Prior to its 2-1 Second Round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup win against Erie Commodores FC on Wednesday, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (4-0-4) remained unbeaten on the season with a 0-0 home draw against Indy Eleven on May 11. Now after a brief stay at Highmark Stadium, the Hounds will travel south to clash with the Tampa Bay Rowdies (4-5-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Al Lang Stadium. Pittsburgh is 2-1 all-time against the Rowdies.

Scarce Scoring

In series history, the Hounds and Rowdies have had low-scoring affairs with the former averaging one goal forwarded per game and the latter scoring 0.67 tallies per match. This campaign, the Pittsburgh defense has been stout, posting six shutouts on the season to lead the Eastern Conference. This upcoming meeting could once again be one of the lower-scoring varieties.

Streaking

The Hounds will head into Al Lang Stadium as the only team in the USL yet to lose a game this season. Pittsburgh also has not yet trailed in a match (720 minutes) in 2018. For the Hounds to keep these streaks alive, they will need to capture their first-ever point(s) at Tampa Bay, as the team lost its only previous road match, 2-0, in 2017.

Striking Back

Playing for Hounds head coach Bob Lilley in 2017, Jochen Graf remains a threat to score each match – this season playing up top for the Rowdies. The striker has played in every one of the Rowdies’ matches this season, but only once (last time out against Richmond) has started. Leading the Rochester Rhinos with 11 goals last year, Graf will be looking for his first tally in 2018 this weekend.

This season, the Hounds are holding the opposition to 0.38 goals per game. This is currently the lowest mark in team history for a single campaign and on pace to shatter its previous best of 0.85 goals allowed per game in 2004.

Known as a great home team, the Rowdies have continued their success at Al Lang Stadium this season. In three home matches to date, Tampa Bay is 3-0 and outscoring opponents 9-0. Pittsburgh will have to neutralize this home field advantage by playing the game on its terms as much as possible come Saturday.