5 things to watch as the Riverhounds host St. Louis FC

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds return home to Highmark Stadium for their third game in eight days when they take on St. Louis FC at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Pittsburgh (5-3) beat Loudoun United, 2-0, on Wednesday night, and St. Louis FC (4-3-1) is fresh off a 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City II. The teams are meeting for the only time this season, and they have a chance to improve their group standing entering the second half of the season.

The Riverhounds are tied with Hartford Athletic for first place in Group F with 15 points and could take sole possession of the group with a win or a tie. Hartford doesn’t play again until Aug. 23 after its game Wednesday against Philadelphia Union II was postponed.

In a recent stretch of success, Louisville City FC has come storming back and is tied with St. Louis for second place in Group E. So, a win for St. Louis on the road would be big moving into the second half of the season.

Here are five things to watch when Saint Louis comes to Pittsburgh on Saturday.

1. Rested up

While the Black and Gold are set to play three games in eight days, Saint Louis is coming in on a full week’s rest.

St. Louis last played Aug. 15 in a win over Kansas City where it got goals in the fifth, 69th and 92nd minutes. In order to prepare for their matchup with St. Louis, the Riverhounds tweaked their lineup Wednesday against Loudoun to rest some of their players for Saturday’s match.

Normal starters Danny Griffin, Ropapa Mensah, Tomas Gomez, Jordan Dover and Skyler Thomas came off the bench Wednesday. Dover tallied the most minutes of the group after Dani Rovira went down with an injury in the 44th minute.

Steevan Dos Santos, Robbie Mertz, Kenardo Forbes, Thomas Vancaeyezeele and Ryan James played the entire game. James and Vancaeyezeele have played every minute for the Riverhounds this season. There could be a few more changes to the starting lineup Saturday as well to give some of the regular starters rest.

“Not all of our players are comfortable playing three games in a really tight window and I think those guys have the fitness base and they are important to the group in these moments,” Lilley said during a Zoom call earlier in the week. “But there’s a possibility that some of those players come off the bench against St. Louis.”

2. Familiar face

The Riverhounds will see a familiar face in the opposing goal Saturday.

After being a part of Pittsburgh’s historic defensive run last season, where he only allowed 22 goals and recorded 14 clean sheets, goalkeeper Kyle Morton left for St. Louis FC in the offseason. Just like he was last year, Morton is one of the top keepers in the USL Championship.

Goalkeeper @kylemorton24 is our Courtney's "Keeping Cool" Player of the Month with 22 saves in five games since the USL season restart ?️? pic.twitter.com/UtV1CcDvos

— Saint Louis FC (@SaintLouisFC) August 11, 2020

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound West Chester native has made 26 saves, the third-most in the USL, and he’s also record two clean sheets against Louisville City FC and Indy Eleven. He’s allowed seven goals this season.

3. St. Louis attack

So far through 2020, St. Louis has received most of its scoring production from midfielder Russell Cicerone and forward Tyler Blackwood.

Cicerione scored all of his goals in eight appearances and has 19 total shots, which is sixth-highest in the USL. He also has created eight chances. Blackwood has produced his numbers in seven appearances and also has tallied nine shots.

St. Louis has had four other players score at least one goal, and they only have scored multiple goals in two games this season. Their first was a four-goal performance against The Miami FC in March, and Saturday’s game against Kansas City was their second.

The Riverhounds have struggled defensively in recent games, even though they’ve only conceded six goals this year, so St. Louis’ offensive pressure could be a major factor in Saturday’s contest.

Throughout this season, the Riverhounds have allowed forwards in behind their defense. It happened multiple times Wednesday against Loudoun as they outshot the Riverhounds, 10-6. It also was how Indy scored its only goal of the game last Saturday.

Their performance this weekend could be a sign of things to come when they have their regular starters back in the lineup.

4. Magic of Dos Santos

Steevan Dos Santos has been with the Riverhounds for the past two seasons and has been a staple in the team’s success. So much in fact that when the Mindelo, Cape Verde, native scores the Riverhounds are undefeated.

Working that long-distance connection. ? #UNLEASH #LDNvPIT pic.twitter.com/Q9OsgoELXT

— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) August 19, 2020

In two years, the Riverhounds are 13-0 when Dos Santos finds the back of the net. He’s scored in three games this season and tallied his fifth goal of the season Wednesday, which is tied for third place in the USL Championship.

He scored 10 goals last season for the Riverhounds and has battled back from surgery this past offseason.

5. Halfway there

After their win over against Loudoun United, the Riverhounds are halfway through their 16-game season. Saturday’s contest will be their only contest against St Louis this season, and they’ll have an opportunity to separate themselves from their group in the second half of the season.

Along with two more matchups against Loudoun United and one apiece against New York Red Bulls II and Philadelphia Union, the Riverhounds have three matchups with Hartford Athletic.

Hartford and the Riverhounds are tied atop Group F and their three matchups could separate the pair atop the group, which is what the Riverhounds are hoping for.

“The ultimate goal is to win our division and get ourselves into the playoffs,” Lilley said. “It’s important we are keeping the guys as fresh as possible and we as a staff try to do what we can do as well, especially during these times.”