PITTSBURGH (March 21, 2023) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC striker Albert Dikwa was named the USL Championship Player of the Week, presented by Konami eFootball, for Week 2 of the season after bagging his first career hat trick in the team’s 3-1 win Saturday at Memphis 901 FC.
Dikwa, 25, scored a career-high 11 goals a season ago and is off to a hot start with his second multi-goal game as a member of the Hounds. He started early against Memphis, scoring his first goal in the fifth minute on a scramble in the box that began with a Hounds free kick. He scored his second on a penalty kick in the 39th minute and sealed the win for the Hounds with a one-touch finish to cap an end-to-end attacking move in the 71st minute.
This is the second Player of the Week accolade in Dikwa’s career; he also earned the honor in Week 5 of 2022 after his first two-goal game against Tulsa. The hat trick was the 12th in Riverhounds history, but just the fourth to come away from home — the last time a Hounds player scored a road hat trick was July 25, 2014, when José Angulo scored three in a 5-2 win at the Real Salt Lake Reserves.
Dikwa received 53 percent of the vote to win the award, edging out former Hounds forward Tyler Pasher of Birmingham Legion FC, who received 31 percent of the vote cast by the USL’s National Media Panel.
Later in the day, the USL Championship announced their full Team of the Week, where Dikwa was joined by defender Pat Hogan on the league’s best 11.
Hogan, 25, led all Hounds with six clearances in the win over Memphis, while also winning possession six times, recording two interceptions and winning 5 of 7 duels in the match. He also recorded his first assist since joining the Hounds in the offseason, as he kept the ball alive in the penalty box for Dikwa’s opening goal.
The Hounds are back in action for their home opener this Friday, March 24, when they host Miami FC at 7 p.m. at Highmark Stadium. Tickets for the match are available now through Ticketmaster.
