Friday, April 18, 2008
The Riverhounds return after a year’s absence from the USL Second Division, renewing an eight-year history of playing professional USL soccer. For the first five years of the club’s existence, the Hounds were members of the USL First Division and saw limited success on the field. A move to USL-2 in 2004 saw an immediate benefit as the side reached the semifinals.
Glancing back to their last season of play, the Riverhounds’ record of 8-6-6 was enough to finish third, but the Charlotte Eagles and the regular season and eventual champion Richmond Kickers proved to be far superior than the rest of the field that year. Pittsburgh was handily dismissed 6-1 on aggregate in the two-game series by Charlotte 4-0 and 2-1.
The 2008 Season
The one thing the Riverhounds did have in 2006 was a roster of veteran players, several were holdovers from their days in the USL First Division. The disbanding of the club for 2007, however, resulted in most of the players moving on to other USL clubs or retiring from the professional game. Returning though, will be four players with more than 10 games from the 2006 campaign with Romain Cheurlin, Jean Jerome, Jason Kutney and former two-time USL-2 All-League selection defender Nathan Salsi.
One of the many new faces will be Boyzzz Khumalo, a four-year PDL standout for the Michigan Bucks and Chicago Fire Premier. He went on to play 38 games combined for USL-1 Charleston and USL-2 Wilmington, respectively in 2005 and 2006.
A familiar face to Riverhounds that will be returning after five years will be that of Justin Evans. The midfielder was a key figure for the club during its USL-1 days, playing in over 65 games and registering nine goals and 18 assists, including a second-place finish in the Assist table in his debut 1999 season with 14. He played three years with Pittsburgh, with short stints in MLS in the meantime, before moving in 2002 to Charleston. After a 25-game, three-goal, three-assist campaign with the Battery, he returned to Pittsburgh for one more season in USL-1 in 2003 before finishing his Charleston career with 54 games over the course of 2004 and 2005.
The First Five
On paper, the Riverhounds will have a tough test for their return with four out of five on the road, squaring off against last year’s regular season runners-up in Cleveland April 19. They then face Crystal Palace Baltimore (5th), who were among the hottest clubs the second half of last season a week later on the road April 25. The following night they stay in Maryland to face the expansion Real Maryland Monarchs. They play host to defending league champion Harrisburg in their home opener a week later on May 3 before hitting the road again to meet old foe Western Mass, who was sixth last year.
