Takeaways and Ratings: Robbie Mertz magic, defensive masterclass propels Riverhounds into league Final

A little more than a month ago, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC chances of hosting one home playoff match were up in the air.  The team floated between 5th and 7th place in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference for most of the season, which would have meant entering the postseason playing on the road.

And yet, the Riverhounds defied the odds with plenty of bounces going their way in completing a remarkable three-match home postseason run capped with a euphoric, 1-0 win on Saturday night to take the Eastern Conference crown and earn a berth in the USL Championship Final.

Robbie Mertz delivers elusive, special goal that sends Riverhounds to USL Championship Final

The Riverhounds and Pittsburgh soccer fans were finally rewarded after years of postseason disappointments with three straight weeks of intense, playoff soccer where the home team continued to find ways to win.

And to top it all off, when the team finally found a goal in the run of play, it was none other than homegrown product, Robbie Mertz, who was part of Pittsburgh’s first generation of soccer players who grew up watching and following the club in its most formative years.

Pittsburgh soccer fans came out in record numbers, with 6,745 in attendance and were a factor in contributing to an incredible atmosphere.

“I’ve said this a lot, but I’ve been in a lot of stadiums in my career, and nights like this don’t happen very often,” Eric Dick, Riverhounds goalkeeper said.

“The fans tonight made this an amazing night. I can’t say thank you enough. In a dogfight of game like that, we know there’s going to be ups and downs and the fans are never going to stop.  They kept us going the entire game. We felt their encouragement. We are so grateful for it. I hope these guys don’t take it for granted playing in an amazing stadium like this.”

Personnel, Lineup and FotMob Ratings

When it came to the starting lineup, the Riverhounds didn’t change at all from the previous week.  With Guillaume Vacter still out, Luke Biasi remained in the central midfield spot, while Perrin Barnes earned the starting nod in the wingback spot.

What did change was Vincent and the coaching staff turning slightly deeper into the bench, especially as they were holding on to the lead with Rhode Island bringing everything forward.

Subs:

• 6.0 — Jackson Walti — Midfielder (79‎’‎)
• N/R — Illal Osumanu — Defender (84‎’‎)
• N/R — Brigham Larsen — Attacker (88‎’‎)

Robbie Mertz becomes the fitting hometown postseason hero

A few days before the Riverhounds were set to host the club’s first-ever Eastern Conference Final, the team’s acting Head Coach Rob Vincent was asked a question about what it would take for the team to finally get a breakthrough goal.

After all, the Hounds survived and advanced in the first two rounds of the USL Championship playoffs largely in part due to strong defense and coming through in heart-pounding penalty kick shootout victories.

After mentioning that the Hounds were working on ways that they could penetrate and find weak spots in Rhode Island FC well-organized defensive shape, Vincent then shared an added directive to the players.

“The final part of that, and what I said to the guys, is who’s going to step up and take that moment?” Vincent said.

“Someone’s going to be the hero. I just hope it’s not in penalties.  Hopefully, it’s someone in the 18, stepping up and being the hero.”

The Hounds were once again in the midst of a scoreless struggle against Rhode Island on Saturday night as the match entered the second half.

Twice in last week’s win Robbie Mertz had shots saved by Detroit City FC keeper Carlos Saldaña.  First, with five minutes left in the second period of extra time, then in the penalty kick shootout.

“Having my team have my back, meant the world to me,” Mertz said.

Still, Mertz was ready and eager to find a moment of redemption one week later.

“I knew it could be me. It could be other people as well.  We’ve been so close the last few games.  The fact that we hadn’t scored a goal yet in the playoffs, was crazy in my mind,” Mertz said.

“We’ve been generating chances, but it wasn’t falling our way. It was always going to take that one moment, and that was something Rob was telling us.  It was a matter of being aggressive. Continuing to get in the right spots, and trusting that it was going to come.”

That moment came in the 55th minute, when Mertz was provided a simple, one-touch layoff pass from his longtime teammate and captain, Danny Griffin, who won another one of those coveted second balls following a Luke Biasi cross into the box.

Mertz said he gave his teammate a shout.

After playing it off, Griffin made a run into the center of the box, clearing the way for Mertz to operate.

Mertz initially went left, but a pair of Tulsa defenders were hovering in that space, denying his movement in that direction and his first option of taking a left-footed shot.

Instead, when Rhode Island defender Hugo Bacharach stumbled, Mertz quickly sensed opportunity.

The Upper St Clair native, quickly cut back to his right, then found just enough room behind Bacharach, who tried to get up.  It was just enough space for Mertz to unleash a sterling strike that smacked the inside, upper netting — and sent the crowd at Highmark Stadium into an absolute frenzy.

It will be hard to find a bigger goal scored in the club’s 26-year year run and in the history of Pittsburgh soccer.

When Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Keith Barnes followed up with a question about what it meant being from Pittsburgh and to score such a massive, game-winning goal in the post-season, Mertz became emotional, at one point putting his hand over his head and paused for a bit before collecting himself.

“It means a lot. We’ve been through a lot in this organization, not just this year but the last six or seven years,” Mertz said.

“To still be a part of it at this stage of my career and to have this moment is so special.”

In hindsight, you’ll have to look long and hard when going through all of Pittsburgh’s professional franchises, with each having varying levels of postseason success in the 21st Century — to find another Pittsburgh-area born player who came up with a bigger moment in the postseason.

Defense Wins Championships

The Riverhounds finally had a lead in a postseason match.  Now, they had to finish the job.

It wasn’t easy.

While the scoring drought ended, the club’s impressive streak of defensive play was put to the test.

Rhode Island showed plenty of resolve, especially after midfielder and former Hound Marc Ybarra was sent off five minutes after Mertz’ goal.

Pittsburgh had to dig down and see out the match, despite a few dangerous moments created by Rhode Island in transition — with Hounds goalkeeper Eric Dick making a pair of high-level saves.

The reigning Eastern Conference champs were still intent on busting forward in transitional moments and in doing so, played the final thirty minutes with plenty of determination.

“We had to weather a few storms,” Dick said.

In a three-minute sequence, Dick had to come up with his two biggest saves of the night, robbing RIFC’s J.J. Williams in the 67th minute, when the big forward got behind Hounds central defender Sean Suber with only the  Hounds veteran keeper to beat.

With Suber closing in and forcing Williams to rush his chance, a high, blistering shot was pushed over bar with quick reaction stop by Dick.

“Sean, he recovered so well and bumped JJ off just enough to make it a shot where I could save it,” Dick said.

“That saved a goal, and all credit to Sean there.”

Two minutes later, a foul on the very edge of the box put RIFC in position for a free kick from 18.5 feet, which Hamody Diop sent a low bending shot around the wall.
Dick read the dangerous shot — diving to his right to keep the ball from entering inside the left post.

From that point forward, the Hounds continued to try to possess, but were disrupted by RIFC’s desperate attempts to step into passing lanes.

Dick and the back line held firm in goal as the minutes and seconds counted down before the referee blew the final whistle.

“I wanted to go home,” Dick said.

“You got a sense for everybody that we wanted to go home. It was a big moment, and I think they knew it was the last kick of the game and they wanted to see it out.”

Including the end of the regular season, this was the fifth straight shutout for the Hounds, with the streak of not allowing a goal stretching to a total of 512 minutes (not including stoppage time).  If it weren’t for a late James Musa goal in the 88th minute when they were holding a 2-0 lead vs Indy on October 11, the streak could be longer.

One More Step to Go

There’s still one more step for this team to go.

Once match ended, the celebration provided Pittsburgh’s soccer fans, the players, c0aches, owner Tuffy Shallenberger and everyone in attendance a moment to cherish for a long time — celebrating a monumental win on home turf.

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“Lost for words. You don’t get this opportunity a lot. In any sport. There are people who go 10, 15 years in a sport, in a career, who never have a chance to play for Championship. This week, we can all appreciate to honor Pittsburgh, but it’s something that we have earned.  We found a way and we won it,” Dick said.

After taking care of the Eastern Conference, the Hounds will be headed West as a confident and determined team.

“We’re going to step it up.  But now, we can let it go. We have one game. 90 minutes, maybe more. The guys are buzzing. I am just so honored to be part of it. Whatever I can do to bring a championship to Pittsburgh, I am going to do that this week.”