Riverhounds bring back 6 players, including team captain Kenardo Forbes

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds announced they are bringing back six players from their 2020 roster for the 2021 season, and among them is USL Championship all-time assists leader and captain Kenardo Forbes.

According to the Riverhounds, Forbes signed a one-year contract with a club option for the 2022 season and it is pending USL Championship and USSF approval. The Riverhounds also picked up contract options for forward Albert Dikwa, defender Jordan Dover, midfielder Danny Griffin, midfielder Anthony Velarde and goalkeeper Danny Vitiello.

The club’s success over the past few years could directly correlate with the arrival of head coach Bob Lilley on the sideline and Forbes in the middle of the field. He is coming off an All-League first-team honor. He tallied a team-high eight assists and recorded the 39th assist of his USL Championship career, which made him the league’s all-time assists leader.

“Kenardo has been a constant the past three years in Pittsburgh and has played a very important part in the club’s success during this time,” Lilley said in a press release on Tuesday. “He competes every day, and his abilities and leadership make players around him better. As we have started to build our foundation for next season, signing Kenardo was a top priority.”

Wherever Lilley has gone in recent years, Forbes has followed. The two have been together since 2015 when they were both with the Rochester Rhinos and captured a league championship. Forbes has totaled 17 goals and 73 points in 164 USL Championship games.

While Forbes has been a constant over the past few years, Vitiello was one returning player who may have been hard to replace. He won the league’s Golden Glove award this past season, which is awarded to the keeper with the best goals-against average. Vitiello recorded a 0.50 GAA and recorded five clean sheets. He and Tomas Gomez split time in net and conceded six goals apiece.

While some familiar faces like midfielders Robbie Mertz and Ryan James, along with defenseman Thomas Vancaeyezeele, have already announced that they are moving on to play with other clubs, Dover is another player who has contributed to Pittsburgh’s success in recent years.

He’s been with the Riverhounds since 2018 and has started in 68 of the 70 games he’s played. He’ll be joined by Velarde and Griffin, who both made a name for themselves last season.

Griffin scored two goals and tallied two assists in the midfield alongside Forbes in his rookie season. This will be Velarde’s third with the team; he spent time last season coming off the bench.

Dikwa is a forward who gave the Riverhounds a spark of energy late in the season after dealing with immigration issues because of the coronavirus pandemic. In his limited time with the team, he scored three goals, two of which were game-winners.

With just six players returning, Lilley and his staff will have to use the extra time this offseason to get them prepared for the 2021 season. In total, the Riverhounds declined the contract options of 10 different players and four other players from last year’s roster were out of contract.

The Riverhounds finished with an overall record of 11-4-1 and lost in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals to Louisville City FC, which knocked them out of the playoffs for the second straight season.