything, Jonathan Potter’s team will be tough to beat — as they lost just one time this season against league competition.
In its previous match vs Milwaukee, the Colonials and Panthers played to a 2-2 draw on October 25.
Steel City FC learns its Fourth (and Final) Round Opponent in USL Open Cup Qualifying
Following Steel City FC’s 1-0 win against Capital City Islanders on Sunday at Founders Field, Pittsburgh’s USL League Two club advanced to the Fourth Round of Qualifying for the 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament.
If the Pittsburgh squad wants to get into the proper US Open Cup tournament, the road will go through Cleveland.
That’s right, the Boys in Blue and Gold will face off against Croatia Cleveland on Saturday, November 22, at Mentor High School Soccer Stadium, in Mentor, Ohio.
We will be providing more coverage to come on this match and talking with Steel City FC’s Nolan Hutter next week on an upcoming episode of Sounding Off on Soccer!
PIAA Championships — Saturday brings Quarterfinals for 16 teams from WPIAL and City League
The times and locations for Saturday’s quarterfinal round have been finalized. Be sure to check out the schedules in separate posts for Girls and Boys.
Many of the teams from the Pittsburgh area may have to travel (three 4A teams, Fox Chapel boys and both of Seneca Valley’s teams, will make the annual trek to Chambersburg!).
Meanwhile, there are a few matches that will feature local schools facing off against each other including Boys 3A showdown between WPIAL champion West Allegheny and City League champion Allderdice (at Peters Township at 7:30 p.m.) and 1A Girls bracket pairs up WPIAL runner-up Sewickley Academy against last year’s WPIAL champion and PIAA runner-up, Springdale, at North Allegheny (2 p.m.).
UPCOMING PITTSBURGH SOCCER SCHEDULE (11/8 – 11/12)
| Sat | 11/8/2025 | Robert Morris (MSOC) | 2:00 PM | A | Milwaukee | Milwaukee, WI | ||||||||||||||
| PIAA Quarterfinal Round | All Day | BOYS SCHEDULEGIRLS SCHEDULE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Riverhounds SC | USLC EASTERN CONF SEMIFINAL | 7:30 PM | H | DETROIT CITY FC | Highmark Stadium | |||||||||||||||
| Sun | 11/9/2025 | Pitt (MSOC) | (ACC MSOC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL) | 2:00 PM | A | CAL | Berkley, CA | |||||||||||||
| Tues | 11/11/2025 | PIAA Semifinal Round | ||||||||||||||||||
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