PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC easily defeated 10th seed Birmingham Legion FC 7-0 on Saturday to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The victory is the first-ever playoff win at Highmark Stadium for the #1 seed Hounds.
A record crowd of 5,627 were on hand to watch Hounds star Neco Brett break out for four goals.
Kyle Fisher, Jordan Dover and Robbie Mertz also scored.
Head coach Bob Lilley said after the match,
"We did a really good job of keeping the hammer down. At 2-0 or 3-0 that game is not done. We played a really, really strong first half where we're up 5-0 at half time, and then we kind of know 'Ok, as long as we don't do anything stupid and we show up the first 15 minutes of the second, we should be able to run this thing out.'"
Forward Brett said after the game he expected his team to be ready but wasn’t anticipating the offensive explosion he led.
"When I got in the locker room, I realized that everyone was locked in. Whenever I get in the locker room and the guys are like that, normally we bring our A game. I was looking forward to a game like this. Not this many goals, but a good game."
The seven goals are the most ever by the Hounds in their playoff history.
Pittsburgh, who has home field advantage through the playoffs (except for the final) have not lost a game at Highmark Stadium since last season.
The Hounds take on #4 Louisville City FC at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium.