Coming off what might be the most disappointing loss of the 2026 season, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds had a week to think about their 2-0 defeat to Brooklyn FC at F.N.B. Stadium last Saturday in front of the largest regular-season crowd in club history. The loss kept the Riverhounds in the sixth slot of the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship and ended a 3-0-1 run.
The schedule has been favorable for Pittsburgh to this point. Over the past two months, the Riverhounds have been the beneficiary of a pair of two-week vacations in May and June, in part because of the World Cup. In the case of Saturday’s USL Cup contest vs. Loudoun United FC, both clubs already were eliminated from moving to the knockout round.
In games of this nature, for both teams, plenty of reserves would see time to give starters additional time to rest. Forward Trevor Amann took advantage of the start that coach Rob Vincent gave him, scoring an early first-half goal, leading the local 11 to a 2-0 win in front of 5,027 fans.
Coming into the match, Loudoun had given up the second-most goals in USL play, so if the Riverhounds were going to try and take advantage of that, they needed to start fast. In the fourth minute, striker Albert Dikwa rammed a blast from inside the 18-yard box off the crossbar to get things moving in the right direction. Jackson Walti found the carrom and offered a strike of his own, but that went just wide of the far post.
Pittsburgh had several other chances over the next 14 minutes but could not break through until the 14th minute when a penalty was issued for a tackle inside the box on Riverhounds forward Trevor Amann. Amann’s strike was clean and beat goaltender Ethan Bandre for a 1-0 lead.
Amann used the time Saturday to prepare for his starting role Wednesday at Sporting Jacksonville as Dikwa will be serving a one-game suspension for his involvement in an in-game scrum vs. Brooklyn FC a week ago.
“I think I’ve been training well.” Amann said. “I think tonight was a confidence-builder going into Wednesday. For me, I think it’s a positive thing. Training, playing. everything is the same for me”
Loudoun quickly countered three minutes later. ‘Hounds keeper Mitch Budler was put to the test as he made a great save at close-range off a header from United FC forward Thor Úlfarsson. Then in, the 39th minute, Amann got what he thought was his second goal of the night off a header but was called offsides. An argument could have been made otherwise, Amann said.
“I personally don’t.” Amann said. “I’ve heard different opinions. I didn’t feel like I was.”
In the second half, Pittsburgh kept putting pressure on Loudoun’s net and came close in the 59th minute as Charles Ahl found a rebound off a Loudoun header that allowed him to get clear and send a shot that curled just wide of the far post. Then, two minutes later, Dikwa fed Jorge Garcia, who launched a shot just above the crossbar.
Then in the 66th minute, Dikwa worked free to receive a pass from Charles Ahl, found space and recorded the game’s second goal, finding the back post for a 2-0 lead.
“Overall, I think I’m quite happy.” Vincent said. “I think in the first half, they had a lot of the ball, but I think it was in their own half. I think gradually into the game we had more of the ball and were the more dangerous team. I was happy for Trevor. The offsides was close. He could have had two goals. I would have liked us to finish the game a bit stronger. I think we were a little bit content.”
The Riverhounds next play their lone road game of July on Wednesday, facing a winless Sporting Jacksonville club they beat at home in late March 3-2. Kickoff is set for just after 7:30 p.m. and will be televised by CBS Sports Network.