Best of 2022 – #1: Having a Ball in Birmingham

December 30, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release

This concludes a series of features highlighting the biggest Riverhounds moments over the past 12 months. Earlier entries on the list are linked at the bottom of the story.

For all the moments to celebrate in 2022, nothing felt as good for players and fans alike as snatching a playoff win on the road.

The Hounds advanced through this year’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinals by knocking off Birmingham Legion FC on penalty kicks, 8-7, after twice rallying to tie the game 2-2, once in regulation and again in extra time. It was the Hounds’ first postseason victory since 2019, and it stunned a Legion-record crowd of 10,277 at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala. (See the original match recap here.)

The match was set up by a tight regular-season series between the two clubs. Though the Hounds had the Legion’s number by winning the first four meetings all-time, including a 1-0 win in May at Highmark Stadium, the Legion got their first win over the Hounds on Sept. 14, a 2-1 match in Alabama that proved to be the difference in who would have home field for the postseason meeting.

The Hounds had to weather an early storm from a team that was in form and playing in front of a raucous crowd, but Robbie Mertz nearly poached an early goal for the Hounds with some clever footwork in the box. Still, the Legion carried play, and Jahmali Waite made two of a career-high seven saves before the interval – and that would be far from his only heroics.

Birmingham thought they had a winner on their hands in the 72nd minute when Prosper Kasim headed the hosts in front and force Bob Lilley to send in as many attacking options as possible from the bench.

Lilley’s last card to play was sending in Edward Kizza, and the impact was instant. Thirty-eight seconds after setting foot on the field, Kizza found himself on the end of a Mertz cross, and he made no mistake with the header for a 90th-minute equalizer.

The Legion pushed back in extra time, and Bruno Lapa gave the hosts a 2-1 lead in the 99th minute. But it was Kizza who was the hero again, this time finishing on a perfectly weighted low cross from fellow substitute William Eyang in the 116th minute.

The drama was far from finished, however, even as the Hounds seemed to have a commanding lead in the shootout after Waite stopped Birmingham’s first two penalties. Legion goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg, himself a substitute put in…