Brooklyn, NY. (July 1st, 2026) – Brooklyn FC Men return after a week off and head back on the road to take on the 2025 USL Championship winners, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, on Independence Day. The match will take place on Saturday, July 4th at 7 PM EST, streaming on ESPN+.
Last time out, Brooklyn FC lost 2-0 to the league-leading Tampa Bay Rowdies, unable to get past their resolute defense. They struggled in the first half but were much improved in the second and showed plenty of progress this season. Before that match, Brooklyn were undefeated for three matches and will be hoping the extra rest will help them get back to that form.
The Riverhounds are one of the oldest clubs in the USL Championship, having been founded in 1998, and getting their first league title last season. Their title defense this year has been off to a respectable start, with the club sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and unbeaten in their last four league matches.
They are an extremely disciplined team, conceding just 11.3 fouls per match, the second least in the league, and only 16 yellow cards through 12 matches, the least in the USL Championship. Their top scorer this season is forward Albert Dikwa with six goals, and he has been part of the USL Championship Team of the Week three times already. He is in his second spell at the club after spending four seasons in Pittsburgh from 2020 to 2023 and scoring 36 goals as well as being their top scorer in 2023.
This match starts a run of three straight away matches for Brooklyn, who are winless on the road and are looking to hand Pittsburgh their second home loss of the year. Forward JC Obregon, who spent a season with Pittsburgh in 2023, will be hoping to help the Brooklyn attack make its mark in this game. Forward Markus Anderson is the club’s top scorer this season and will be returning after serving a suspension in the last game against Tampa Bay. They will be teed up by midfielder CJ Olney, and Coach Marlon LeBlanc talked about how he was “unbelievable in the second half” against Tampa Bay. He is in the top ten in the league in chances created with 22, and was just selected as the USL Championship Mid-Season Young Player of the Year.
Brooklyn’s following match is the last group stage game against Rhode Island FC in the Prinx Tires USL Cup on July 11th at 7:30 PM ET. They will then travel to Sporting JAX for a match on July 18th before returning to Brooklyn for a July 25 contest at 7 PM ET against San Antonio FC. Tickets are available on SeatGeek
