![]() We played together, knew each other, even lived together for a short while. “I think we finished second overall that first year, in the entire league, behind Montreal,” Lilley recalled. Together Lilley and Smith made the most of it, assembling a winning franchise in Hershey. “I’m like, if I don’t take this, I might not get this opportunity again.” They put in a new grass field at Hershey Stadium. When Todd offered me that (head coaching) job, they were an expansion franchise. “I would have played another few years, but I was 30 at the time. It became the golden ticket to keeping Lilley in the game he loved beyond his playing career. Having played professionally, mostly indoors in Hershey, Harrisburg, and for a brief stint in Pittsburgh, Lilley felt he could still keep playing, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass up, as he could make his mark coaching at a higher level. “Fortunately, Todd, knew me, trusted me, and knew I knew the game pretty well.” I knew that coaching would be something that I probably would get into after playing,” Lilley shared. “I had done a fair bit of coaching in college (Dickinson College women’s program in Carlisle), high school (Lee High School in Springfield, VA). Smith was hired as the club’s general manager - and he wanted Lilley to become the club’s first-ever head coach. ![]() Then, a great opportunity came knocking for both to build something special together, when the Hershey Wildcats franchise was founded in 1997 as part of the the USL A-League. You really want to have them around you.” “That’s how he ended up in a GM type position, because was a bright guy. He had his own construction company,” Lilley explained. “He worked various jobs, would build decks in the summer. While Lilley was admittedly focused on soccer, he countered that Smith was a different breed. He wasn’t the quickest guy on the field, but he knew how to get the job done defensively. Pollihan coached both Lilley and Smith when they were teammates on the Harrisburg Heat indoor team. ![]() “Todd was a players’ player,” said Jim Pollihan, on recently. Lilley remained in touch with Smith as they each would play professionally, even as teammates along the way, but each also got into coaching and management roles in the 1990s. They were fierce competitors when they played each other in high school but they were also teammates for various state-level teams.Īs Lilley would go on to play at George Mason, Smith took his talents and aspirations to Pittsburgh, where he became a four-year standout for Pitt’s men’s program in the mid-to-late 1980s under Joe Luxbacher. Smith, who went to Cumberland Valley High School, was a year older than Lilley, who went to Carlisle High School. Todd Smith was someone who Lilley got to know as they both were top-level soccer players growing up in Central PA in the early and mid-1980s. He could do anything,” Lilley shared in his office at Highmark Stadium with Pittsburgh Soccer Now, in January 2019, when asked about some of his early soccer influences, he made a point to single out Smith. ![]() “He was one of those guys who was well-rounded. (Current Hound Joe Farrell picked up a pair of yellow cards in the first half of that match, and was sent off, forcing Rochester to play a man down in its last-ever match as a USLC side).Īt some point though ahead of Tuesday’s match vs the New England Revolution in Foxborough, MA, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Head Coach Bob Lilley may have a thought or two going through his head about an important person in his life: Todd Smith. The last time the two sides faced off, was in 2017, the last year the Rhinos were in the USL Championship, losing in a match played at Providence College, 3-0. Tuesday’s match between the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution will be the first-ever between the clubs, which have both been around since the late 1990s, but it won’t be the first time Hounds Head Coach Bob Lilley has faced the Revolution, as his former club, Rochester Rhinos did face the Revolution in previous Open Cups. This article was originally published on Pittsburgh Soccer Now in February 2019, and has been updated to reflect Riverhounds 2023 season, and upcoming Open Cup match vs New England Revolution. ![]()
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