In the end, it had to be him.

Charles Robbins Mertz Jr. – or Robbie, to you and me – the native son who turned pro with his hometown club out of the University of Michigan, went away for a while as he tried to break through to a higher level, and then returned, maybe for good, to become the man who scored the biggest goal in Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC history, so far.

Ten minutes into the second half of the Hounds’ first Eastern Conference Final in the USL Championship Playoffs, 15 years after the last time the club had a chance to reach a USL Final of any kind, with the largest crowd in club history looking on around Highmark Stadium, his moment arrived.

“Danny [Griffin] brought it down out of the air, I gave him a shout, he laid it off to me, and I cut inside,” said Mertz. “Originally, I wanted to hit it with my left, but I didn't take the best touch. So then, as they kind of committed towards blocking that shot, I decided to chop it back and go to my right. I had a little bit of room on the outside and hit a shot, and it did take a deflection, some good fortune, and it’s in the back of the net.”

And for the first time in club history, the Hounds were on to the USL Championship Final.

• HOUNDS’ HERO: If there have been leaders of the Hounds’ new wave, Mertz and fellow midfielder Danny Griffin have been at its heart. A Pittsburgh native, Mertz has been one of the guiding lights as the club has tried to break through in the postseason year on year, somehow always previously coming up short. His 158 appearances across the regular season and playoffs are the fourth-most in the USL Championship era for the club, while he’s one of only two players – with current Hounds Academy Coach Kevin Kerr the other – to have recorded at least 20 goals and 20 assists.

• SIGNATURE MOMENT: As much as the Hounds have achieved with Mertz in the fold – including winning the Players’ Shield in 2023 for the first silverware in their history and reaching the playoffs every season – postseason success has proven far harder to come by. That made Saturday night’s 1-0 win against defending Eastern Conference title-holder Rhode Island FC a landmark before a club-record 6,745 fans, and one Mertz is unlikely to forget.

“It means a lot,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot in this organization, not just this year, but the last six or seven years, to get to this moment. To still be a part of it at this stage in my career, and to have this moment tonight is just so special. It really meant the world.”

Current interim Head Coach Rob Vincent shared that enthusiasm. Having previously been in Mertz’s shoes as one of the club’s on-field icons and team leaders, bagging 25 goals for the club himself, it was a shared experience and feeling both could readily understand.

“I mean, I could not be happier for a guy on our team to score the goal, to score this goal, the amount of time and effort and work that he’s put in during his time with this club,” said Vincent. “So, super-happy for him.”

From there, the rest of the Hounds – led by goalkeeper Eric Dick and his back line – did the rest. The 2024 USL Championship Goalkeeper of the Year’s five-save shutout, which included a pair of crucial stops after Rhode Island had been reduced to 10 players, ensured Mertz’s goal would stand as the winner.

It also meant the Hounds will head into the first Final in the club’s 26-year history on a 512-minute shutout streak, the fourth-longest for the club in the USL Championship era.

“I think there are people that are lucky to go 10, 15, 20 years in a sporting career and never have a chance to really play for a championship,” said Dick. “I think this week, we can all appreciate the opportunity. We’re honored to represent Pittsburgh in this moment, but it’s something that I think these guys have earned, and we have earned it because we just found a way.”

But with the side trying to find someone to break a scoreless streak of 334 minutes entering Saturday night, Mertz’s first postseason goal in six years delivered the biggest moment of his career.

“I mean, I knew it could be me,” said Mertz. “It obviously could have been other people as well.”

Really, though, it had to be him.