Saturday night was a special one for Robbie Mertz.

It marked the Pittsburgh native’s 150th appearance across all competitions for Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, and he marked the occasion with his 20th goal in the club’s colors.

It also marked his first goal as a father, coming two days after the arrival of his son Callahan Lewis Mertz on Thursday night.  

“It's been the best two days of my life,” said Mertz. “The first night, there was definitely not a lot of sleep. Last night, my wife was trying. She knew that I was playing tonight, so she gave me leave so I can get some rest. But it has been a long but great couple days.”

The 28-year-old added Man of the Match honors to cap the night, recording the assist on Perrin Barnes’ first-half goal that opened the scoring in a 2-0 victory against Detroit City FC before a sellout crowd at Highmark Stadium of 5,007 fans that solidified the Hounds’ spot above the playoff line.

It was an impressive performance by the hosts, who continued Le Rouge’s recent travails as their winless streak moved to seven games across all competitions, and Mertz was at the center of it. He completed a team-high 12 of 15 passes in the final third, with his assist on Perrin Barnes’ first goal in the professional ranks eight minutes before halftime the sort fans at Highmark have seen before.

“Once Robbie gets inside, he’s a great player and can put the ball pretty much anywhere,” said Barnes. “Once I saw him cut inside and get his eyes up, my defender wasn't really paying attention to me, so I made a little run, he saw me, put the ball where it needed to go, and the rest is history.”

“I came to training yesterday straight from the hospital, and all of my gear was at our training facility, at AHN Montour,” added Mertz. “Perrin was kind enough to go get my cleats for me, so the least I could do was give back to him for his first goal.”

That would have proved enough for the Hounds as they limited Le Rouge to a solitary shot over the 90 minutes, but midway through the second half came Mertz’s moment. A cross from the right by Barnes was flicked on at the near post by Danny Griffin, allowing Mertz to slide in at the back post for his landmark goal.

After wheeling away to the crowd to celebrate, Mertz paused.

Eight days before Father’s Day, he rocked an invisible baby in his arms.

“Honestly, so much credit goes to the team tonight, because you could feel the energy was a little bit different tonight,” said Mertz. “I hope we can continue it, but this was something I'll never forget – the best two days of my life.”