Louisville City hopes to return to its winning ways this weekend vs. a Pittsburgh Riverhounds club desperate for points.
“Probably not a good time to be playing Pittsburgh,” Louisville City coach John Hackworth said. “Their style is extremely difficult. It is counter-intuitive to the way that we play and so it is a tough opponent. They do what they do extremely well.”
Under coach Bob Lilley, the Riverhounds have typically been one of the stingiest defenses in the USL. Lilley’s teams are known for “Lilleyball,” a phrase sometimes used in admiration for his defensive style and other times uttered in the same way one might describe getting stuck in a traffic jam. When it works – like the incredible 0.44 goals allowed mark by the 2015 Rochester squad – it can be infuriating for the opposition.
The 2019 Riverhounds haven’t figured the system out just yet. They only have two points after their first three matches.
“This will be the third consecutive week that we are facing an opponent that comes in extremely hungry,” Hackworth said. “And we know that we are going to get everybody’s best all season. That’s a scary proposition when you have to play Pittsburgh in that scenario.”
Louisville comes in hungry for points as well after giving up a three goals to lose any chance at points vs. Birmingham Legion last week.
Hackworth explained, “I know they haven’t had what they would consider a good start to the season, but I told the guys – I went against my usual rule and looked at the standings earlier this morning when I saw the Seattle-Sac Republic score – it looks like across the Eastern and Western Conference, everyone is dropping points. It looks like everyone has at least had their fair share of struggles, but there are points to be had out there.”
Louisville City and Pittsburgh will kickoff at 7 p.m. Saturday night.
