Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC center back Arturo Ordonez might possess the most unexpected three-game goalscoring streak in the USL Championship this season.

After bagging the game-winner for a second consecutive game on Saturday night in the Hounds’ 1-0 victory against Phoenix Rising FC before another sold-out crowd at Highmark Stadium, his ability to find finishes off set pieces has certainly been a welcome sight for the side as it continues its ascent in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference standings.

Pittsburgh Head Coach Bob Lilley, though, isn’t expecting a change of position for the Spaniard anytime soon.

“The last thing we can afford to do right now is have him worry about attacking,” said Lilley. “Restarts, yes, but we’re not trying to develop him into [Franz] Beckenbauer. He’s so valuable to us defensively. He gets on the end of a lot of stuff, he’s so aggressive, and he deserves a lot of credit. He has corrected his heading technique, and he has worked hard.”

Maybe so, and that’s because Ordonez’s form defensively seems likely to be one of the keys as Pittsburgh aims to continue its dream run in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday night against FC Cincinnati (7 p.m. ET | B/R Football). Squaring off with the current leader in both Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference and the race for the Supporters’ Shield as it nears the midway point of its regular season, the Hounds are going to need to be at their defensive best as they face the side off to the best 16-game start to an MLS regular season since the shootout era.

In the middle of that should be Ordonez, with the 26-year-old having been on top of his game during the Hounds’ current four-game winning streak in the league. He’s started all-but-one game this regular season after a red card in early April against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, and currently leads the side in clearances (49), interceptions (25), duels won (76 at a 69.1% success rate) and aerial duels won (42 at an 80.8% success rate).

He’s also been solid in the club’s two prior successes in the Open Cup, particularly in Pittsburgh’s 1-0 win on the road against the New England Revolution in the Round of 32 when he won 6 of 6 duels and 4 of 4 tackles to help limit the Revs’ attack at Gillette Stadium.

Performances like that have shown the improvements he strove for this offseason.

“I knew last year was a good season but not good enough for me,” said Ordonez. “I had big expectations for myself, so I worked on my heading technique and watched some films on where to go in the box. Three in a row is massive. It’s not going to happen every game, but overall, I’m happy to see the work I’m doing is paying off.”

While Ordonez has led the way, the collective effort from the Hounds to earn three consecutive shutouts while conceding only two goals in its last six games has come back to the growing cohesion the side has shown defensively. Only the top two teams in the Western Conference – Sacramento Republic FC and El Paso Locomotive FC – have a lower Expected Goals Against mark in the USL Championship this season than Pittsburgh’s 10.61xGA across 13 games, with the Hounds’ 28 shots on target allowed the fewest in the league.

According to Hounds goalkeeper Jahmali Waite, there’s still room for improvement, but the collective is showing the sort of energy that’s needed for a game such as the one against FC Cincinnati.

“That’s what we do out there as a team,” said the Jamaican international. “If someone slips up, you’ve got to have each other’s back. I think that is a part of our DNA as a team, and it’s working well right now.”

Lilley and his players know it will be unlikely to hold off Cincinnati in the manner it was Rising FC on Saturday if they concede the same amount of possession to their hosts at TQL Stadium.  

“We weren’t able to hold the ball in higher areas and make them defend,” said Lilley on Saturday. “We didn’t make enough runs in wider areas. They are a good possession team, and they had a huge amount of possession, and it wears on you after a while.”

If there’s anything the past two rounds have shown, however, it’s that the Hounds will have the appetite to earn a result.

And if that means Ordonez delivering another winner, you’ll not hear Lilley complaining.

“He’s determined to be dangerous,” said Lilley. “The fact that he’s playing as many minutes as he is and being mentally strong enough to do that – I’m happy with how he’s playing.”