While Willie Hunt hasn’t been with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds as long as, say, Kevin Kerr or Michael Green, Hunt has quickly become a fan favorite.
Hunt, who is in his second year with the Riverhounds, has a big support system behind him at Highmark Stadium. The defender primarily plays centerback along with Sergio Campbell, and Hunt helped lead the Riverhounds to the playoffs last USL season.
He says clinching a playoff berth in the last game of the season while beating their rivals, the Harrisburg City Islanders, has been his favorite moment in a Riverhounds jersey.
Hunt, who was born in Greenville, South Carolina, started playing soccer when he was four years old. He says he “never looked back” once he first had a soccer ball at his feet. His family always supported his dreams and would cheer him on at games.
Hunt went on to play collegiately at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina. While there, he received many awards for being a star defender. In his senior season, he tallied four goals and was named the team MVP after the team won the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship game. In the PBCT final match, he scored the winning goal.
He signed his first professional contract with the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2011. He played in 53 matches for the Silverbacks of the NASL and scored five goals. In 2013, he was part of the team that made it to the Soccer Bowl against the New York Cosmos.
“Atlanta will always be a special place to me,” Hunt says. “That was where my professional career started, and I spent three seasons there. 2013 was an exciting year reaching the NASL finals.”
After his time in Atlanta, Hunt signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 2014. During his time with the Rowdies, Hunt made 12 appearances and scored one goal.
However, Pittsburgh was where Hunt shined. He says he joined the Riverhounds in 2015 because he had never played under then-head coach Mark Steffens and wanted a challenge.
“I had never played under Mark Steffens but had a lot of mutual contacts,” Hunt says. “I had always heard good things, and when he offered me a contract, I accepted it.”
In 2015, Hunt appeared for the Riverhounds in 27 matches, scoring three goals. After his first season in Pittsburgh, he had a choice regarding whether he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh or go somewhere else. He chose Pittsburgh because of Steffens, with whom he has a very close relationship — on and off the pitch.
Now, Hunt, who is in his sixth season as a professional, is a veteran on the Riverhounds team. He and Drew Russell were the team’s only returning defenders (and Russell isn’t always listed as a defender.)
“It is a relatively new squad, so we have to work on our chemistry,” Hunt says.
Hunt, who is working on getting his real estate license when he’s off the pitch, says he hopes the team can still make a playoff run, despite the uneasy start to the season.
However, for Hunt, who describes himself as easy to get along with but extremely competitive, he knows how to deal with adversity, and this is just another challenge to conquer.
“It’s not where we want it, but it keeps getting better every day,” he says.
Image credit: Terry O’Neill/Riverhounds.com
