Laser focused
Hounds on top of their game in 3-1 win over rival Charleston
PITTSBURGH — There were plenty of circumstances that would have hindered the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC from coming out of strong in Saturday’s match against rival Charleston in USL Championship play at F.N.B. Stadium.
The Hounds received their 2025 championship rings for winning their first USL Championship title in franchise history prior to kickoff before a sellout crowd of 6,020 that was streamed on ESPN+.
Pittsburgh didn’t allow the pomp and circumstance affect their start, as head coach Rob Vincent’s team came out of the gates strong and scored in the second minute.
The Riverhounds added a second tally before Charleston cut the deficit to one at halftime.
The Battery carried the play the first 10 minutes of the second half before the Hounds regained their two-goal advantage and held on for a 3-1 victory.
“I am super proud of our team,” Vincent said. “We tried to get past the ring ceremony quickly once the guys came in from warmups. They refocused and we emphasized the message again that we needed to start quick and play with intensity like we did. It was a great start.”
Pittsburgh improved to 9-8-3 and avenged a 2-1 setback to Charleston in the season opener on March 7. The Battery fell to 10-7-3.
The Hounds have put themselves into fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings with 30 points, which means they would host a first-round match in the playoffs.
Tampa Bay leads the conference standings with 44 points and Charleston is second with 33. Detroit City FC sits in third with 32 points.
“It is just a game at a time,” Pittsburgh’s Victor Souza said. “We are not looking too far ahead, and we are just trying to perform each week and getting better every week.”
Pittsburgh found the back of the net before the fans settled in their seats, as Trevor Amann corralled a pass from Jackson Walti and put a left-footed shot from 20 yards out to the bottom left corner and passed Battery keeper and former Hound Luis Zamudio for a 1-0 lead. Amann’s goal was his team-leading 10th across all competitions.
As the Riverhounds and their fans celebrated Amann’s sixth tally in USL Championship league play this season, which tied Albert Dikwa for most of the team, the hype train rolled down the tracks outside of F.N.B. Stadium, as if on cue.
Pittsburgh captain Danny Griffin scored in the 16th minute on a counter attack. Amann led the break toward the Charleston goal prior to sending a light touch to Griffin on the right side, who brought the ball into the box and poked it around Zamudio as he landed on his backside for his 20th goal with the Hounds.
The Battery cut the deficit to 2-1 two minutes later when Nathan Messer sent a dangerous ball on the left side across the box to the right side, where Douglas Martinez blasted a shot past Hounds keeper Nico Campuzano.
Charleston came out strong in the second half, but couldn’t bring the visitors level, as Pittsburgh blocked two shots, one attempt was too high and Campuzano made a save on Emilio Ycaza’s right-footed shot from outside the box that was sent in to the top-left corner to keep the home squad in front by one as playing entered the 54th minute.
The Hounds started to find themselves offensively in the 56th minute when Dikwa forced Zamudio to make a save.
Pittsburgh earned two corner kicks in the next five minutes, and its persistence paid off when Souza put in a header off a ball that was sent in by Sam Bassett to restore the home club’s two goal advantage in the 61st minute.
Souza’s tally was the first for the center back during his time with the Hounds, and first overall since 2023 when he scored in MLS Next Pro with New England Revolution II.
“It feels great to score for the first time in three years,” Souza said. “It has been a long time coming. I have been working on it in training, and I am happy to get one in.”
Vincent was pleased with his squad’s effort in regaining the two-goal lead after the visitors appeared to be moments away from tying the match.
“I thought we started the second half a little bit slow and a little bit too deep,” Vincent said. “We gave them a little bit too much territory and they got some balls into the box and they had some shots from the top of the 18, so I didn’t really like the way we started the second half, but once we got out, and we were ready to make a couple of changes, too, we kind of brought the game back in our favor and that third goal was huge.”
The Battery lived up to their name in the second half, as they attempted to turn the contest into a physical affair, but Pittsburgh kept its cool and Martinez was sent off with a red card in the 81st minute after picking up his second yellow of the match.
The first yellow came in the 78th minute as the result of a reckless foul in front of the benches, but his second was more egregious, as Martinez tripped Junior Etou, who had gotten around Martinez and was headed to the penalty area.
Charleston was reduced to 10 men for the final nine minutes of action plus stoppage time, and only had two more shots in the match, with neither one being blocked and the second sailing off target.
Six yellow cards were shown after halftime.
The Battery had a 10-9 edge in shots, but the Hounds put five on target to Charleston’s two.
Amann was named the “Modelo Man of the Match” for his goal and assist in the opening 16 minutes of the match. He created two chances in the match and shared the team lead with four touches in the opponent’s penalty area.
Pittsburgh is on the road again for its next two matches, with the first coming next Saturday in its first visit to Brooklyn FC (3-10-4).
Brooklyn only has three victories, but one came on July 4 in a 2-0 stunner over the Hounds at F.N.B. Stadium.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” Vincent said. “We need to string together four or five in a row. We had a tough match against Brooklyn the first time, so we have to be ready to go.”