The Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC defied the odds, winning the USL Championship title for the first time in the club’s 26-year history in 2025.
It was a remarkable accomplishment considering a number of factors, including players’ market value was among the lowest in the league, the team would have to complete the final stretch of the regular season and enter the playoffs without the coach — Bob Lilley — who helped take the team to a new level since his arrival, building a winning culture and they were not exactly scoring goals at a rate that would likely put them in a position to win a pro sports league’s postseason tournament.
And yet, under the direction of acting Head Coach, Rob Vincent, the players — always believing they were capable as a group to achieve great things — appeared to be galvanized and rallied around each other to pull off a championship run even as they scored just one goal in four postseason matches.
When teams win championships, often times there will be copycats and other teams and coaches take notice of certain things that they could apply for their own success. In the years to come, the 2025 Riverhounds’ accomplishment could prove to become a solid case study and example for other teams and even business leaders and organizations.
Now — who wouldn’t want to see a TED Talk ** hosted by Dan Visser, Robbie Mertz, Eric Dick, Danny Griffin or Tuffy Shallenberger about how they ‘changed everything’ on their way to capturing the franchise’s first-ever league title trophy?
(**TED: Ideas change everything)
On the eve of Pittsburgh Steelers entering the NFL playoffs yet again, this is an opportune time to take a look at how Pittsburgh’s three major pro sports teams can possibly learn from the Riverhounds accomplishment.
The Riverhounds, who have established enough level of organizational stability comparatively in its own league and among the US pro soccer landscape, but still have its long-term challenges as an organization, showed that winning a championship is possible.
What can the other Pittsburgh teams take from the one pro team in Pittsburgh which made a remarkable Championship run this past year?
Steelers: Getting to the Playoffs Every Season is a Good Thing
In the fiercely competitive National Football League, posting a winning record and making the playoffs every season is something that is not easy.
Yet, Mike Tomlin and the Steelers have managed to complete 19 seasons without a losing season.
There’s no arguing against the idea that Tomlin is one of the best head coaches in the NFL.
That’s a familiar refrain, isn’t it?
The Riverhounds, under Bob Lilley, from 2018 through 2025 reached the playoffs and never had a losing record.
Of course, before this last Riverhounds’ regular season came to a close, that’s where the situation varied, as Lilley was put on administrative leave, leaving the remaining coaching staff and players to come together to make it work.
The bottom line, Lilley’s success and consistency put the Riverhounds in position to make a postseason run each season, though he had won two professional league titles elsewhere (in Vancouver and Rochester), Lilley’s postseason record in Pittsburgh wasn’t great.
Since 2018, Lilley won two postseason matches (2W-5L-2D*), finished in first place twice (once winning the USL Championship Players Shield), plus defeated three Major League Soccer teams in the US Open Cup.
What transpired with the Riverhounds under Lilley — getting to the postseason every year — mirrored what has happened with the Steelers under Tomlin.
There was a belief among certain Riverhounds players in 2025 that they would not have won the league title under Lilley, who was demanding and his style eventually wore them down as the season came to a close.
In Tomlin’s case, the Steelers fought tooth and nail to get into the postseason without star linebacker T.J. Watt and wide receiver DK Metcalf in critical games down the stretch, the team found a way to win and land another playoff berth.
While the fan base might be divided on his ability to win in the postseason, it’s has always appeared that unlike where Lilley struggled at the end, Tomlin has always been a coach that the players respect and will rally around.
Bottom line here, both coaches have consistently produced teams that make the postseason each season.
The Riverhounds won a championship with the team that Lilley built and nurtured through his expertise in player development and they ultimately executed his core principles: dictating terms of matches, playing lights out defensively and played disciplined soccer as a team.
Getting into position to make a postseason run is half the battle — and Tomlin has done that every year.
Now, Tomlin has an opportunity to quiet his critics even more if the Steelers can win some postseason games.
Penguins: Building Around a Core Group of Leaders
Under Lilley in recent years, the Riverhounds were fortunate to build its roster each season around a core group of leaders. From 2018 through early 2020s, Lilley brought in many players who came from his highly successful teams that won USL Championship title in Rochester, in 2015, including his main lieutenant, midfielder, Kenardo Forbes.
