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Taylor Washington, who was released from his contract at the end of the MLS season, has been signed by the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Taken 23rd overall by the Philadelphia Union in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, the George Mason graduate featured primarily for Bethlehem Steel FC, making his only Union appearance against Crystal Palace in the summer.
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Washington was a work horse for Bethlehem, starting 28 of Bethlehem’s 30 matches, and helping maintain seven clean sheets. That piled on top of coming in second in club minutes with 2,473 means Pittsburgh head coach Dave Brandt found another guy that fits into the gritty, hard working Riverhounds style of soccer he likes to play. Washington should be a great asset to the long-standing USL side, and his ability to mark forwards one on one and keep responsibility through a whole game was huge in Bethlehem last year and I doubt it will be any different in 2017. Bethlehem and Pittsburgh played three times in 2016 and will probably be slated for the same amount of matches next year, giving both sides plenty of opportunity to check up on each other throughout the year.