As a regular feature on our site Pittsburgh Soccer NowThe focus of Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer is to explore interesting topics and items that are trending among the Pittsburgh soccer community and fans.
All of Pittsburgh's teams are scheduled to play this coming weekend.
of Riverhounds SC They will look to bounce back from a 2-0 loss in Memphis when they return home to face Indy Eleven on Saturday night.
In addition, Bead Ring SC The team will face the Columbus Eagles at home looking to remain unbeaten in the WPSL through their first three games of the season.
Steel City FCwill play Friday and Sunday games at the start and end of the weekend. Pittsburgh's NPSL team, which started the 2024 season with 2 wins, 0 losses and 1 draw, will play two away games in three days, at Akron on Friday and at Buffalo on Sunday.
Steel City FCThe UWS women's team will have the weekend off before resuming competition next Saturday, June 8th at Founders Field.
“Miracles happen in an instant. Be prepared and be willing.” Wayne Dyer.
While this segment typically predicts this week's fixtures, in this edition we want to take a look back as Thursday (May 30) marks the ninth anniversary of one of the most notable matches in USL Championship history and in the 25-year history of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
If you follow Pittsburgh soccer closely, you probably already know, but the game I'm referring to is the one in which the Riverhounds stormed back from 3-0, 4-2, and 5-3 deficits to beat Keystone Derby Cup rivals the Harrisburg City Islanders 6-5, scoring three goals in the 90th minute and extra time.
It was such an incredible comeback that I started my recap of the match with the following opening sentence:
I call it the “Monday Miracle.”
This was one of the most thrilling football matches ever with a dramatic come-from-behind victory.
This incredible match was the inspiration for my book, Miracle on the Mon, which not only records the excitement of that fiery evening but also provides context for the struggles and challenges of lower league football clubs at a time when professional football was in the early stages of unprecedented expansion and transition.
“Miracle on the Moon” is on sale now!
In some ways, it's hard to believe it's been nine years already.
In fact, a quick look at the rosters for both teams from that night in the late spring of 2015 reveals only a handful of players still playing.
Following a trying season that saw the Riverhounds declare bankruptcy and nearly destroy the franchise in 2014, they took part in a series of memorable games against longtime rivals, most notably this one, which gave Pittsburgh's professional soccer club a much-needed boost.
A lot has changed since then and, as is the case in lower league football, many of the players involved have moved on and most have retired, gone into coaching or taken up new professions.
The franchises continued their intrastate rivalry and Keystone Derby Cup Series for three more seasons, but by 2018 the landscape for both franchises and the league had changed dramatically.
Continued growth with stable ownership and a soccer-specific stadium, along with the addition of Hall of Fame coach Bob Lillee, has seen the Riverhounds become more stable and emerge as a perennial top-flight club and playoff contender in the USL Championship, the only Division 2 division in the U.S. soccer pyramid.
Like many similar “old guard” franchises in smaller markets, Harrisburg rebranded as Penn FC and dropped out of the USL Championship after attempting to complete one final season.
Pittsburgh finished the four-year Keystone Derby Cup series with a 3-1 record, winning trophies in 2015 and 2017 and winning the series in 2018. Lilly, who grew up in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and coached Central Pennsylvania's first professional outdoor team (the Hershey Wildcats, 1997-2001), returned to his roots one last time, leading the Hounds to their final Keystone Derby Cup victory, 2-0, on a rainy night in 2018 at FNB Field in City Island.
The cup is currently on display in the pub at Highmark Stadium.
The Hounds supporters group, the “Steel Army,” has come a long way since “Monday's Miracle,” but attending the Keystone Derby Cup Series and experiencing the high of a “miracle” victory over a formidable opponent has forever inspired hope and a never-give-up attitude from the Paul Child Stand, the road trips and the viewing parties the group attends every match day.
“It was awesome to be a part of it,” Mike Shoemaker, who spent much of the 2010s as a member of Steel Army, said in Miracle on the Mon.
“I worry we'll never be able to recreate that game. It's a natural rivalry, so it's tough to deal with. That game showed what we all have in common. Pittsburgh is a hard-working city. That team showed it could bounce back from unthinkable odds. It meant a lot to us. (Steel) Army was probably half the size it is now. I don't know how many people were at that game. Anyway, it gave us all so much hope. There's something about this team, this club.”