Lilley believed young players could look over every day in training and play alongside the captain and All-USL first-team midfielder as someone not just to play with, but to chase.
It was critical for veteran players who fully understood the ‘Lilley way’ to be playing alongside these young players at most every position.
After local standout Robbie Mertz had a strong rookie season in 2019, Lilley pointed to Mertz as one of those players who would benefit in ‘chasing’ Forbes.
Another one of those would be Danny Griffin, who came on board with the club in 2020, eventually succeeding Forbes as the Hounds’ team captain.
This team would become emblematic of its core leaders, Griffin and Mertz.
In Tulsa, after the Riverhounds won the USL Championship title in dramatic match that was decided on penalty kicks, and while the players, coaches and club officials who made the trip celebrated, Griffin and Forbes shared a quiet moment in reflection together soaking it all in.
“In all my years here, we’ve always remained a close-knit locker room,” Griffin stated.
“And the guys would demand more from each other. Guys would get on each other. Get after each other on what we needed to do. There are struggles in every season, but in those little moments, there are guys who stepped up and had each other’s back. That went a long way for everyone.”
Of all the pro sports teams in Pittsburgh, the Penguins clearly have built a similar tradition where the strength of the team is built around a core group of leaders who have carried over a winning and successful culture and locker room.
The Penguins are in a significant transition period, yet the importance of still having Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang around cannot be underscored.
Recently, Crosby passed his mentor, friend, and even former landlord Mario Lemieux as the Penguins franchise’s all-time leading scorer — he deflected his praise to being part of an organization and having a core group of players alongside through the years — which was all started by Lemieux.
“It’s really special. You’re trying to stay in the game, but also just try to enjoy the moment, too. So it’s hard to balance that sometimes. Especially as you get older, you tend to look at things a little bit differently,” Crosby said.
“And seeing the crowd go quiet when Mario’s message came on, that was pretty special. And if you don’t understand the impact he’s had here, and you’re here tonight, I think you understand a little bit better now, given just how quiet it got. If there was any example of respect, I think it was really cool to see that.”
Pirates: Player development can be more important than spending the big bucks
Another magic trick for the Hounds in staying very competitive and being in contention every year since Lilley arrived was making the most and having success even if team payroll and market value of players is not going to be in the top half of the league.
Lilley, then Vincent along with Hounds’ Sporting Director Dan Visser have worked wonders building around a few veterans (aforementioned Forbes, Mertz and Griffin), a mostly young core and letting higher priced players go when their contracts expire, while working around what — according to Transfermrkt.com rates as the roster with the lowest market value in the USL Championship.
Let me be clear, this tweet was not to diminish Rob’s accomplishments, as to get the team on the same page and get the job done in such a short time deserves all the respect. I am sure the @RiverhoundsSC will be in great hands regardless of who the manager will be next year.
— Dennis Chin (@Dchinny15) November 23, 2025
Despite all of the promise that the Riverhounds’ organization provided, Lilley still had to work within certain limitations to build a competitive roster.
“We’re not the highest, but we’re not the lowest payroll, but it’s healthy,” Lilley told Pittsburgh Soccer Now at the dawn of his tenure with the Riverhounds.
“When I build a team, salaries are closer together than further apart. I am not a big believer in putting all money in couple guys. When people come to games — I hope that we play well enough that for sure that people are going to have their favorites. That’s important to have guys that relate to the fans. It’s important to have that eleven. Have a dynamic group of players that people will want to watch.”
The Riverhounds have toyed at times — before and even during Lilley’s tenure — with making big name splash signings (within USL parameters), and for the most part they have not worked out.
If you go all the way back to 2014, when Tuffy Shallenberger first stepped into a larger role as the club’s primary owner, they signed one-time Fulham forward Collins John, who at one point in the late 2000s, scored 23 goals in a run of 111 appearances in the Premier League. By the time John reached Pittsburgh, he was still a talented player, scoring goals in his first two appearances. Ultimately, disciplinary issues and an inability to fit in with the team, John left Pittsburgh before midseason, after Pittsburgh’s disastrous start which saw the sacking of then Head Coach and one of the franchise cornerstone former players, Justin Evans. Clearly, the Collins John experiment, which probably cost a few pennies, was a bold failure.
