Louisville City FC will look to end a two-game losing skid at 7 p.m. Friday against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, a club that weathered a midseason coaching change and features a different look than the last time it played LouCity.
Record: 3-12-4 (13 points) in 19 matches
Conference: Eastern
Standings: 13th
Coach: Dave Brandt
Field: Highmark Stadium (capacity 3,500)
History: Since starting play in 1999, the Riverhounds have remained at American soccer’s third tier but built academy, PDL operation and stadium nonetheless. Going back to 2004, Pittsburgh won its USL division and advanced to the playoffs’ semifinals. Last year the club also made the postseason.
Series with LouCity: Louisville and the Riverhounds are deadlocked with an overall record of 1-1-2 against each other. The last time the two met, on a rainy evening April 27 at Slugger Field, LouCity scored in the 88th minute to force a draw and steal a point early in the season.
Current form: The Riverhounds had lost nine of their last 11 and four in a row before Saturday’s 4-1 win over Wilmington Hammerheads FC, a club that still has a viable shot at making the playoffs. The four-goal outburst came after Pittsburgh was shut out in four of five games.
Style of play: Brandt, the former winningest active coach in Division I men’s soccer, took over in May after seven successful seasons at the Naval Academy. He told media in Pittsburgh, “We’re going to press high. We’re going to play very tight to each other in terms of space. And so it’s going to be fast, high tempo, high skill, on the ground working together.”
Player to watch: Corey Hertzog, a forward who netted a penalty kick in the Riverhounds’ first meeting with LouCity, had one of his biggest games last time out against Wilmington. The Pennsylvania native scored a first half goal and assisted both of Pittsburgh’s scores in the second. He’s a player coach James O’Connor is plenty familiar with having played alongside him in 2014 with Orlando City SC.
