TAMPA, Fla. – The USL Championship announced on Wednesday that Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC’s Bob Lilley had been voted as the league’s Coach of the Month for September. Lilley earned his second monthly award this season as he led the Hounds to a perfect month with four wins in four games to move clear at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

The longest-tenured head coach in the league having taken the helm in Pittsburgh prior to the 2018 season, Lilley this year became the first Head Coach to surpass 150 regular season victories in the USL Championship era. In the past month, he led the Hounds to four victories in which the side recorded 10 goals as it built a cushion at the top of the Eastern Conference.

“The one thing is we’ve gotten better in the last month,” said Lilley this past week. “I know our schedule hasn’t been super tough, but when you play teams that are right on that playoff bubble at all, they’re beating a lot of other teams. We were able to hold our nerve, get results in all these games and get ourselves a little bit of a cushion and build a little bit of a little bit of a gap that ultimately got us in this position.”

The Hounds earned their first silverware in the USL Championship era this past weekend, winning the 2023 Players’ Shield on Saturday night with a 2-0 victory against the second-placed Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium. The side also holds homefield advantage throughout the 2023 USL Championship Playoffs as it pursues its first league title in front of supporters that have set club records this season for the highest attendance in a single game in club history, and the club’s highest single-season average attendance.

“I think it’s really gone to a different level this year,” said Lilley of the home support. “The front office and everyone that works there with the team deserve a lot of credit. And [Tuffy Shallenberger], he’s been a great owner supporting us and the things we need to do as a team, but also finding the right people to rebuild that front office. I think we’re going in a really strong direction, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Lilley earned 47 percent of the ballot to claim the award. Phoenix Rising FC’s Juan Guerra finished second on 32 percent as he led Rising FC to an undefeated month across six games while conceding only three goals.

The USL Championship’s Coach of the Month award is voted upon by the USL Championship National Media Panel and the USL Championship Technical Committee, with each group responsible for 50 percent of the overall vote.