On Saturday night, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC outshot visitors Miami FC 15-7, allowed only two shots on target, won the Expected Goals battle 1.69xG to 0.33xG, and picked up a third consecutive victory.

Was Hounds Head Coach Bob Lilley happy? Not in the slightest.

“We didn’t work hard enough,” said Lilley. “I mean, the first 15-20 minutes there was no pressure. [Miami] dictated a lot of the game. They played through us. The beginning of the game, we weren’t willing to get in their face, they played through us, dribbled through us. We defended fairly well, but they were getting through us so easily. The game was stretched. Had Miami executed in those moments where they ran through our lines, we were vulnerable a lot.”

Want to understand why the Hounds are a perennial playoff contender, and at the peak of their cycles in the picture for silverware like last year’s Players’ Shield? There’s a big reason why.

With some key players gone this offseason – including 2023 Championship Player of the Year and Golden Boot Albert Dikwa and Defender of the Year Arturo Ordóñez – the Hounds looked like a side with questions to answer in three consecutive defeats to start the season.

But as always seems to happen, they’ve got a great idea now of who they are. Kazaiah Sterling is finding the net, Junior Etou is a revelation on the left flank, and the exacting standards that have followed Lilley’s path throughout his career have seen the side record three consecutive victories and move into the top half of the Eastern Conference with four shutouts in their last five games.

Give Lilley his due, he was happy the side was able to come away with three points despite being below par – “It’s good that we won when we did not have our best stuff, hard to be negative after a win,” he said – while also warning the performance the Hounds put in won’t be good enough to win most weeks.