USL News

PITTSBURGH (Oct. 8, 2024) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC forward Bertin Jacquesson was named the USL Championship Player of the Week, presented by Konami eFootball, the league announced this afternoon.

Jacquesson scored his first hat trick as a professional in the Hounds’ 4-0 win at Miami FC last Saturday, keeping the team in the playoff hunt with three matches to play. He now has four goals and an assist in four matches since joining the Hounds on loan from Real Salt Lake.

All four of the Hounds’ goals came in a span of just 33 minutes of play, starting when Jacquesson used his chest to turn home a cross by Junior Etou in the 42nd minute. His second goal in the 51st minutes is a Goal of the Week nominee, a sharp-angled finish from along the goal line after the forward saw the goalkeeper moving off his line for a cross, rather than a shot. Jacquesson completed the hat trick with the game’s fourth goal, settling a long, diagonal ball from Bradley Sample and finishing around the onrushing goalkeeper.

Jacquesson finished the match taking nine total shots — six on goal — and he also won possession five times, including three passes intercepted.

This is the third time in 2024 a Hounds player has been named Player of the Week, after Edward Kizza (Week 7) and Junior Etou (Week 19) also took the top weekly honor, and only the second time since the award’s inception that three different Hounds players have earned it in the same season. (2019 — Steevan Dos Santos, Neco Brett, Kenardo Forbes)

Joining Jacquesson on the USL Championship Team of the Week for Week 31 is Hounds goalkeeper Gabriel Perrotta, who like Jacquesson, is making his first appearance in the league’s best 11.

Perrotta made four saves in the shutout win over Miami, as the first-year pro recorded his first clean sheet as a professional. According to Opta statistics, Perrotta’s contribution accounted for a -1.17 goals prevented mark, the highest such number posted last weekend by a goalkeeper in a shutout performance.

To see the full USL Championship Team of the Week, visit uslchampionship.com.

PITTSBURGH (July 16, 2024) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC left back Junior Etou is the USL Championship’s Player of the Week, presented by Konami eFootball, for Week 19 of the season, the league announced this afternoon.

Etou sparked the Hounds to the their largest margin of victory in three years, scoring twice in the team’s 5-0 victory Saturday over Oakland Roots SC. He opened the scoring in the 12th minute, finishing after receiving a Bradley Sample pass that ended an excellent team move forward, and he added the game’s final goal by pouncing on a bouncing ball in the box for an unassisted strike.

It was the first two-goal game in the career of Etou, the 30-year-old midfielder/defender who hails from Paris and is in his second season with the Hounds. His all-around performance included winning six of seven duels for the ball, three clearances, three fouls won and 41 total touches on the ball, one off the team high in the match.

“It’s a good feeling,” Etou said after Saturday’s match. “It’s been six, seven, eight games, our last win was two months ago, so I think it’s a great night for everyone. I’m so happy to score two goals tonight, but for me, the most important thing is the team. Other people can score. We just need to keep working and keep pushing to try to win every game.”

It is the first Player of the Week honor for Etou, who won the honor with 45 percent of the vote of the USL’s National Media Panel. He finished ahead of a pair of players with Pittsburgh connections that tied for second — Rhode Island FC and former Hounds striker Albert Dikwa, and FC Tulsa and former Pitt goalkeeper Johan Peñaranda.

Etou also heads up the USL Championship Team of the Week in his second appearance of the season there, and the Hounds are well-represented with midfielder Bradley Sample and center back Sean Suber each in the starting 11, midfielder Robbie Mertz on the bench, and coach Bob Lilley earning the Coach of the Week honor. For Sample and Suber, it is the first time each has made the Team of the Week. 

Sample, a first-year pro, recorded the first two assists of his career by setting up Etou’s first goal and serving the cross that led to Suber’s headed goal just before halftime. He also connected on 21 of 27 passes, including all five of his long passes, and he won the ball six times against Oakland.

Suber, a second-year pro in his first year with the Hounds, scored his first professional goal from Sample’s cross. He was 4-for-4 winning aerial duels, and he added three clearances marshaling the Hounds’ back line to a shutout.

Mertz earned his bench spot after converting from the penalty spot against Oakland and playing a major role in the build-up of Etou’s first goal. Lilley, the reigning Championship Coach of the Year, claims his first weekly coaching honor since the league introduced the award this season.

To see the full USL Championship Team of the Week, visit uslchampionship.com.

The Hounds are back in action this Saturday, July 20, when they host Hartford Athletic at 8 p.m. at Highmark Stadium in a match that will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

PITTSBURGH (May 7, 2024) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC wing back/midfielder Junior Etou was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week for Week 9, the league announced this afternoon.

Etou, who was selected as a defender playing his role on the wing last Saturday, set up the only goal in the Hounds’ 1-0 victory over Miami FC. He beat his defender with a quick individual move on the left side and sent a low pass across the face of goal to get the assist on Kazaiah Sterling’s 16th-minute strike.

In addition to his second assist of the season, Etou’s six touches in the Miami box led all Hounds players, he was credited with two chances created, and he won 8 of 11 duels while playing the full 90 minutes.

It is the second Team of the Week honor for Etou in his time with the Hounds; he also garnered the honor in the penultimate week of the 2023 season in the team’s Players’ Shield-clinching win at Tampa Bay. The team has been represented on the Team of the Week each of the past three weeks, coinciding with the Hounds’ three-match winning streak.

To see the full Team of the Week, visit uslchampionship.com.

The Hounds are back in action tonight in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, where they will host FC Tulsa at 7 p.m. at Highmark Stadium. Tickets for the match are available at the Highmark Stadium Box Office or through Ticketmaster.

PITTSBURGH (April 30, 2024) — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC defender Pat Hogan was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week for Week 8, the league announced this afternoon.

Hogan, a center back in his second year with the Hounds, scored his first goal for the team in a 2-0 win over previously undefeated Detroit City FC on Saturday night at Highmark Stadium. His header of a cross from Robbie Mertz put the Hounds ahead 1-0 early in the match, and his contributions on defense helped the Hounds to their third shutout in the past four games.

It was the third career goal for Hogan, a fourth-year pro from Charlotte, N.C., who also won 8 of 9 aerial duels for the ball and led the team with six clearances in the win. He earns his second Team of the Week honor with the Hounds, having also been chosen in Week 2 of 2023.

Joining Hogan with a bench spot on the team is midfielder Danny Griffin. Griffin scored the second goal from the penalty spot and put together a two-way performance that included connecting on 13 of 24 passes in the attacking third alone, as well as tracking back for a pair of interceptions.

To see the full USL Championship Team of the Week, visit uslchampionship.com.

The Hounds are at home once again this Saturday, May 4, at 7 p.m. when they host Miami FC at Highmark Stadium. Tickets are available now through Ticketmaster or by calling the Highmark Stadium Box Office at 412-865-GOAL.