Preview: Hounds at Birmingham Legion FC
USL Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Preview: Hounds at Birmingham Legion FC

Published on April 10, 2026 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release


Another weekend, another road trip for the Hounds, as the team winds down the travel-heavy early portion of their USL Championship schedule with a Sunday visit to face Birmingham Legion FC.

Remarkably, of the team's opening six matches on the league schedule, five have been away, and all of those have been against Eastern Conference opponents. That means the Hounds will have finished nearly half of their in-conference road schedule (5 of 12) by mid-April, and a result in Alabama will ensure they've completed that stretch while staying in the top seven at this early point of the campaign.

The Hounds are unbeaten in their last four matches - a win and draw in the league and two U.S. Open Cup wins - and they're coming off grabbing a deserved late draw at Indy Eleven. The Hounds have had a better history in Birmingham and are 3-0-4 across their past seven matches overall with the Legion.

Eliot Goldthorp has been the man in form after bagging the late equalizer at Indy, which gave him two goals in as many matches. Albert Dikwa and Sam Bassett also have three and two goals on the season, respectively, and a healthier Robbie Mertz will only add to the attacking potency.

On the flip side, the Hounds have had to go with less experience along the back line with injuries to Beto Ydrach and Guillaume Vacter, but the center back trio of Lasse Kelp, Victor Souza and Owen Mikoy limited the Eleven to only a penalty kick from an unfortunate handling call and will look to tighten things up even further at the back against a Legion side that has only four goals from four matches, two by former Hound Tyler Pasher.

The Legion are winless in the league to this point, but that can be deceiving with the two losses being by a goal each to Tampa Bay and Charleston, teams expected to contend for top-four finishes. Draws against Hartford and at Loudoun give Birmingham two points, and because they did not qualify for this year's Open Cup, this will be the first home match in a month for the Legion after playing their first two on home turf in early March.

Sunday's match will air live on the SportsNet Pittsburgh stations; the match will be live in its entirety on SNP+, while the main SportsNet Pittsburgh channel will join coverage after the completion of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball coverage. ESPN+ will stream the match live, while bilingual radio options are on offer with SiriusXM FC, Ch. 157 carrying the English broadcast live and Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 providing the local Spanish broadcast.

Match Info

Riverhounds (2-2-1) vs. Birmingham Legion FC (0-2-2)

Date: Sunday, April 12

Time: 5 p.m.

Location: Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Ala.

Odds: Hounds +140 / Draw +220 / Birmingham +175 on FanDuel

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Streaming: ESPN+

Radio: SiriusXM FC, Ch. 157 (English), Radio Las Palmas, 92.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center

Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on X/Twitter

Match hashtag: #BHMvPIT

Check out the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Statistics

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from April 10, 2026


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