Riverhounds set for 2021 home opener, return of fans to Highmark Stadium

Teams often feed off the energy from their fans. It is one of the many things that make home-field advantage so important.

For the past three years, the Riverhounds have benefited from large crowds and sold-out games at Highmark Stadium on Pittsburgh’s South Shore. It’s one thing that has made their home field a fortress in recent memory.

The crowd brings energy, and the Riverhounds have fed off of it. But, for a majority of last year, the Black and Gold had to find a way to produce their own energy. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Hounds played without fans for a majority of their schedule, and while they were able to have a few fans toward the end of the season, it wasn’t the same.

So, after an 0-1-1 start to the 2021 campaign, Pittsburgh’s return home to Highmark Stadium, their fortress, couldn’t have come at a better time.

When they host the Charlotte Independence at 7 p.m. Saturday, the Riverhounds will have ticketed fans for the first time since their playoff loss to Louisville City in 2019.

They are expected to have around 1,500 fans. With the state’s 75% capacity limit in place, Highmark Stadium could host up to 3,500 fans, but the 6-foot rule between ticketed groups has brought that number down.

Still, Pittsburgh coach Bob Lilley and company are looking forward to their first home game of the season.

“It helps the game overall, and it puts an energy into the stadium,” Lilley said. “It’s up to us to find ways to keep them excited, create chances, hopefully be dynamic in our play and get a result. One of the reasons why the support has gotten better is because we’ve been successful, so we are hopeful to get off on the right foot with our home schedule, and we’re trying to win every game, home or away, but certainly, the home games are games that you need to take care of.”

In their first two games of the year, the Riverhounds dropped a 3-0 contest to the Tampa Bay Rowdies and tied Hartford Athletic 1-1 this past Saturday. But, with several new players and just a few returners from last season, the Riverhounds were bound to go through their growing pains early on.

From Game 1 to Game 2, Lilley said he saw a lot of improvement in terms of how his team was attacking and defending in Hartford.

Forward Russell Cicerone scored in the 42nd minute, and Hartford ended up tying the match three minutes into stoppage time to earn the draw.

“I think we made a jump forward, and I think we were better in Hartford than we were in the Tampa game, certainly in the first half,” Lilley said. “The second half, we sat back too much, and we needed to keep looking for the second goal. But I think we were better at finding outlets, connecting with our front runners. We got in behind Hartford, especially in the first half. So, I was happy with our execution when we had the ball, and I thought we defended well on the night. They had very few clean looks.”

Now the Hounds will look to take it one step further and come out with their first three points of the season.

After losing to Tampa Bay 3-0 as well in their season opener, Charlotte is coming off its first win, a 3-0 decision over Charleston Battery.

“I think this game will present challenges,” Lilley said. “Charlotte is good on the ball, they are good in possession, they have multiple players that can create chances or score goals, and they are pretty good at the defensive end as well. They are a solid team.”

The Riverhounds will also have to do it without their captain and USL Championships all-time assists leader in Kenardo Forbes. The Jamaica native was sent off in the 77th minute against Hartford after a scuffle with Younes Boudadi.

Although Forbes hasn’t missed a lot of time while playing under Lilley, both with the Rochester Rhinos and with the Riverhounds, he did miss part of last season with an injury, so Lilley knows his team might have to change a few things up without its man in the middle.

“It’s always a challenge. He’s a good player, he helps control the tempo for us, and he’s got a lot of experience,” Lilley said. “His levels are always good, but we have a good squad, and yeah, we’re going to have to tweak some things. But there are other ways that we can circulate the ball, and it will mean multiple guys will have to step up a little bit, but we have some very capable players.”