Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs Rhode Island FC
Photography by: Gabriel Bayona Sapag
The greatest night in Pittsburgh soccer history. Surely. On the banks of the Monongahela River, and under the expecting eyes of the gorgeous city skyline in the distance, the Hounds clinched their first-ever Eastern Conference title and punched their ticket to the USL Championship Final. It was a nervy affair for most of the evening, but the home side couldn’t have dreamed it any better. Robbie Mertz as the hometown hero. Put his laces through a half chance, and sent his team, his neighbors, and his city one step closer to the promised land. We ran into his grandpa on the pitch after the final whistle, and saw him grinning from ear to ear just like all the other 6,745 dreamers who packed Highmark Stadium last night. They sang so loud they even got the famous freight trains that flank the pitch to toot for the team every time they passed by during the game. Just electric. This is one that’ll last for eternity, but as everyone affirmed on the way out, the job ain’t done just yet…
After 26 years of near-misses, nomadic seasons, bankruptcy scares, and heartbreaks that hardened a fan base, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds finally punched through the ceiling. A record crowd of 6,745 packed Highmark Stadium on Saturday night and witnessed the moment the club had been waiting for: a 1–0 win over Rhode Island FC, sending the Hounds to their first USL Championship Final.
Fittingly, the hero was one of their own.
Robbie Mertz, the Pittsburgh-born midfielder who grew up watching the early, wandering versions of this club, delivered the deciding blow in the 55th minute. After Danny Griffin rose to redirect a high ball into the box, Mertz collected possession on the right, feinted inside, cut back onto his right foot, and uncorked a rising shot that crashed under the bar. Highmark exploded. Mertz stood frozen, overcome — a hometown player authoring the biggest goal in Riverhounds history.
“It means a lot,” he admitted afterward, visibly emotional. “We’ve been through a lot in this organization… to have this moment is so special.”
Up to that point, it had been another tense, defensive postseason battle. Rhode Island — a No. 7 seed that had rolled through two higher-ranked teams — arrived fearless and nearly struck first, forcing Eric Dick into a full-stretch save on Noah Fuson inside ten minutes. Dick would become the other protagonist of the night.
After the Mertz breakthrough, Rhode Island’s challenge worsened when former Hound Marc Ybarra picked up a second yellow in the 60th minute. But even shorthanded, the visitors refused to fade. Twice they carved out the kind of chances that silence playoff crowds.
Both times, Dick responded like a goalkeeper in career form.
In the 74th minute, JJ Williams burst through untouched and tried to go high from just inside the box. Dick leapt and pawed the ball over the bar — a season-defining stop. Minutes later, Hamady Diop bent a clever free kick around the wall. Dick again was there, pushing it wide before the stadium exhaled.
“They had to take chances, and we had to weather a few storms,” Dick said. “The fans kept us going the entire game.”
Pittsburgh’s back line, led by Sean Suber and the tireless midfield duo of Griffin and Bradley Sample, closed out a fifth straight shutout, stretching the club’s scoreless streak past 500 minutes.
For Rhode Island, the loss ends another impressive postseason run in just the club’s second year of existence. For Pittsburgh, it opens a new frontier.
The Riverhounds — a team that once bounced between high-school stadiums and sat out an entire season — will play for a league championship for the first time. They head to Tulsa next Saturday, noon on CBS, carrying a city’s soccer hopes and the belief that, finally, this might be their time.
