On Friday, Steel City FC and the Riverhounds announced that its historic US Open Cup match has been moved to Highmark Stadium -- on March 17, at 7 p.m.

This seemed like a great opportunity to bring back and check in with Tom Ovenden and Dan Brower, Steel City FC's owner/president and the men's first team Head Coach to discuss the match and the club's efforts to partner with the Riverhounds in hosting the Open Cup match.

Robbie Mertz is back for another season with his hometown club, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.

This time he comes back to the club, with a new contract, as a champion, postseason hero and even more determined to contribute in contributing to the Riverhounds' standard of success that has been part of his tenures with the team.

As the Hounds kick off the preseason, Mertz joins John Krysinsky on the Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast for a revealing and compelling in-depth interview.

Among the topics John and Robbie discuss included:

• reflections on last season's remarkable postseason run, the team's resilience in overcoming adversity, dealing with what he described as a 'shocking' coaching change, finding a way to score the biggest goal in club history after missing golden chances the previous week, then experiencing hospitalization from exhaustion
• signing a new contract and looking forward to a transition to the new season as Rob Vincent has been implemented as the permanent Head Coach and what his role will be with the team
• the continuing efforts of the USLPA to bring higher standards for players and reach a new collective bargaining agreement with the league -- as negotiations are still at a standstill

Mertz, 29, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of nearby Upper St. Clair High School, has been a mainstay for the Hounds since signing with his hometown club as a rookie in 2019. While he did have a short stint with Atlanta United 2 starting in 2021, he rejoined the Hounds via transfer midway through the 2022 season and will be entering his seventh season with the team.

Randy Waldrum has earned his spot in coaching history in the United States of America.

In January, the United Soccer Coaches Annual Convention in Philadelphia, the organization honored Waldrum, along with Craig Ewing, Al Miller and Steve Sampson, as part of its 2026 Hall of Fame Class.

The U.S. Soccer coaching icon, who helped build successful women's college soccer programs at every stop, including at University of Pittsburgh, sat down with John Krysinsky for a special interview segment for Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast.

In this segment, Randy shares more on recieving on of the highest honors for a soccer coach in the United States and devulges into his career and soccer journey while also sharing plenty of thoughts on the current state of women's soccer, college athletics, thoughts on VAR, advice for coaches and how he's been transitioning in his new role as Technical Director for Pitt women's soccer and much more.