For the most part, Shallenberger and the Hounds learned from that experience.
Still, in 2022, the Hounds signed the USL Championship’s (then) all-time leading goal scorer Dane Kelly believing that this would boost an already talented group of attackers. The Jamaican forward scored and had an assist in his debut, and scored five goals in his first five matches, but quickly fell out of favor with Lilley. Kelly would not play at all when the Hounds hit the homestretch of that season, which saw the Hounds make a postseason run with a win at Birmingham and penalty kick shootout loss at Louisville.
The next season, with Albert Dikwa’s franchise record goal scoring output leading the way, the Hounds finished on top of the table. While the signing of Kelly didn’t pan out, ultimately it was through of patience and player development process where the Hounds were rewarded. Lilley and Visser opted to re-sign Dikwa at the beginning of 2022, despite underwhelming 2020 and 2021 seasons that included some Visa issues (during COVID) and injuries, who really paid dividends for the club in capturing its first-ever USL Championship Players Shield (for more points overall through the 34 game regular season). The Hounds could have easily not opted to sign Dikwa, making way for the veteran Kelly, but Lilley and Visser always believed that Dikwa was capable of reaching another level.
Last offseason, it was reported by John Perrotto that Pittsburgh Pirates Bob Nutting increased the baseball operations budget by $20 million, and Ben Cherington spent the majority of that towards upgrading the research and development department. For an organization that relies on internal development over external additions, they absolutely need to be successful in that field and, so far, the Cherington regime hasn’t succeeded.
It’s clear, the Pirates need to do better in terms of developing players and building a system where even if players are signing elsewhere, they have a next man up and system that breeds more consistent success and players ready to compete at the Major League level.
We’ve seen the Pirates do well with developing strong pitching — as they’ve been able to mostly parlay top draft picks into Major League ready talents.
However, they are lacking in other important areas — especially hitting has been pathetic. The only successful hitting prospect to make an impact in the major leagues has been Nick Gonzales, and he was below average in 2025.
Clearly, the Pirates can learn a thing or two from the Riverhounds as far as player development.
All Teams: Defense Wins Championships
Pittsburgh sports fans don’t have to be told how important defense is to winning championships.
The Riverhounds continued a strong tradition of great defensive championship teams that can be put right up there with the Steel Curtain, Blitzburg, Cowher Power, Pirates legends with numerous Gold Gloves (Mazoroski, Clemente, Parker, etc) and Pens’ great goaltending performances.
The Riverhounds didn’t give up a goal in the entire four match postseason run and its last three regular season contests.
In the USL Championship Final, a match where the Hounds would be pushed to the edge on the road, and yet, they still held firm in completing a defensive masterclass.
When pushed to the brink, the hero who emerged was goalkeeper Eric Dick.
A 31-year-old veteran, who had bounced around so many places and stops, even playing one match for Tulsa when on loan in 2019, Dick has exemplified the meaning of journeyman pro soccer player.
A year ago, Dick found a home in Pittsburgh — earning the League’s Gold Glove honor as the top keeper.
On this day, Dick made five saves in the run of play, then made one critical save in the penalty kick shootout.
“These guys have earned it. The whole organization has earned it. I’m lost for words right now,” a humbled Eric Dick told PSN contributor John Franchina after the match.
“I think in those penalty shootouts, we just say, ‘Stay calm, go through your process. We’re all in this together, if somebody misses, we’ve got your back, just do your thing.’ And fortunately, we’ve had a lot of cool heads, and Eric came up big tonight, so I’m glad we could make it through it.”
The Steelers defense has been much maligned this season, but they have an opportunity in the playoffs to make their mark. Ultimately in the NFL, defenses need to come up and make big plays.
The Penguins missing piece in recent years has been its defense too.
And, don’t get anyone started with how poor the Pirates have been in fielding — especially last season.
All Teams: Embrace the Challenge and Harness the Magic
In a postseason where teams across the league struggled to score goals — it was the Riverhounds — a team which Lilley built on strong defense and dictate terms of matches principles — and then led by Vincent who was embraced by the players — who seized the opportunity to grab the trophy this season because they were ready for the moment.
See, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds were always ready for the moment because this didn’t just happen on a whim.
