As the weekend approaches, the Riverhounds are back in action on Friday and Bridge City FC are staying on the road, looking to build a winning streak when they face Rockford (IL) for the first time ever, on Monday afternoon for a President’s Day special.
Meanwhile, this week, schedules dropped for Pittsburgh’s W-League and USL League Two teams, adding even more high level soccer in the area between May and July — including more matches between Pittsburgh clubs.
We would also be remiss not to mention that the Riverhounds announced its Promotions schedule for 2026. Once again, it appears that Jeff Garner and company have found new ways to get folks excited about attending Hounds matches.
Riverhounds back in action
The preseason schedule will pick up for the Hounds as they’ll begin a stretch of three scrimmages in eight days, starting with the team’s third preseason match on Friday when they face Eastern Conference foe Loudoun United FC at AHN Montour (1 p.m.).
Next Wednesday’s match vs Duquesne (at Highmark Stadium, 7 p.m.), was a late addition to the Hounds’ schedule, as they’ll look to get outdoors for the first time this year.
Through two preseason matches, the Riverhounds have outscored opponents, Richmond Kickers and Indy Eleven, by a 5-0 margin.
A season ago, Pittsburgh and Loudoun featured the two longest tenured coaches in the league (with Bob Lilley and Ryan Martin). This year, each club will have new coaches. While Rob Vincent is now the new, permanent Head Coach for the Hounds, Loudoun has appointed Anthony Limbrick as its third-ever Head Coach. The club from Northern Virginia is coming off its first-ever playoff appearance a season ago Abdellatif Aboukoura, the 2025 Young Player of the Year, leads the Loudoun line once again, lining up with the likes of veteran defender Bolu Akinyode and New England Revolution loanee Jack Panayotou.
Heading into the preseason, I penned the Five Burning Questions about the club and it will be interesting to see how this club evolves in the coming weeks as it starts to focus on being ready for the season opener at Charleston on March 7.
Also, as he mentioned on Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast, it does not appear that one of the team’s cornerstone players, Robbie Mertz, will not be seeing much action for the remainder of the preseason, as he’s working through a leg injury.
Pittsburgh Soccer Now will be on site to provide coverage of the match which will include post match reaction and the latest updates from the Riverhounds perspective.
USL W-League and USL League Two Schedules Drop All at Once
This week the USL decided to drop schedules all at once for both W-League and USL League Two. With the addition of Riverhounds 2, Pittsburgh now has four pre-professional teams who will populate the calendars from May through late June and early July, with a combined 44 regular season matches that we’ll be doing our best to keep tabs on, in addition to the Riverhounds regular season.
Within the Riverhounds-Riveters-Riverhounds Two orbit — PSN’s Colton Coreschi shared the outline below of how busy things will get with three teams currently on the US Soccer pyramids playing at once.
Indeed, it’s a bold new era.
Both men’s and women’s pre-professional leagues will feature home-and-away contests between Pittsburgh teams as Steel City’s clubs and the Riveters (in W-League) and Riverhounds 2 (USL League Two) will face off in Great Forest Division contests in each League.
It’s a bold new and exciting era in Pittsburgh soccer!
In 2024 and just about every year prior, Pittsburgh never had any high level ⚽️clubs on US Soccer pyramid ever compete against each other on a regular basis (only exception some WPSL intra-city matches when Century,… https://t.co/JKlo4M8HSt
— John Krysinsky (@JohnKrysinsky) February 11, 2026
In addition, it was announced late last week that Steel City’s men’s squad came together to work with the Riverhounds to come to an agreement to move the US Open Cup’s First Round match between the two Pittsburgh clubs to Highmark Stadium.
Steel City’s Tom Ovenden and Dan Brower joined me on the latest episode of Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast, to discuss how this all came together.
Additional topics brought up included Brower discussing that managing Steel City men’s first team is now a year-round process, as they’ve built out a depth chart that currently includes 40 players but an even larger scope.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Steel City will have to trim its roster down to nearly half that in preparation for the Open Cup match vs the Riverhounds.
Bridge City Break-Out
Bridge City FC found an emphatic way to snap its three-match losing streak on the road on Saturday night,
Pittsburgh’s indoor team came away from a trip to Lansing, MI, with an impressive 18–8 victory over Red Cedar FC.
The offensive clinic was led by Nate Dragisich (West Allegheny | Duquesne), who put together a standout performance with three goals and three assists, dictating the tempo and punishing Red Cedar’s defense.
Austin Rocke (Mars | Marshall) was equally influential, contributing three goals and a pair of assists, while Jack Shearer (Central Valley | St. John’s, Duquesne) added a productive night of his own with two goals and three assists.
Matt Teitelbaum (Sewickley Academy | Steel City FC) made history for the club, netting a hat trick to become the first open trialist to score for Bridge City FC. Neil Shaffer (Beaver | Robert Morris | Riverhounds, Harrisburg) opened his scoring account for BCFC as well, adding his first goal for the club and chipping in two clever assists. Sam Boehm (Connecticut) was effective in the second target role, finishing with two goals and an assist.
From the back, Anthony Rowan (Connellsville | Marshall) was superb defensively while also contributing offensively with the fifth goal of the match and an assist. Captain Josh DiMatteo (Chartiers Valley | West Virginia) commanded the back line with authority and joined the attack, calmly finishing two well-controlled goals. Stefan Lundberg (Kiski Area | Duquesne | Riverhounds) made a welcome return to the lineup and set the tone early, registering an assist on the opening goal. Defender Marc Esqueda (Westminster) also found the scoresheet, scoring his first goal for the club.
In goal, it was a true team effort. Grant Glorioso (North Allegheny | Robert Morris) and Kevin Garcia (Carlow) combined for 16 saves, limiting Red Cedar FC’s attacking opportunities and providing a steady presence between the pipes.
Bridge City FC will look to carry this momentum forward as they return to the road on Monday, February 16th, to take on the Rockford Thunder in Illinois.
For the first time since early January, Bridge City FC will finally return home on Saturday, February 28 when they host a return match vs Rockford.
Pittsburgh Soccer Schedule (February 2026)
Friday, February 13
1 p.m. Riverhounds SC vs Loudoun United FC (AHN Montour Soccer Complex)
Monday, February 16
1 p.m. Bridge City FC at Rockford Thunder (Rockford, IL) Indoor Sports Center at Mercyhealth Sportscore Two
Wednesday, February 18
1 p.m. Riverhounds SC vs Duquesne University (AHN Montour Soccer Complex)
Saturday, February 21
12 p.m. Riverhounds SC vs Lexington SC (Highmark Stadium)
7 p.m. Bridge City FC at Cleveland Crunch (Cleveland, OH) Wolstein Center
Friday, February 27
7 p.m. Riverhounds SC vs West Virginia University (Highmark Stadium)
Saturday, February 28
Time TBA – Robert Morris (Men) vs Steel City FC (location TBA)
6 p.m. Riverhounds SC vs Pitt (Ambrose Urbanic Field)
7 p.m. Bridge City FC vs Rockford (Sewickley Sports Arena)
John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of ‘Miracle on the Mon’ — a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).
