Riverhounds look to bounce back after losing 2 straight for first time in 2 years

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds are coming off their busiest and toughest week of the 2020 season.

They played three games in nine days. They traveled to Philadelphia for their second win of the season. They hosted their home opener at Highmark Stadium, where they saw an impressive home winning streak come to an end, and then they traveled to New Jersey to finish the tough stretch.

It was a period filled with storylines, player updates and team growth. But the biggest news of the past week was coach Bob Lilley and the Riverhounds dropping two straight regular season games for the first time in almost two years.

Lilley met with media Wednesday to talk about bouncing back this weekend, playing with no fans and a couple of player updates.

First time in a long time

It’s not often a Lilley-coached team loses two straight games. The last time the Riverhounds lost two games in a row was July 28, 2018. They dropped a 2-1 contest to North Carolina FC after losing to Charleston Battery, 1-0, the week before.

But this past week the Riverhounds suffered their first losing streak in just under two years, and it happened in an unpleasant fashion.

Last Wednesday, former Riverhounds and current Indy Eleven Forward Tyler Pasher, who leads USL Championship with six goals, struck a left-footed bender to push his team ahead 1-0 in the 97th minute and hand the Riverhounds their first loss of the season.

Then, on Saturday, the Riverhounds dropped a 2-1 contest to the New York Red Bulls II on a penalty kick in the 95th minute.

“The Indy goal, to me, was heartbreaking because we worked so hard, and we deserved something out of that game,” Lilley said. “I don’t think that New York was heartbreaking because I don’t think we played well enough, and I think we made mistakes on that goal.

“To me, yeah, there was a difference. Yeah, it was tough to lose the way we did against Indy. Then, New York, yeah, I’m trying to use that as a motivator. I feel like we owe the city something. We owe the owner something. We owe the organization.”

The Riverhounds will try to get back on track Saturday when they take on Philadelphia Union II at 7 p.m. at Highmark Stadium.

Back in the saddle

Over the first few weeks of the season, forward Steevan Dos Santos has been working his way back into playing shape after undergoing groin surgery during the offseason.

Slowly but surely, the dangerous 6-foot-4 striker from Mindelo, Cape Verde, has been registering minutes in a substitute role. He went from 10-15 minutes against Philadelphia to 30-plus minutes against Indy Eleven, then on Sunday, he played a season-high 45-plus minutes. Lilley believes he could be close to pushing into the starting lineup.

“We haven’t gotten to our starting lineup for Saturday, but he may be ready to start,” Lilley said. “He may be getting close, but we have to feel that out. He handled the minutes in New York well. I thought his energy was good, and he linked play. It was a demanding game.”

So what does the addition of a fully healthy Dos Santos do for the Riverhounds? First, it adds another striker to the rotation with Ropapa Mensah, Lukas Fernandes and Mark Forrest. But it also gives Lilley another player with experience who can get other guys involved and take the pressure off the younger players.

“We want to be able to create more at that end of the field, and I think Steevan will have the experience to bring guys into the game,” Lilley said. “Sometimes we’ve been guilty of not stringing enough passes together.

“It will be nice to get him on the field for what he can do offensively. But also, just for experience and leadership, he will help bring our midfielders into the game a little bit more.”

Dos Santos tallied four shots and scored two goals.

Fans vs. no fans

Through their first four games, the Riverhounds have experienced a bunch of changes when it comes to how the league is handling the coronavirus pandemic. The biggest has been playing without fans, for the most part at least.

The Riverhounds’ only experience in front of fans came when they played Louisville City FC in their inaugural game at Lynn Family Stadium. But since, Pittsburgh has been playing in empty stadiums. Lilley said it has provided a unique set of challenges.

“We would love to have our fans there and get a little bit of that energy,” Lilley said. “I think the guys in the Indy game, the fact that it was on ESPN2, I thought that was a really competitive game considering there wasn’t a crowd there, and it had almost a playoff-type feel to it and that was nice to see.”

But having that energy isn’t always easy. Lilley said his team responded well to fans in Louisville, but they also came out flat against New York and didn’t have a sense of energy throughout the game. He believes playing in front of any type of crowd helps his team.

“I almost wish New York had fans there because the energy from us was really low,” Lilley said. “Sometimes, even on the road, to have that energy in the building, with people yelling at the ref or your team or the other team, I think that’s what they are used to in a pro environment. So it is a challenge to get guys up every game, but I think we’ve done a pretty good job, minus the New York game.”

Player update

The Riverhounds are still waiting to complete their roster, and Lilley gave a brief update on Tony Walls, Albert Dikwa and Patrick Bunk-Andersen.

Walls, who was signed in the offseason after playing for Chattanooga Red Wolves SC (USL League One) last season, is back in Milwaukee dealing with personal issues and has yet to make his Riverhounds debut.

The situation surrounding Dikwa and Bunk-Andersen is a little more intriguing as they have yet to get in the country, but Lilley said they are doing everything in their power to get the two back for this season.

“Those players, we’ve been working on it for four weeks,” Lilley said. “John Rotz, our operations guy, we have the league involved. We have immigration attorneys involved, and we’re hopeful but we don’t have any confirmation yet. All the paperwork has been filed. We’re working on emergency appointments for them, and it sure would be nice. I feel pretty fortunate that we’ve been pretty healthy so far.”