(Feb. 28, 2025) — The Pittsburgh Riverhounds wrapped up their preseason schedule with a battle that had a regular-season feel, playing to a 0-0 draw at USL Championship newcomers Lexington SC at the team’s new Lexington SC Stadium in Lexington, Ky.
The game had its share of ebbs and flows throughout, and scoring chances were scarce for both teams. The hosts seemed to have fresher legs and more of the ball through the opening stages, but the Hounds (4-1-1) responded to the challenge.
“I thought we grew into the game,” Riverhounds head coach Bob Lilley said. “They had a lot of possession, and we found it difficult to get on the ball the first 20 minutes. We worked hard to get ourselves on more even terms, and we finished the half pretty well. There were not a lot of big chances for either team in the first half, or in the game, for that matter, but both teams had some good spells.”
As the final tune-up for the regular season, a number of the Hounds regulars recorded 90-minute shifts, including captain Danny Griffin, Jackson Walti, Sean Suber and Eric Dick, while many of the other regulars took on a 60- to 75-minute workload.
It was the team’s fourth clean sheet of the exhibition schedule, and the first time Dick logged the full 90 for the shutout. The zero on the board was matched by Lexington goalie Logan Ketterer, who Lilley would have liked to see his team test more.
“The second half, we put a lot of pressure on them. We had some chances blocked in the box and didn’t get a lot of clean looks on their keeper, but we pressed well and got on the ball in their half,” Lilley said.
Lexington did have one excellent chance late, as longtime Louisville City striker — and often Hounds nemesis — Cameron Lancaster got on the end of a cross with 10 minutes remaining, only to head the ball off the bar.
Despite that, Lilley came away from the match pleased to get a result on the road. With the Hounds opening the 2025 season with two straight road matches — the first at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 8 at North Carolina FC — the preseason finale served as a fitting dress rehearsal for the Hounds.
“We left early (Thursday) and trained in Lexington, and our plan is to train at North Carolina next week. We had the Indy trip and Columbus earlier, but now we have our group together, and this is a similar distance (to North Carolina),” Lilley said.
“It was a positive result at this point, but we have a lot to work on. I think we could’ve taken more advantage of opportunities in the final third, but the guys worked hard and, for the most part, defended well.”
