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Two more trophies came home last weekend from the boys’ weekend of the Club Ohio Nike Challenge Cup, as the Riverhounds Development Academy continued its busy spring at the tournament and hosting two more days of ECNL matches on both the boys and girls side.

The 2012 East Boys, the youngest of the teams to travel, battled through some tough matches to win their championship game 2-1 over another Pa. side, Hotspurs North. The team scraped through their group with a 2-2 draw against Canton United earlier Sunday after wins of 5-3 and 7-1 in Saturday’s play. Caden Holland, Ridge Brunton and Nick Bosnic were among those with good weekends in a trophy-winning performance.

The 10 East Boys had an easier time of it claiming their division, beating Westerville United (Ohio) in the final, 4-0. That final was their closest match of the weekend, as they outscored their opponents 33-2 over the course of four matches.

Apart from those two sides, the RDA had a series of near-misses in championship matches, none closer than the 02/03 RDA II Boys falling 3-2 on penalty kicks to nearby Century United. Jacob Gardner tied the game with a headed goal, as the teams finished regulation and extra time tied 1-1.

The 08 RDA II Boys, 08 East Boys, 09 RDA II Boys and 10 Boys also reached the final of their respective divisions for a total of seven Hounds sides in championship games.

Back home, league play was in full swing for the ECNL sides, and the 05 Girls continued their impressive run to 13 matches without a defeat.

The 05s won 2-0 over Internationals SC behind two Lola Abraham goals, and they battled to a 1-1 draw with Ohio Premier with Fiona Mahan getting the Hounds’ strike. The results keep the Hounds in the top three in the Ohio Valley Conference, which puts them in position to claim an ECNL Champions League berth.

The 04 Girls did come out with a win over Ohio Premier, 1-0, on a Londynn Gonzalez goal, while the 02/03 Girls fell 3-2 in a wild finish, as Ohio Premier’s goalkeeper scored from a corner kick late in stoppage time.

On the boys side, Saturday was a productive one in matches against Pacesetter SC (Ohio), with wins by the 02/03, 04 and 05 sides, all of which recorded clean sheets on the Highmark turf.

For more from a busy weekend with more than 70 matches played, visit the Live Results page.

Even the pros like to have some fun once in a while, and that’s how practice began on a rainy day.

The group was divided into teams to play a hybrid handball/ultimate frisbee/soccer variant as a warm-up activity, with players throwing the ball to one another while still trying to score with headers in front of the net. Perhaps inspired by a question on last night’s Season Ticket Holder Virtual Event asking who would be the best Hounds teammate to choose for a 3-on-3 basketball game, the warm-up game was a good way to get the legs moving and get competitive, even if it exposed which of the players aren’t nearly as comfortable throwing and catching as they are kicking.

Once that was done, the field setup was already set up to transition into some short-sided games, and an otherwise normal-looking practice ensued. Another common drill with the team operating in 5-on-4, rapid-fire rush situations was on the day’s ledger, as the Hounds will look to improve their goal-scoring output Saturday against Philadelphia Union II after netting just one goal across their last 180 preseason minutes.

Friday’s practice — the last of the preseason — will likely be more of a walkthrough with a match on Saturday before preparations for the Tampa Bay Rowdies begin in earnest.

While Wednesday is usually an off day during regular-season match weeks, the team came to the stadium on this Wednesday to shake off the Tuesday malaise that afflicted them a day ago.

The Hounds turned in a much crisper, shortened session on the field after players went through their regular recovery and treatment regimen, getting things back on track for a strong performance in Saturday’s preseason finale.

While most of the players will be taking the evening off and the Academy takes over the Highmark Stadium field, there is a little extra pro team action on the schedule today. This evening, Jordan Dover and Danny Vitiello will join coach Bob Lilley and new team president Vic Gregovits tonight in a Zoom call with season ticket holders, who were asked to submit questions for the players and staff in advance.

The special event is just one more indication the season is nearly here, and both Dover and Vitiello came off the field eager to talk to the fans who will be able to fill the seats again and see them in person starting May 22.

A few good performances in preseason matches isn’t going to cause the Hounds’ coaching staff to stop pushing them ahead of a difficult season-opening trip to Tampa Bay, and the players saw that firsthand in today’s training session.

