Five players score as the Riveters beat FC Buffalo 5-0 in their USL W League opener

PITTSBURGH. Captain Piper Coffield headed in a corner kick in the 12th minute, and five different players scored as the Pittsburgh Riveters beat FC Buffalo 5-0 on Saturday, May 16, at F.N.B. Stadium in the USL W League season opener for both teams. Pittsburgh Soccer Now reported a sellout crowd of 5,088. The Riveters opened their second season as the defending Great Forest Division champions.

Buffalo recorded the first attempt of the match, a near-post header by Sarah Woods that missed wide. The Riveters (1-0-0) then scored on the first corner kick of the match. Ellen Molloy served the ball to the head of Coffield, who turned it home for the first goal of the season. The match was Coffield’s first since last July, after an ACL injury cost her the fall season. Her center back partner scored the fourth goal, and both starting center backs finished the night on the scoresheet.

Molloy doubled the lead in the 23rd minute. She corralled a long, diagonal ball from Brielle LaBerge and struck it on the half-volley with her left foot. LaBerge played provider again in the 38th minute, hitting another diagonal ball that found Shannon Studer alone on the right, and Studer touched the ball around Buffalo goalkeeper Jordan Senz to make it 3-0 at halftime.

Senz produced Buffalo’s best moment early in the second half. Lola Abraham won a penalty kick, and Senz saved Abraham’s attempt from the spot, then stopped Sabrina Bryan’s follow-up, which struck the crossbar. The fourth goal came in the 52nd minute, when Taylor Green met a low service from Bella Vozar off a free kick.

Bryan closed the scoring in the 83rd minute, on Vozar’s second assist of the night. Bryan had entered the match at halftime. LaBerge and Vozar finished with two assists each. Bailey Herfurth played all 90 minutes in goal for the Riveters and kept the clean sheet, the second of her time with the club.

Eight players made their Riveters debuts, and six of them started: Green, LaBerge, Molloy, Studer, Abraham and Emme Butera. The club named Butera its player of the match for her work in holding midfield across the full 90 minutes. FC Buffalo (0-1-0) had contended for the division until the final week of the 2025 season, and its opener ended with the penalty save as its high point. Soccer Now’s post match notes put the Riveters’ all-time home record at 5-0-1 after the win.

The Riveters are home again on Saturday, May 23, against Flower City 1872 at F.N.B. Stadium, with kickoff at 7 p.m.

Goals: Pittsburgh, Coffield 12, Molloy. Pittsburgh, Molloy 23, LaBerge. Pittsburgh, Studer 38, LaBerge. Pittsburgh, Green 52, Vozar. Pittsburgh, Bryan 83, Vozar. Halftime: Pittsburgh 3, FC Buffalo 0. Attendance: 5,088, a sellout, reported by Pittsburgh Soccer Now.