The Riverhounds head back on the road tomorrow as they head to face Indy Eleven in an Eastern Conference clash. The Hounds have been inconsistent to say the least, going loss-win-loss-win in their last four league games, but with a very tough stretch of games on the way over the summer, they need to start picking up form in order to bank points in the push for the playoffs.
Here is how I think they'll be able to accomplish it:
Keep taking the risks: Indy Eleven goalkeeper Hunter Suite hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory this season, saving only 57.1% of the shots he’s faced so far. Now, I have noted before how happy I am that the team has started taking shots from outside the box, look at Danny Griffin vs. Rhode Island and Jorge Garcia vs. Loudoun United and Philadelphia Union for perfect examples.
This is the perfect game to work on it in a ‘live environment’ as it were, because you might be able to sneak one through his gloves and into the back of the net.
If not, work on the basics: Perhaps it’s because I’m British, and the idea of whipping the ball into the box and getting your head on it is in our DNA, but there was a small part of me that was happy to see Perrin Barnes’ goal last week and how it came about:
— Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (@RiverhoundsSC) June 7, 2025
We also saw with Robbie Mertz’s header off the post against Rhode Island, that the Hounds are starting to find their man from out wide (they just need to finish better), so if they aren’t able to ‘play through the lines’ as Bob Lilley likes to say, then going out wide and getting the ball into the box that way might be the alternative.
Try to avoid a shootout: Indy Eleven have certainly been an entertaining team this season, with 38 goals across their 10 games in the league, joint second in the league behind only Phoenix Rising and tied with Charleston Battery, conceding 20 goals and scoring 18.
So Indy scoring 2 or 3 isn’t out of the realm of possibility, what is much more unlikely, is the Hounds scoring the 3 or 4 needed to respond. Now I’d back the Hounds to keep the score down, but the second it gets out of hand, the higher the chance they won’t be able to get back into it.
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THE ASYLUM
Matthew Rhys Baldwin
8:59 pm - 06.13.2025DowntownThree keys vs. Indy Eleven
The Riverhounds head back on the road tomorrow as they head to face Indy Eleven in an Eastern Conference clash. The Hounds have been inconsistent to say the least, going loss-win-loss-win in their last four league games, but with a very tough stretch of games on the way over the summer, they need to start picking up form in order to bank points in the push for the playoffs.
Here is how I think they'll be able to accomplish it:
Keep taking the risks: Indy Eleven goalkeeper Hunter Suite hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory this season, saving only 57.1% of the shots he’s faced so far. Now, I have noted before how happy I am that the team has started taking shots from outside the box, look at Danny Griffin vs. Rhode Island and Jorge Garcia vs. Loudoun United and Philadelphia Union for perfect examples.
This is the perfect game to work on it in a ‘live environment’ as it were, because you might be able to sneak one through his gloves and into the back of the net.
If not, work on the basics: Perhaps it’s because I’m British, and the idea of whipping the ball into the box and getting your head on it is in our DNA, but there was a small part of me that was happy to see Perrin Barnes’ goal last week and how it came about:
We also saw with Robbie Mertz’s header off the post against Rhode Island, that the Hounds are starting to find their man from out wide (they just need to finish better), so if they aren’t able to ‘play through the lines’ as Bob Lilley likes to say, then going out wide and getting the ball into the box that way might be the alternative.
Try to avoid a shootout: Indy Eleven have certainly been an entertaining team this season, with 38 goals across their 10 games in the league, joint second in the league behind only Phoenix Rising and tied with Charleston Battery, conceding 20 goals and scoring 18.
So Indy scoring 2 or 3 isn’t out of the realm of possibility, what is much more unlikely, is the Hounds scoring the 3 or 4 needed to respond. Now I’d back the Hounds to keep the score down, but the second it gets out of hand, the higher the chance they won’t be able to get back into it.
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