With the end of June on the horizon, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds closed the books on the first half of 2025 with a USL Jägermeister Cup contest Saturday at Highmark Stadium, hosting Westchester SC of the USL’s League One.
Having suffered a pair of losses in their first two Group Cup games, the Riverhounds came into this third leg of four opening-round contests desperate for a win, having registered zero points to date. If the club had any chance of qualifying for a wild-card spot, it would need a win.
And a win is just what the Hounds found, grinding out a 1-0 victory in front of an announced crowd of 4,752. The three points kept the Hounds’ hopes of securing one of the two wild cards into the quarterfinals on life support.
With the rain from earlier in the day having stopped, both teams found the footing to be more than adequate at kickoff. Each club started out fast, pressing early, but the home team struck first in the 15th minute as Bertin Jacquesson sent a left-footed shot from the left of the 6-yard box into the back of the Westchester net for the game’s first goal. Junior Etou set the play up with a nice cross from deep into the attacking zone.
Riverhounds manager Bob Lilley spoke about the early strike, the first on the season for the Fontainebleau, France, native.
“Junior played a good one. Robbie played it to him first, but Junior gave it right back. That pass gave it to him in the box. We’ve been on the guys. The only way you can own space is getting there first.” Lilley said. “If you can get in front of guys at the post, it’s bang-bang. It was a good sharp ball, and Bertin was on a dead sprint. Like a good goal scorer, he got a good foot on it, and I was happy to see it find the net.”
The rest of the first half, the Riverhounds kept on the attack, launching seven shots in all, with a pair finding their way toward Westchester SC keeper Dane Jacomen, an Allderdice grad.
After the break, the clubs traded balls back and forth in the middle third of the field. The shots were few and far between for the visitors, who didn’t place a single ball on Riverhounds netminder Jacob Randolph until the latter stages of the second half.
In the 86th minute, Jacomen turned away an Augi Williams shot from point blank range with a brilliant left-hand save from 15 yards out. Seconds later, midfielder Charles Ahi was denied again by Jacomen, this time using his right hand.
Despite taking the loss, the Squirrel Hill native was happy to return home and play in front of family and friends.
“I thought we played well tonight,” he said. “We didn’t get the result we wanted. It was great to have a lot of support coming out. It was special. I had to make a read on the first shot and hold to my decision and it helped us, but we didn’t get the win.”
Lilley didn’t lose sight of the fact his club had chances to extend the lead and didn’t — a theme that has surfaced at times during this season.
“You have them unbalanced, and you have to take a high risk when attacking,” said Lilley. “We don’t cross a ball or finish an attack. To me, a lot of it our players have to put all these things together and establish an identity.”
The Riverhounds have little time to celebrate as they will face New Mexico United in a USL Championship match at 7 p.m. Friday at Highmark Stadium. Fans will be treated to fireworks after the game.
