Preview: Hounds at Charleston Battery
USL Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Preview: Hounds at Charleston Battery

Published on March 5, 2026 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release


The Hounds are entering a new season as the reigning league champions for the first time ever, but their season will begin with the most familiar of opponents when they hit the road to face the Charleston Battery in both teams' 2026 USL Championship opener on Saturday night in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

It's a marquee matchup to kick off the season between the title-holding Hounds and a Battery side that reached the final in 2023 and has finished in the top three of the Eastern Conference in each of the past three regular seasons. The all-black-and-yellow battle went the way of the Battery in 2025, as they claimed matching 2-1 wins at home in April and in Pittsburgh in August.

It also will be the 47th all-time meeting between the Battery and Hounds, which brings Charleston into a tie with the Rochester Rhinos as the Hounds most commonly faced opponent. However, this will be the first time the teams have ever met in a season opener going back to their first encounter in the Hounds' 1999 debut season.

As has become customary, the Hounds are beginning the season on the road. It is the ninth consecutive year the team is kicking off away from home, with the team holding a 2-3-3 mark in the previous eight, including a 1-1 draw last season at North Carolina FC in the season opener.

The Hounds are 3-0-4 under Rob Vincent, who now has the full head coach title after taking over last season in an acting head coach role, and he has a large chunk of his title-winning starting lineup back to enter 2026. Seven of the starters from the 2025 Final remain with the Hounds, and while midfielder Robbie Mertz comes into the opener as an injury doubt, center back Guillaume Vacter, a regular starter who missed the Final through injury, is back in the fold.

The biggest new face with the Hounds is a familiar one, as 2023 Golden Boot winner Albert Dikwa is back with the team he fueled to a Players' Shield in his Player of the Year campaign. Dikwa naturally fills the No. 9 role upon his return, while Nico Campuzano takes over in the No. 1 shirt, as the former Pitt netminder aims to be the next breakout star as a Hounds goalkeeper.

Charleston, meanwhile, has had its share of turnover in attacking positions this offseason for coach Ben Pirmann, where new faces such as Wilmer Cabrera Jr., Laurent Kissiedou and Miguel Berry are expected to pick up the slack for a Battery team that led the league in scoring with 62 goals a year ago. But in the back, the Battery have taken a page out of the Hounds book, adding center back Sean Suber to go with two other former Hounds who are Charleston returners this year, right back Langston Blackstock and goalkeeper Luis Zamudio.

The season opener will air live locally on KDKA+ and will stream for free on CBS Sports Golazo Network.

Check out the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United Soccer League Championship Stories from March 5, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central