2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: Butler’s Nick Niebauer ready for ‘unreal’ experience of facing Riverhounds
Nick Niebauer remembers attending a Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC game at Highmark Stadium a few years ago. Now a senior at Butler, he sent a photo to his mother, who told him she’d be watching him on the same field one day.
It turns out her forecast was spot-on.
With Steel City FC’s men’s first team, Niebauer will face off with the reigning USL champion Riverhounds in the first round of the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at the same venue on March 17.
“It’ll just be unreal playing against that team,” Niebauer said.
It will be the first time in 69 years that two Pittsburgh-area crews have faced off in the tournament.
Niebauer, a forward, said “everything up to this so far has led to this. ... This is the biggest game in Pittsburgh soccer history so far. Two local teams.”
“It’s just such a crazy opportunity,” Niebauer said. “I think, coming from high school, not many people expect a kid from Butler High School to be able to do that. ... It’s definitely something I want to prove and I wanna show people at this game, that I can compete at this level.”
Niebauer, a Bellarmine University commit, has been playing soccer since he was 4, starting in the Butler County Soccer Association’s rec league and working his way up to Butler’s high school team for his freshman and sophomore seasons.
“It’s all I really ever knew,” he said.
Niebauer gave up competing on the prep stage to climb to MLS NEXT’s Beadling SC. He also developed through the Steel City FC Academy. Turning in his Golden Tornado kit wasn’t an easy decision.
“I really had to think about it for a long time, pray about it and just really sit on it,” Niebauer said. “Ultimately, I just thought about what was best for my future, even though I might have more fun playing high school, I knew that it wouldn’t be the level of MLS NEXT.
“That’s one of the hardest things in soccer, just choosing if you want to go to the top, you have to choose what’s best for you.”
With the Steel City FC men’s first team, Niebauer is playing alongside recent college graduates and “some people that are late-20s and 30s that are working in construction and stuff,” he said. There are also other academy players that are his age.
Niebauer is hoping to showcase his talents on the field.
“I feel like I bring a little bit of flair on the outsides,” Niebauer said. “I like getting a ball one-on-one. I feel like my press, when we don’t have the ball, my off-possession press ... could help win the ball back for the team.”
Seneca Valley graduate Nathan Prex will also take the field for Steel City FC.
The “Pittsburgh Derby” clash will be broadcast on YouTube. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on Steel City FC’s website.
