Riverhounds ready for journey
New faces stir talk of a run to the postseason
Kenardo Forbes was delighted when he realized he had a chance to sign with the Riverhounds SC and reunite with his former head coach, Bob Lilley.
Forbes, a midfielder, won a United Soccer League Cup with Lilley as a member of the Rochester Rhinos in 2015. During the next two seasons under Lilley, Forbes helped the Rhinos make consecutive conference semifinal appearances.
With Lilley, Forbes believes he’ll have a chance to make annual postseason appearances once again — even though the Riverhounds haven’t made the playoffs since 2015. Lilley departed the Rhinos to join the Riverhounds in November 2017, shortly before Rochester announced a year-long hiatus to figure out some financial issues.
Returning the Riverhounds to the playoffs will require more work, but with the opening day of the 2018 season around the corner, all signs seem positive so far.
“He’s a very intense coach and he’s very detailed on what he wants you to learn and what he wants you to play,” Forbes said. “Everything is very specific, he’s very organized. I think that’s good for us to make a push in the playoff and try to win a championship.”
The Riverhounds’ journey to the playoffs begins Saturday, when they travel to Nashville to face Nashville SC at 6 p.m.
It’s been a unique offseason for the Riverhounds, who introduced Lilley as head coach shortly after parting ways with previous
Season opener
Game: Riverhounds vs. Nashville SC, Nashville, Tenn., 6 p.m. Saturday.
The skinny: New midfielder Kenardo Forbes won a United Soccer League Cup with Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley in 2015 when both were with Rochester. head coach Dave Brandt, who was hired midway through the 2016 season. The Riverhounds had to move quickly after Brandt’s unexpected departure, which was brought on by a licensing issue.
Lilley brings a winning pedigree to Pittsburgh. During separate stints at Rochester from 2010-11 and 201417, Lilley compiled an overall record of 87-37-53 and took home coach of the year honors twice, in 2010 and in 2015.
In his 17-year career, split among six teams, Lilley has yet to miss a postseason.
Early returns have been encouraging. The Riverhounds went 8-1 in preseason play, and Lilley has brought in several former players — including Forbes — to bring some familiarity to the program.
Forbes started at least 20 games in each of his three seasons with the Lilley-led Rhinos and earned AllLeague second-team honors in 2016
“We’re making good progress,” Lilley said.” I’m happy withthe progress we’re making but I know we’re nowhere near where we’ll be at the end of the season. We have good players. There’s an above average understanding of what we’re trying to do. It’ll take time. I do feel at this stage of the season we’re ready to play on Saturday,home or away.”
The Riverhounds have continued to bring in new players, even with the season about to start. Forbes didn’t join the team until last week, and the Riverhounds signed Andrew Lubahn, on the team as a preseason tryout, to a contract Thursday.
Though he hasn’t been with the team long, Forbes believes this year’s iteration of the Riverhounds could be one of the better teams he’s played on.
“I came in last week and guys are pretty much on the same page with Bob, so that’s good for this group,” Forbes said. “We have a lot of options, you can put any combination out there and you can get a good performance. This is my fourth season [with Lilley], and I think this is one of the most talented teams I’ve been on. They make good use of it.”