A rather cold and gray Friday along the banks of the Monongahela River served as a fitting backdrop as the defending USL champion Pittsburgh Riverhounds held a spirited practice ahead of Saturday’s home opener against league newcomer Sporting JAX.
The Hounds’ (1-2-0) start to the 2026 campaign has been a combination of an offense that’s been hit or miss and a defense, one that had been the calling card under Bob Lilley’s teams, having surrendered seven goals in its first three league games. The club needed six league matches to yield the same amount last year. Last Saturday’s 3-0 road loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies marked the first time since July 2023 that Pittsburgh allowed multiple goals over three straight games.
Wednesday’s 2-1 win in a first-round U.S. Open Cup contest against amateur club Steel City FC didn’t produce much improvement, as the team looked disinterested throughout play.
The fundamental mistakes have been on the radar of club manager Rob Vincent.
“I think a lot of these goals are coming in transition,” Vincent said. “I think it’s a structural thing where when we’re going forward and have the ball, we want to make sure we’re in a position if we lose the ball, we can deal with that. It’s something we did well really at the end of last season, and we did quite well in preseason where we were able to counter press well when we lost it.
“We had good structure behind the ball and preventing teams who hit us on the break. You try to add some new ideas and keep everything together. I hope it’s a bit of a blip, and we can correct it.”
The lapses on defense showed in the road loss to Tampa, who launched 17 shots at Riverhounds goalkeeper Nico Campuzano, with seven finding the target. The former Pitt standout feels the changes needed to fix the mistakes can be achieved.
“We just need to change a couple things and get better results,” Campuzano said. “We want to give the fans what they want and that’s chaining wins together.”
Losing Sean Suber on the defensive side in the offseason was a blow to the club. But the emphasis on the breakdowns the team has faced in transition falls, in part, to the midfield play. That point is not lost on veteran Robbie Mertz.
“Part of it is if you watch the goals, our problem is in transition,” Mertz said. “It’s not just one part of the team. It’s a team effort. We are not taking care of the ball, and then we’re not recovering properly and leaving certain players in bad spots. It’s on 11 guys, and everyone on the field is responsible and we know we must tighten things up.”
Team captain Danny Griffin echoed similar thoughts about the slow start.
“It’s not just the back end, but it’s our team and not defending,” he said. “Obviously, some of the goals we’ve given up have come in transition, so that’s on the midfield. It’s something we’ve looked at. We pride ourselves on being a good defensive. Giving up seven goals to start the year is not our standard. Teams are going to try and score goals on us. We like the challenge of stopping that, and, here at home, we pride ourselves on stopping that. You will see our response to all this on Saturday.”
As for their opponent, Sporting Jax (0-2-1) is entering its first season in the USL and is part owned by former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. Speaking of slow starts, Jacksonville has a minus-5 goal differential, the second largest in USL Championship play so far this season. By comparison, the Riverhounds sit at minus-4.
The Hounds will hold a pre-game ceremony to celebrate their 2025 championship with a banner unveiling. Kickoff is set for just after 7 p.m., and the game can be seen on KDKA .