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Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Hounds' 2021 Was a Memorable Season That Hit a Dreadful End

November 11, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release


Alex Dixon, Anthony Velarde, Dani Rovira and Danny Griffin celebrate a goal against Hartford on July 31. That game was one of 17 wins for the Hounds in 2021, a total that tied for the second-most in a season in team history.

The end of a season always seems to come suddenly, but this year was something different altogether.

The 2021 Riverhounds SC season was a step back toward normalcy as fans returned to the stands after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but the abrupt ending to the season - a cancelled playoff match due to an outbreak of Covid-19 cases on the team - showed that the team's 22nd season was still an unusual one.

What shouldn't be overshadowed by the ending was that the Hounds were again among the best in the USL Championship. Their 17-8-7 record, while only good for third in the Atlantic Division, was seventh-best out of 31 teams, and the team secured a playoff berth for a fourth consecutive season, the longest such run in club history. The team's 17 wins tied for the second-most in a season in club history, trailing only the 2019 team's 19 victories.

That success, rather than the missed chance to see if that would translate into postseason glory, will be the lasting story of the 2021 season.

Shaking up the roster

Preseason for the 2021 season began slightly later than usual in the final week of March, and there was definitely a getting-to-know-you period for all the new faces.

Coach Bob Lilley brought back just seven players from the previous season - Danny Vitiello, Dani Rovira, Jordan Dover, Albert Dikwa, Kenardo Forbes, Danny Griffin and Anthony Velarde - as he sought to rebuild his back line while also adding speedy, dynamic players to the attack.

Among the highest-profile signings were USL veterans like Mekeil Williams, Russell Cicerone and Todd Wharton, while Lilley also stuck to his pattern of brining in players with who he previously coached in signing Alex Dixon away from division rival Hartford.

The Hounds also added some youth with the arrival of MLS SuperDraft first-round pick Tommy Williamson on loan from the San Jose Earthquakes, while a first for the team occurred with the signing of 17-year-old Wyatt Borso to a USL Academy contract. Borso would go on to become the youngest player ever to appear in a match for the Hounds when he debuted Aug. 11 against Miami.

April's preseason saw the team go 3-2-1, which included a 2-1 win over MLS side FC Cincinnati, which had hopes high entering the regular season and a May 8 opening match at the defending conference champion Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Second-year pro Danny Griffin emerged this season as an invaluable part of the Hounds' midfield, playing 2,868 minutes of a possible 2,880, all in the holding role in front of the defense.

Early struggles

Not much went right in the team's opening match, a 3-0 loss to the Rowdies that would be their only multi-goal defeat of the season.

After a 1-1 draw at Hartford, the home opener brought a feeling of excitement with fans being allowed back in Highmark Stadium - albeit with limited capacity because of existing public health rules - but the Hounds were held off in a 1-0 loss to the Charlotte Independence despite Charlotte being reduced to 10 men.

The Hounds got in the win column with road victories at New York and Loudoun, as Cicerone and Dixon began to flash the scoring touch that made them appealing offseason acquisitions, but two more disappointing home results left the team at 2-3-2 through seven games.

Never one to overreact to early results - the 2019 Hounds finished atop the Eastern Conference after starting 2-2-7, after all - Lilley continued to push his team into their most congested schedule stretch of the season.

Hot summer

The Hounds' lone national TV game of the season was a battle, as they were able to hold on for a 1-0 win over Indy Eleven on June 15. That game saw Williamson score his first career goal and the Hounds hang on after a red card to Jelani Peters, and it set the stage for a rematch in Tampa just four days later.

While the Indy win was good, the 2-1 triumph in Tampa that came next was a turning point for the Hounds, as they knocked off the front-running Rowdies with goals by ironman midfielder Danny Griffin - the only player to start every match for the team in 2021 - and Cicerone.

From that Indy game onward, the Hounds ran off a 10-game stretch going 8-1-1 that ran into August and put the Hounds and Rowdies in a battle for first place in the division. Though back-to-back losses to Miami and Charlotte put Tampa Bay back in front for good, the Hounds got right back to producing results to end summer.

Cicerone had a career year for the Hounds with 16 goals, more than doubling his career total from earlier stops in Cincinnati and St. Louis. His haul included his first career hat trick in a 4-1 win over Atlanta United 2 on Aug. 22, and it would end as the third-best regular-season goal total by a player in Hounds history. That effort earned him the Player of the Year award from the Steel Army supporters' group, which he received after the season finale against Hartford.

Dixon, meanwhile, was a constant playmaking threat and finished with nine goals and a team-leading nine assists on the season. Like Cicerone, Dixon's biggest month was August, and both players were among the five finalists for the USL Championship Player of the Month, with Cicerone finishing second in voting.

Russell Cicerone receives the Steel Army Player of the Year award from members of the supporters group after the regular-season finale against Hartford on Oct. 30.

Big battles and replay madness

The final two months of the season saw the Hounds play some exciting games, including a 3-3 draw with the Charleston Battery on Sept. 25 that had the most goals of any game this season.

The team clinched its playoff berth in memorable fashion, as well, scoring a second win over the Rowdies, 2-0, on Oct. 10 in Pittsburgh. That game featured a crucial penalty kick save by Vitiello, who backed up his Golden Glove-winning 2020 season with another strong year that included nine shutouts.

The Hounds also encountered controversy of the highest order, as an incorrectly disallowed own goal the following week in Miami apparently cost the Hounds two points when the match finished in a 0-0 draw. However, given the seriousness of the error, the USL ordered the goal awarded and the match replayed from that point forward on Oct. 27. That decision received the consent of both the Professional Referees Organization and the International Football Advisory Board, the sport's global rule-making body, and made "misapplication of the Laws of the Game" an all-too-common buzz phrase for a week around the league.

That controversy obscured the fact the Hounds' defense was playing its best soccer of the season in the final month, allowing just one goal over the final four matches. The team needed a win in its final match, a home encounter with Hartford, to have a shot to overtake Charlotte and claim a home playoff game, but the offense scuffled in the final 90 minutes and the game ended 0-0.

Sudden end and outlook

As a result of the season-ending draw, the Hounds were slated to face Birmingham Legion FC in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Nov. 7. The game was expected to be the top draw of the first round, as it was the only matchup between teams with at least 17 wins and was tied for the highest combined point total between first-round opponents.

The week began with normal preparations for the match, but as the week progressed, a few players missing practice with illness was found out to be Covid-19 cases within the squad. Because the number of positive tests among the team made it unsafe to travel and difficult for the Hounds to even field a full team, the USL cancelled the match on Nov. 5, ending the Hounds' season.

The disappointing end to the season still fresh, the Hounds' staff nonetheless is already turning its eyes toward 2022.

The team still has a few weeks to decide which players they will retain via club option, and we should know in early December what the returning core of the team will look like. The league will also start to take shape for 2022 after the USL Winter Meetings, Dec. 15-17, as Hounds' preseason foe Detroit City FC joining the Championship will be just one of many changes in reshuffling and realignment.

The 2021 season was definitely a unique one, but the positive strides made during the season indicate the team is still trending in the right direction. The 2022 season hopefully will be a full return to normal action, including the return of the U.S. Open Cup, and the Hounds seem ready to contend for a fifth straight playoff berth and a much longer postseason stay.

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