November 29, 2023 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release
PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC has picked up their team option on seven players for 2024, bringing their total number of players under contract to 11 as preparations for the upcoming USL Championship season are well under way.
Longtime Hounds defender/midfielder Dani Rovira will be back for a sixth year with the club, while the other six players will all be entering their second year in Pittsburgh. Forward/wing back Langston Blackstock, midfielders Junior Etou and DZ Harmon, and defenders Mike DeShields, Pat Hogan and Illal Osumanu all had their options picked up for the new year.
Those players join the four who were already under contract for 2024: forward Edward Kizza and midfielders Kenardo Forbes, Danny Griffin and Robbie Mertz.
The group of 11 already is the largest retained from the previous season under coach Bob Lilley, and one of the largest in club history, as the team looks for continuity from its successful 2023 season in which it won the USL Championship Players’ Shield for the first time.
About the returning players
– Blackstock, 23, a second-year pro out of Clayton State (Ga.) came to the Hounds forward but found his niche as a rookie playing as a forward-pressing wing back in Lilley’s system. He appeared in 24 matches as a first-year pro and recorded two assists.
– DeShields, 25, appeared in 11 matches and recorded one assist from his center back position. He also played a key role in the Hounds’ run to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, playing all but three minutes in wins over the New England Revolution – his former club – and the Columbus Crew.
– Etou, 29, brought experience and a high work rate to the Hounds as a midfielder and left back last season. A Congolese native who played seven seasons in the French leagues, Etou played 27 matches for the Hounds and had three assists and one goal – the fastest in team history at just 21 seconds into a 2-0 win over Charleston.
– Forbes, 35, is the Hounds’ captain and longest-tenured player entering his seventh season in Pittsburgh. The native of Jamaica was named to the USL Championship All-League Second Team in 2023, the seventh All-USL nod of his career, after becoming the first in league history with back-to-back 10-assist seasons. He remains the career leader in assists in both Riverhounds and USL Championship history, and he is three games away from tying the club’s appearances record…