ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — The Pittsburgh Riverhounds returned to their home city as champions on Sunday.
The team flew into Pittsburgh International Airport after winning the USL Championship in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday.
It was the Riverhounds’ first league title win in the team’s 26-year history.
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Channel 11 crews caught up with some of the players at the airport. They said their momentum and confidence really started building in the last couple of months, carrying them through the playoffs.
“Something I think at the beginning of the year that seems so far out there and unattainable at times,” midfielder Robbie Mertz said. “But, we were able to overcome so much. This group had so much resilience, grew so close together. It’s just been so special.”
Goalie Eric Dick said he couldn’t be happier to get the win in only his second year with the Hounds.
“It’s surreal, honestly,” Dick said. “I think it’s a goal that we set out at the beginning of the year, and I think any time you are a sports team in a city like Pittsburgh, you have a responsibility, sort of, to try to bring a trophy home for the city.”
Team members also credited fans, who not only drove to Tulsa to watch them play but drove back in time to meet them at the airport.
Members of the Steel Army supporters group welcome the team — and their trophy — at Pittsburgh International Airport’s new $1.7 billion terminal.
The group’s president, Arianna Lower, described the whole experience as “electric,” despite the roughly 18-hour drives to and from Tulsa.
“We have a chant that we always say, ‘Wherever they go, we’ll follow,’” Lower said.
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