On a brisk Fan Appreciation Night at F.N.B. Stadium with another overflow crowd of more than 6,000 fans, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC capped off their 2026 regular season in explosive fashion.
A dominant opening half yielded zero goals despite a relentless attack, but a sixty-second second-half flurry from Trevor Amann and captain Danny Griffin delivered a 2-1 victory over Birmingham Legion FC.
With the three points in hand—and the Hartford-Rhode Island result breaking favorably—the Hounds finish the campaign with a 13-11-6 record (45 points) and officially lock up the #5 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
The reward? A high-stakes, first-round postseason showdown on the road next weekend against long-time rival Louisville City FC in Kentucky.
How It Happened
Rob Vincent trotted out his strongest available starting lineup, featuring Beto Ydrach making his return to the starting XI along the backline. From the opening whistle, the Hounds dictated tempo and pinned Legion deep into their own defensive third.
Pittsburgh controlled every metric in the opening 45 minutes—outshooting Birmingham 12-2, holding a 19-6 edge in opposition box touches, and generating five corner kicks. Danny Griffin nearly opened the scoring early with a spectacular outside-of-the-foot volley from distance that grazed the top of the crossbar, while Perrin Barnes and Trevor Amann both sent headers narrowly wide of Jassem Koleilat’s net.
Birmingham’s only true test came in the 45th minute when Samuel Shashoua got a right-footed shot away in the box, but Nico Campuzano handled it comfortably to keep the match scoreless at the break.
If the Hounds felt frustrated by their lack of first-half finishing, they took out their aggression in a lightning-fast two-minute span early in the second half.
In the 55th minute, Trevor Amann broke behind the last defender on the right side of the box, cut inside, and drove a low left-footed strike past Koleilat into the bottom left corner for his team-leading 9th goal of the season.
Before the crowd could even finish celebrating, the Hounds caught a reeling Birmingham side flat-footed and sloppy playing it out of the back. Amann’s high press intercepted a poorly played ball, then sprinted forward down the left wing, cutting a hard, low pass back across the 18-yard box.
Captain Danny Griffin stepped up in stride and unleashed a one-time laser that smashed into the top right corner in the 56th minute.
“Trevor did all the heavy lifting on that transition play,” Griffin said post-match.
“I saw the space opening up at the top of the 18, called for it, and just tried to keep my composure and put my laces through it. The ball rolled out perfectly with nice weight.”
It was a net-ripping strike from Griffin, for the captain’s second goal of the season, one that impressed his coach, Vincent, who hit the back of that net a few times in similar fashion.
“I was going to say—had ‘Miracle on the Mon’ written all over it, kind of a very similar spot. Yeah, no, great strike from him,” Vincent acknowledged.
“He’s capable of that. You know, I think (assistant coach) Adam (Mitchell) was actually saying on the bench, sometimes he wants to take an extra touch just to kind of settle it, but he’s certainly capable of just stepping in and hitting it first time. He’s got great technique, and that’s like the perfect spot that we want him to be in, too… I know he enjoys scoring and probably wishes he could have had a couple more this season, so I’m glad he got that one tonight.”
It was an early second-half blitz reminiscent of Amann’s three-goal outburst against Louisville earlier this summer—putting Pittsburgh firmly in command at 2-0.
Holding a comfortable two-goal cushion, Rob Vincent immediately began managing workloads for the upcoming postseason road trip. Robbie Mertz and Trevor Amann were withdrawn in the 58th minute for fresh legs in Eliot Goldthorp and Yu Tsukanome, while Lasse Kelp made his return to action in the 72nd minute, replacing Beto Ydrach. Late in the 81st minute, golden boot winner Albert Dikwa also saw action off the bench to get vital minutes under his belt.
Birmingham pulled a goal back in the 82nd minute when Ronaldo Damus capitalized on a brief lapse in the Hounds’ defensive shape, tapping in a low cross from Dawson McCartney from close range to make it 2-1.
Legion pushed forward aggressively in five minutes of stoppage time, earning a flurry of late corner kicks, but the Hounds’ backline—led by Owen Mikoy and Victor Souza—held firm to secure the 2-1 final scoreline.
After the match, both the Steel Army and Riverhounds media voted Amann as Player of the Year in separate honors.
Amann said that after his goal, he was feeling the energy of the crowd.
“As a striker, you kind of live off those moments… scoring is always probably the biggest mentality boost,” Amann said. “When we score, everybody starts to feel more confident and play with that mentality of ‘all right, let’s go finish this game off.’ Scoring two goals quickly like that makes the other team deflate a little bit.”
Match Statistics Summary
| Statistic | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | Birmingham Legion FC |
| Final Score | 2 | 1 |
| Shots (On Target) | 17 (4) | 8 (2) |
| Corner Kicks | 7 | 6 |
| Possession | 54% | 46% |
| Fouls Committed | 16 | 9 |
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