The heat of July will serve as a precursor for what Rob Vincent and his Pittsburgh Riverhounds hope will be a hot month of soccer.
Over the first four months of the season, the local 11 had only had 12 USL Championship matches, registering a 6-4-2 record, good for 20 points and the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference.
That means the club will jam 18 league games into the final half of the season, of which 12 will be contested over the next two months, starting with a Saturday match at F.N.B. Stadium vs. league newcomer Brooklyn FC. The visitors are just 2-8-3 and stand in 12th place of the Eastern Conference with just nine points.
The annual July 4 home match is sold out, with standing room only tickets going fast. PGA Golf legend John Daly is expected to be in attendance. And, the 250th anniversary of the nation will be celebrated with a fireworks display.
The defending champion Riverhounds have come out the gates much faster under Vincent, as opposed to Bob Lilley’s clubs. With the exception of the Players Shield group in 2023, this year’s team is eight points ahead of last season’s roster, registering two more wins and six more goals at this point in the season.
The Riverhounds have only allowed two more goals over the same amount of games as last season.
Outside of one USL Cup match in June, the club holds two games in hand over the other four teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference. Given the amount of injures the club has faced to start the season, Vincent feels good about where his team could be come the end of summer regarding better playoff position.
“We got the boys back in Friday, Saturday last week after some time off,” Vincent said at the club’s AHN Montour practice facility. “They got out of town, which was nice. We got them back in, got the engines going. We’ve managed them this week with the heat. It’s been a good week. We’ve done our normal analysis like we do. We are approaching it the same. There’s no excuse to not play well at home.”
The Riverhounds, who enter Saturday’s fray vs. Brooklyn FC on a 3-0-1 run, sit one point behind Louisville FC, a team they already own a win against. They are four points behind Detroit FC, another club they have beaten, while Charleston is six points ahead in second place.
If there was ever a moment to make up ground and pass teams ahead of them, now is the time to strike, according to Vincent.
“Good performances. If we do our jobs properly, defend well as a unit, we’re hard to breakdown,” Vincent said. “That’s always a good foundation to have. We can score at home. We’ve scored in all but one of our home games this season. That makes us hard to beat at home (4-1 in 2026), so we have to defend well and that gives us a good chance to win games. We have to capitalize on this.”
On the injury front, defender Beto Ydrach still continues to rehab a hernia suffered back in March, while center back Guillaume Vacter (knee) is inching closer to returning.
“Gui (Vacter) is close. He’s been training for quite a while since we lost him due to his knee,” Vincent said. “He’s building up strength, and we are not trying to throw him into the fire. He has to be eased in. Sam (Bassett) is another week or two. Beto (Ydrach) is progressing but not near ready to return. We’re going to have to be smart in terms of how we manage them.”
Vincent knows a win is key to keeping the momentum flowing in front of an enthusiastic July 4 crowd.
“It always helps when we are sold out. I can’t think of a time when the crowd has been loud and we are sold out and we don’t play well,” Vincent said. “When the crowds show up like they have, the guys respond well.”
The game will be televised locally on SportsNet Pittsburgh beginning at 7 p.m.