Vincent Returning To Hounds On 1-Game Loan

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A rule specific to soccer is allowing a Pittsburgh Riverhounds fan favorite to return for their next home match against Charleston on June 4.

Former midfielder Rob Vincent will join the Hounds on a one-game loan from D.C. United, the MLS team he signed with in the offseason.

Vincent has featured five times for D.C. this season and started his first MLS game on March 12 against New England. Before going to United, Rob played three seasons in Pittsburgh and led the Hounds in all offensive categories last season.

He scored 28 goals in his 88 appearances over those three seasons for Pittsburgh, 18 of them coming in 2015. Vincent's impressive season earned him a 2015 USL first team spot and garnered some attention from the top league in American soccer.

An impressive appearance against D.C. United last year in the U.S. Open Cup also put him on the club's radar. Rob scored the Hounds' lone goal when Pittsburgh took the MLS team to extra time last June at a packed Highmark Stadium, before losing 3-1.

In soccer, the club that owns a player's rights can loan them to other teams for a specific amount of time. In this case, it's for one game. Most loans are longer and are used to get the player more playing time.

This one-game loan is very unique and came about under some special circumstances.

Major League Soccer will take a two-week break at the beginning of June while the Copa America is being played throughout the United States. The tournament is being hosted by the United States and will feature countries from North, South and Central America, including Brazil and Argentina.

For players not in the tournament, it can be used as a vacation, or in Vincent's case, a chance to make a return to Pittsburgh and put on the Hounds jersey again.

It will be a welcome boost to morale around the club in what has been a turbulent start to the 2016 season.

The Hounds travel to New York this weekend before coming back for Rob Vincent's homecoming.

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