Of all the Harrisburg City Islanders players from the 2015 “Miracle on the Mon” season, who were on last season's USL Championship roster: With Antoine Hoppenot Jan Eclat.
Hoppenot played for Detroit City FC in their first season in the USLC in 2022, leading the league in assists. He then finished his career with Hartford last season, appearing in 30 games and scoring three goals. Eclat played 278 games for Harrisburg, Charlotte and Tampa Bay from 2013 to 2023. Tampa Bay initially picked up Eclat's 2024 contract option, but after the start of the season, Tampa Bay and Eclat parted ways due to changes in the roster and the appointment of a new manager.
This has some relevance for the current Riverhounds as Kenard Forbes approaches another major milestone in the USL Championship. He currently has 274 regular season appearances, just four shy of Yann Eclat's all-time record. Forbes is also the Riverhounds' all-time leader in assists, minutes played and appearances.
Former Harrisburg City Islanders player and now retired goaltender Nick Noble returned to his alma mater, West Virginia University, as an assistant coach and was a guest on the soccer podcast Sounding Off, where he helped tell the Harrisburg side of the story with Neil Shafer (one of the players who played for both the Hounds and City Islanders) on “Miracle on the Mon.”
The Riverhounds have only a few players still active, including Tyler Pascher, who started playing for Pittsburgh as a teenager and went on to play for Sporting Kansas City and Houston in Major League Soccer, and is now with Birmingham Legion FC in the USL Championship.
Ironically, the other player still playing for the club is Pittsburgh native and midfielder Nikki Kolarak, who remains a key leader and contributor for Steel City FC. Kolarak captained his local NPSL club to a Great Lakes Conference title and then an appearance in the NPSL Midwest Regional Final and the club's first appearance in the U.S. Open Cup main draw.
Many of the Riverhounds players transferred to Pittsburgh.
The Riverhounds organization still has two of the most notable participants in “Monday's Miracle” in its ranks: Rob Vincent, who worked in the Riverhounds Academy for several years before becoming an assistant with the senior team, and Kevin Carr, who coaches at the Academy.
Shortly after Miracle on the Mon was published, Carr and Vincent joined me to discuss Miracle on the Mon.
Team Captain Danny Earls has returned to his native Ireland and now works full time as an illustrator/artist, working on some very impressive projects using the Marvel and Star Wars comic book universes.
Available today!!!
thank you Mikey JBasso Thank you for giving me the chance to play one of the coolest and most favorite villains ever!! #Star Wars#Darth Maul pic.twitter.com/ioyg0RDJtB
— Danny Earls (@dannyearls16) May 29, 2024
Of course, I remain incredibly grateful that Earls took time out of his busy schedule in 2020 to illustrate the cover of Miracle on the Mon.
“That was a great team,” Earls, who also won MLS Cup with the Colorado Rapids, said on Miracle on the Mon.
“They were a great team during my time in Pittsburgh, and as a captain I'm proud to have had the opportunity to play alongside them.”
If you haven't read or ordered Miracle on the Mon yet, what are you waiting for? Click this link to order the full book now.
Pittsburgh Soccer Schedule (Friday, May 31 – Saturday, June 8)
Friday, May 31, 2024
7 p.m. — Steel City FC (Men’s – NPSL) vs Akron City FC (Greene Street Stadium, Akron, OH)
Saturday, June 1, 2024
2 pm – Bead Ring SC (Women – WPSL) vs Columbus Eagles (South Pointe Fieldhouse)
7 p.m. — Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (USLC) vs Indy Eleven (Highmark Stadium)
Sunday, June 2, 2024
7 p.m. — Steel City FC (Men’s – NPSL) vs Niagara 1812 (D’Youville University, Buffalo, NY)
Saturday, June 8, 2024
2 pm – Steel City FC (Women – UWS) vs FC Buffalo (Founders Field)
3 pm – Bead Ring SC (Women – WPSL) Greater Toledo FC (Toledo, Ohio)
7 p.m. — Steel City FC (Men’s – NPSL) vs Cleveland SC (Founders Field)
7:30 PM – Riverhounds SC (USLC) vs Charleston Battery (Charleston, South Carolina)