It was years in the making.
And sometimes teams need to ride the wave, and some magical moments will happen and there will be breaks along the way.
In Pittsburgh sports — you can turn to each Championship season — where teams were lifted by magical moments. James Harrison’s unforgettable interception to Sidney Crosby’s hat trick against Washington in 2009
The Riverhounds got a few breaks and magic moments in this past year’s playoff run.
For one thing, the top two seeds ahead of them, Louisville City FC and Charleston Battery, who were head and shoulders above the rest of the league during the regular season, were each upset in the first round.
The Hounds posted an 0W-3L-1D record vs Louisville and Charleston in 2025 and they were facing the prospect, even if they won in the first round, they would have to win matches at one or both Louisville or Charleston.
Still, they had to take care of business first.
The first came after the first cagey playoff match ended in a scoreless draw after 120 minutes of regulation and extra time against high scoring Hartford Athletic.
Hartford went first, setting the stage for Dick to face a one-time former teammate (with Swope Park Rangers in 2018) and former league Golden Boot winner and Most Outstanding Player, Hadji Berry.
“I overlapped with him at KC, back in the day,” Dick shared.
“I approach PKs with you put the pressure on the kicker. Don’t go early. Read the body shape. We do research. We look at tendencies. I had a feel of how he was approaching the ball. I waited. Waited, then went. There’s research. And there’s luck.”
When Berry stepped into his shot, Dick went in the same direction, but maybe most importantly, extended his whole body, using his trailing leg — made the save.
Dick’s save set the tone. The Hounds would not miss a kick and go on to win the first of three matches that were decided by penalty kicks because as the tournament went on — it was clear that they were made of sterner stuff.
When the Hounds needed a goal, they got it from one of the cornerstone players, Robbie Mertz, in the second half of the Eastern Conference Final, as they were in embattled in yet another cagey affair.
Heading into that match, Vincent, once a clutch goal-scorer himself for the club, sent a clear directive to the players after the final training session.
“The final part of that, and what I said to the guys, is who’s going to step up and take that moment?” Vincent said.
“Someone’s going to be the hero. I just hope it’s not in penalties. Hopefully, it’s someone in the 18, stepping up and being the hero.”
eady and eager to find a moment of redemption one week later.
“I knew it could be me. It could be other people as well. We’ve been so close the last few games. The fact that we hadn’t scored a goal yet in the playoffs, was crazy in my mind,” Mertz said.
“We’ve been generating chances, but it wasn’t falling our way. It was always going to take that one moment, and that was something Rob was telling us. It was a matter of being aggressive. Continuing to get in the right spots, and trusting that it was going to come.”
That moment came in the 55th minute, when Mertz was provided a simple, one-touch layoff pass from his longtime teammate and captain, Danny Griffin, who won another one of those coveted second balls following a Luke Biasi cross into the box.
Mertz said he gave his teammate a shout.
After playing it off, Griffin made a run into the center of the box, clearing the way for Mertz to operate.
Mertz initially went left, but a pair of Tulsa defenders were hovering in that space, denying his movement in that direction and his first option of taking a left-footed shot.
Instead, when Rhode Island defender Hugo Bacharach stumbled, Mertz quickly sensed opportunity.
The Upper St Clair native, quickly cut back to his right, then found just enough room behind Bacharach, who tried to get up. It was just enough space for Mertz to unleash a sterling strike that smacked the inside, upper netting — and sent the crowd at Highmark Stadium into an absolute frenzy.
It will be hard to find a bigger goal scored in the club’s 26-year year run and in the history of Pittsburgh soccer.
When Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Keith Barnes followed up with a question about what it meant being from Pittsburgh and to score such a massive, game-winning goal in the post-season, Mertz became emotional, at one point putting his hand over his head and paused for a bit before collecting himself.
“It means a lot. We’ve been through a lot in this organization, not just this year but the last six or seven years,” Mertz said.
“To still be a part of it at this stage of my career and to have this moment is so special.”
In hindsight, you’ll have to look long and hard when going through all of Pittsburgh’s professional franchises, with each having varying levels of postseason success in the 21st Century — to find another Pittsburgh-area born player who came up with a bigger moment in the postseason.
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).
