August 23, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release
Riverhounds center back Illal Osumanu heads the ball clear in the team’s 1-0 win over Miami FC on May 4 at Highmark Stadium. (Photo: Chris Cowger/Riverhounds SC)
If there has been one constant in the Bob Lilley era with the Riverhounds, it has been the team’s strong defensive record. With the team facing a nine-game stretch that will determine if they extend their playoff streak to seven years, maintaining that defensive record will be crucial.
The Hounds have allowed 24 goals in 25 games – 0.96 per game. Entering this week, that ties the Riverhounds for second in the USL Championship behind only Sacramento, and the team is also tied for second in the league for the most shutouts with 10, trailing only Charleston.
On the defensive stability of this season, even during a dry run of results in June, center back Illal Osumanu attributes it to the work put in during training.
“I just feel like we have good training habits. We are really competitive in training, and we know a lot from training goes in translation to games. And obviously we have high standards for ourselves,” Osumanu said.
Osumanu was around last season, when the team allowed just 29 goals during a 34-game schedule. That was his first taste of the expectations Lilley has for his team, something Sean Suber has learned and taken on in his first year with the team.
Suber worked his way from a bench role at the start of the season to becoming a regular starter at center back since the beginning of June. But while he has stepped up individually, he also emphasized the importance of holding each other accountable in order to create results – as the team did with three consecutive shutouts of Sacramento, Detroit and San Antonio to begin this month.
“The strikers have been pressing well and putting pressure on the ball. Our job is really easy in the back end,” Suber said. “Obviously, we have Eric (Dick) in the back, making saves when we need him. But talking about the locker room, it’s just that we trust each other and try to push each other in training.”
The team has been finding more success at this point in the season than earlier, having gone unbeaten in their past seven matches, but Suber doesn’t see anything that has changed in training. He attributes their success to team chemistry and the players continuing to get comfortable playing together.
“I don’t think there has been anything noticeable. I…
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