It was a day that, frankly, felt Floridian with temperatures in the 80s and high humidity with rain in the forecast later in the week, and that heat seemed to take its toll during a session that had some sluggish moments and uncommon miscues. Though the drills and exercises were similar or the same to ones earlier in preseason, things seemed just a step off on this day.

Whether the reason was the heat or the grind of being in the final week of preseason, the lack of sharpness led to the coaching staff having to deliver some words of criticism after practice. But with the criticism came encouragement, as the players were asked to rest, recover and regroup for better sessions the rest of the week ahead of Philadelphia Union II’s arrival for a noon Saturday kickoff.

The final week of preseason kicked off with the team having recovered from a third consecutive road preseason match, this one a 1-1 draw against an Indy Eleven team they will face again in less than two months.

Looking back on that match, the team’s biggest positive moment — the goal by Russell Cicerone — was reflection of the players taking what has been drilled in practice and putting it into effect in a game situation. The build-up leading to what Cicerone called “a great team goal,” saw Alex Dixon get a ball played through behind the Indy defense, exactly the areas head coach Bob Lilley has pushed his players to exploit.

“I don’t remember exactly how it started, but I know we built up from the back. There was good movement from everyone involved,” said Dixon, who went on to describe the goal.

“I made a darting run forward, and Jordan (Dover) found me with a good ball. I had a good first touch, a little bit toward the touchline, and I whipped in a good ball to Russ, whose finish was a great finish — first time, hard and high, and didn’t give the keeper much of a chance. I think that was probably one of the best goals we’ve scored in the preseason so far.”

Along with the positives come some negatives. The team’s marking was lacking on the one goal conceded, while giving up a penalty kick — though it was eventually saved — also highlighted a moment for improvement.

Dixon spoke a little about how those moments, the clinical finishing in front of goal and how a team handles crucial game moments inside their own penalty area, are some of the hardest to prepare for with so many new faces around.

“The longer we play together, the more intuitive becomes, to the point where we don’t even have to speak as much, we just know the right spots to be at,” Dixon said. “I think we’re getting there, but the goal we gave up is a symptom of that. We still have kinks to work out, but we’re almost there.”

While much of the USL Championship begins this weekend, if they haven’t already, the Hounds still have one more preseason match to work out those kinks. Philadelphia Union II — now no longer a USL Championship side — comes to Highmark Stadium at noon this Saturday, a match that will bring the preseason to its close and send the Hounds into their first game week of 2021.

Miss any of the posts, photos and videos from earlier in the preseason? You can find prior weeks here:

Preseason Week 1

Preseason Week 2

Preseason Week 3

Preseason Week 4

One of the RDA’s youngest teams took over top billing last weekend.

The 2011 Girls put together four great matches to win their division at the Club Ohio Nike Challenge Cup in Dublin, Ohio, finishing off Sunday with a 7-1 win over Century United in an all-Western Pa. final.

The team outscored their opponents 22-1 on the weekend, cruising through the group stage with three consecutive shutouts, while Lilia Bhuta and Gianna Marts paced the scoring effort throughout the tournament.

While the young Hounds were taking care of business in Ohio, the older girls teams were hosting another ECNL weekend at Highmark Stadium and Montour Junction, as Ohio Elite and Racing Louisville provided the opposition Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The 05 Girls were double winners on the weekend, but they didn’t make it easy in either game, pushing out to a big lead before holding on for a 3-2 victory in each match. Alexis Tylenda, Fiona Mahan and Lola Abraham scored in the opener, while Tylenda and two more from Mahan accounted for the Sunday goals. Lucia Wells also was outstanding for the Hounds, filling in with the team missing Ava Boyd for the weekend’s games.

The 07 Girls took four points from the weekend, as Simone Sharpless scored and Isabella Costa bagged the late winner in a 2-1 triumph over Ohio Elite. The team then battled in one of the weekend’s most even matches, a deserved 0-0 draw with Louisville.

Wrapping up the weekend with a win was the 02/03 Girls, who bounced back from a tough 3-2 loss for a convincing 3-0 win over Louisville behind a Melissa Riggins hat trick.

Other weekend matches saw the 08 East Boys snag a 2-1 win over the 08 RDA II Boys in an all-Hounds GLA matchup. For more from the weekend and throughout the spring season, visit the Live Results page.