![\"Albert](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/03282026-PITvJAX-ChrisCowger-1251.jpg\")
Albert Dikwa celebrates his first goal in the Hounds\u2019 3-2 win over Sporting Club Jacksonville on Saturday at Highmark Stadium. (Photo: Chris Cowger\/Riverhounds SC)<\/p>\nAlbert Dikwa celebrates his first goal in the Hounds\u2019 3-2 win over Sporting Club Jacksonville on Saturday at Highmark Stadium. (Photo: Chris Cowger\/Riverhounds SC)<\/p>\n
PITTSBURGH (March 28, 2026) \u2014\u00a0A five-goal thriller greeted fans at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds\u2019 first home match of the USL Championship season, and the Highmark Stadium crowd went home happy with a 3-2 victory tonight over USL newcomers Sporting Club Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
Albert Dikwa scored from open play and from the penalty spot for the Hounds (2-2-0), and Sam Bassett scored a highlight-reel strike from more than 30 yards out into the top corner of the net. Mohamed Traore and Emil J\u00e4\u00e4skel\u00e4inen scored as Sporting (0-3-1) attempted to make a second-half comeback.<\/p>\n
Dikwa\u2019s second goal was his 40th total in a Hounds uniform, making him the second to reach that plateau with the club.<\/p>\n
The night began with the unveiling of the team\u2019s championship banner, celebrating the club\u2019s first-ever league title winning the USL Championship in 2025.<\/p>\n
First half<\/p>\n
For the second straight match, the Hounds were on the board early, this time with a seventh-minute goal. Beto Ydrach chipped a ball into the box toward the penalty spot, and shouts for a penalty came from the crowd as Charles Ahl was knocked over by his defender.<\/p>\n
Undeterred, Dikwa hurdled Ahl\u2019s legs to be first to the loose ball, and he turned back toward the goal to finish with his right foot into the top right corner.<\/p>\n
The Hounds\u2019 lead doubled in the 27th minute with a brilliant goal seemingly from nothing. Bassett intercepted a Jacksonville pass backward, but the visitors still had numbers behind the ball.<\/p>\n
The midfielder carried the ball toward goal moving to his right, and as he closed on 30 yards from the target, Bassett struck a right-footed curler that left leaping goalkeeper Christian Olivares no chance as it soared into the top left corner.<\/p>\n
Ydrach then came up with a huge play to keep it 2-0 at halftime. Jacksonville\u2019s Harvey Neville drove a cross through the box from the left side, and J\u00e4\u00e4skel\u00e4inen rose above everyone to put a header on goal. Ydrach had retreated to just the right spot to head the ball upward off the crossbar, allowing his teammates to clear the ball.<\/p>\n
Second half<\/p>\n
The Hounds went ahead 3-0 in the 50th minute after Dida Armstrong was called for handling the ball on the ground in a sliding challenge on Bradley Sample. Dikwa stepped up for the penalty and scored low under the diving Olivares, netting his third of the season and 40th for the Hounds.<\/p>\n
Sporting fought back though, and the visitors were on the board in the 58th minute from a corner kick. Jordan Rossiter shot from the top of the box through traffic, and the ball deflected off Traore in front, sending the opposite direction of diving goalkeeper Nico Campuzano and softly into the net.<\/p>\n
Four minutes later, Jacksonville struck again. Neville thumped a ball forward from just inside the halfway line, and J\u00e4\u00e4skel\u00e4inen won the battle to get to the bouncing ball and struck a low finish to his left.<\/p>\n
The Hounds tightened up after the lapses, and the visiting side were held to a single, blocked shot over the final 28 minutes and stoppage time.<\/p>\n
Modelo Man of the Match<\/p>\n
Albert Dikwa had his first brace since rejoining the Hounds this offseason, reviving memories of his 2023 Golden Boot season. He also won possession five times \u2014 second-most on the team \u2014\u00a0and won a pair of free kick leading the line.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n
The Hounds head back into U.S. Open Cup play on short rest, as they will host amateur side Virginia Dream FC in the Second Round on Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Riverhounds SC lineup (3-4-2-1) \u2014\u00a0Nico Campuzano; Victor Souza (Illal Osumanu 79\u2019), Beto Ydrach, Owen Mikoy; Junior Etou, Danny Griffin, Bradley Sample, Perrin Barnes; Sam Bassett (Eliot Goldthorp 63\u2019), Charles Ahl (Robbie Mertz 63\u2019); Albert Dikwa (Trevor Amann 89\u2019)<\/p>\n
Sporting Jacksonville lineup (4-2-3-1) \u2014 Christian Olivares; Harvey Neville, Mohamed Traore, Ryan Edwards, Dida Armstrong; Brem Soumaoro (Jacob Evans 85\u2019), Jordan Rossiter; Ezekiel Soto (Thomas Roberts 46\u2019), Raffery Pedder, Ahmad Al Qaq (Kieran Sadlier 56\u2019); Emil J\u00e4\u00e4skel\u00e4inen<\/p>\n
Scoring summary<\/p>\n
PIT \u2014\u00a0Albert Dikwa 6\u2019
PIT \u2014\u00a0Sam Bassett 27\u2019
PIT \u2014\u00a0Albert Dikwa 50\u2019 (penalty)
JAX \u2014\u00a0Mohamed Traore 58\u2019 (Jordan Rossiter)
JAX \u2014 Emil J\u00e4\u00e4skel\u00e4inen 62\u2019 (Harvey Neville)<\/p>\n
Discipline summary<\/p>\n
PIT \u2014\u00a0Albert Dikwa 42\u2019 (caution \u2013 reckless foul)
JAX \u2014 Head coach Liam Fox 45+5\u2019 (caution \u2013 dissent)
JAX \u2014\u00a0Ahmad Al Qaq 53\u2019 (caution \u2013 reckless foul)
JAX \u2014\u00a0Brem Soumaoro 69\u2019 (caution \u2013 reckless foul)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Albert Dikwa celebrates his first goal in the Hounds\u2019 3-2 win over Sporting Club Jacksonville on Saturday at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-151542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-pittsburgh","9":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","10":"tag-pittsburgh-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}