Houston Dynamo midfielder Brian Ownby and goalkeeper Michael Lisch will join the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on loan, it was announced today.
Ownby and Lisch are the fourth and fifth Dynamo players to join the Riverhounds on loan this season. Anthony Arena, Jason Johnson and Bryan Salazar joined Houston’s USL PRO affiliate last week. Arena and Johnson played 90 minutes and Salazar appeared as a substitute in Saturday’s 1-1 season opening draw at Orlando City. Arena was named to the USL PRO Team of the Week for his performance at Orlando.
Ownby, 23, has featured in 12 games in three seasons with the Dynamo, including substitute appearances in each of Houston’s last two games. The Richmond, Va. native was selected by the Dynamo in the first round of the 2012 Supplemental Draft out of the University of Virginia and tallied two regular season assists in his rookie season. Ownby spent a portion of the 2013 season on loan with the Richmond Kickers of USL PRO and tallied seven goals and six assists in 19 appearances as Richmond won the regular season championship.
Lisch, 23, was selected by the Dynamo in the third round (No. 54 overall) of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft. The 6-foot-4 goalkeeper guided the University of New Mexico to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament (College Cup) last season, recording three shutouts in the competition. An Austin native, Lisch played three seasons at Wake Forest University, earning Academic All-ACC honors from 2010-12 before enrolling at New Mexico as a graduate student.
The Riverhounds were founded in 1999 and play at Highmark Stadium, a 3,500-seat soccer-specific stadium that opened in April 2013. Managed by former MLS player Justin Evans, Pittsburgh joined USL PRO in 2011 and finished in seventh place in the 2013 regular season.
USL PRO is the third tier in the U.S. Soccer pyramid. The league will feature 14 clubs for the 2014 season, including expansion teams in Oklahoma City and Sacramento. Four of the last five clubs to enter MLS have moved up from the USL’s top professional division. The Vancouver Whitecaps, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Montreal Impact all operated franchises in the USL’s top professional division before making the transition to MLS.
The Dynamo return to BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday to host FC Dallas in the lone 2014 edition of the Texas Derby, presented by Novo Nordisk. For tickets, visit click here or call 713-276-GOAL.
