Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is not a team that typically overwhelms its opposition.

Three of its five highest-scoring games this season have come against the teams with the three lowest points totals this season, as it’s been much more typical for results to come on the back of a solid back line and making the most of the opportunities that present themselves when carved out in the attacking penalty area.

The Hounds’ most common margin of victory this season is a nice, efficient 2-0 result, followed closely by a 2-1 or a 1-0. They’ve held opponents without a goal in 20 first halves this season, typically playing from the front and seeing out results with a determined back line that has conceded the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference.

As it stands, however, that’s a formula that is set to earn the Hounds their first silverware in the USL Championship era.

It’s not a done deal yet, but the past weekend couldn’t have gone much better for Pittsburgh in its pursuit of the Players’ Shield, the award won by the team with the best regular season record.

While the Hounds were securing a third consecutive victory by defeating New Mexico United 2-1 at Highmark Stadium, extending their undefeated streak to five games, both the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Sacramento Republic FC were suffering defeats elsewhere on Saturday night, giving Pittsburgh a four-point cushion with three games to go in the regular season.

Not that the performance was flawless, but it was enough once again to get the job done.

“We spent half of the first half just trying to get our guys to get higher,” said Hounds Head Coach Bob Lilley. “We’re at home, let’s get higher, get pressure up the pitch, and start turning them over. Once we started to click, we had energy and momentum, and that was really important.”

It also had Kenardo Forbes, who has tended to help things along.

“After my five or six seasons here, this is the most together group we’ve had,” said Forbes. “2019 was a good group, but since preseason here, we all get along. We all understand each other and what Bob wants. I think it’s a really good group, a really together group. Sometimes on our off days, we go golfing, play cards, so it’s a really nice group. A lot of young, hungry guys in the group, young guys willing to prove that they belong here.”

Officially, the Hounds are currently seven points from clinching the Players’ Shield.

The pivotal game in their final three of the regular season arrives on the penultimate weekend, however, when they visit the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium. If the Hounds win their next two outings – at home to FC Tulsa in their home regular season finale, and at the Rowdies – the Shield will be theirs.

As the team currently sitting with the fewest points dropped from a winning position this season, the formula is unlikely to change.

It would be a surprise if the results did either.