Match Info:
Live Stats (USL Championship)
Livestream (ESPN+)
Local Broadcast (COZI-TV)
CARY, N.C. (June 21, 2024) — North Carolina FC is back at WakeMed Soccer Park for the second weekend in a row, hosting Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 22. The match will stream live on ESPN+ and be broadcast locally on COZI-TV. Tickets can be found here.
NCFC will celebrate Pride Month at the match with special giveaways, performances, guests, vendors and more. The match will also mark the start of the Pride Conversations Over Cleats auction, with proceeds benefiting the LGBT Center of Raleigh. More information on the video series and auction can be found here.
The two sides split the points in the first meeting of the year in May, leaving the all-time series between the two locked at 2-2-1. Evan Conway bagged the second-half equalizer in that game, kicking off his three-game scoring streak. NCFC has picked up two wins with the only loss coming on the road against league-leading Louisville City FC.
NCFC enters Saturday’s match in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 17 points from 14 games and a 4-5-5 record, while Pittsburgh sits just below in 10th place with 14 points from 15 games and a 3-7-5 record.
Week 15 of the USL Championship regular season saw NCFC take down Monterey Bay FC, 2-0, thanks to goals from Oalex Anderson and Rafa Mentzingen. Ezra Armstrong picked up the assist on Anderson’s opener, extending his assist streak to three games and giving him five total goal contributions on the season.
Jake McGuire made three saves, including a SportsCenter Top-10 highlight in the 56’ to deny a close-range header, to give NCFC the team’s fifth clean sheet of the season in USL Championship play.
The NCFC defense remains one of the stingiest in the USL Championship, allowing a league-low 39 shots on target and 115 total shots this season. That stifling defense has helped lead NCFC to a 3-1-2 record since the start of May, with the team keeping four clean sheets and allowing just three goals in that span.
Scouting Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Pittsburgh enters Saturday’s contest fresh off a midweek 1-0 loss at home against league-leading Louisville City FC Wednesday.
The Riverhounds have not won since May 4, picking up just three points in that seven-game stretch. Since the draw with NCFC, Pittsburgh has picked up just one point. Finding the back of the net has been the main issue for the Riverhounds in that five-game stretch, with the only goal coming in a 2-1 home loss to Indy Eleven.
Kazaiah Sterling, Edward Kizza and Danny Griffin have each scored three goals for Pittsburgh this season, but just two other players outside of that trio have found the back of the net.
The Riverhounds, however, picked up some forward help this week via a loan deal for Hartford’s Enoch Mushagalusa. Mushagalusa has one goal in seven appearances this season, but the forward has a history of scoring throughout his previous stops in the USL Championship, including 12 goals in two years with Louisville City FC and an eight-goal season with Sporting KC II in 2021.
Robbie Mertz, brother of NC Courage midfielder Landy Mertz, is the Riverhounds’ main creator with 20 chances created this season, seven more than any other player.
Up Next
North Carolina FC will hit the road to take on the Charleston Battery on Friday, June 28, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Patriots Point in Charleston, South Carolina. NCFC and Charleston drew 0-0 in the season opener on March 9. The match will stream live on ESPN+.
