Pittsburgh Riveters preparing for inaugural game in USL women's soccer league
History will be made this Friday night as the Pittsburgh Riveters will play their inaugural game in the USL W League.
On Monday, the Riveters were game planning for the Cleveland Force in preparation for Friday's contest.
There hasn't been an organization like this where women can go to grow their game in Pittsburgh until now.
The Riveters' team is mostly made up of current college soccer players, some high school graduates, and some women who graduated from college and are perfecting their game for the next level.
"I love Pittsburgh," said Tessa Dellarose, midfielder for the Riveters and the University of North Carolina. "I love Highmark. I love the community that we've built here, so it's just something that I could not say no to."
Dellarose says it's exciting to be a part of this.
"The coaching staff is elite and this is something I want to be a part of to be able to use my time wisely so that I can go back to college prepared, but I can also leave a lasting impact here on Pittsburgh," Dellarose said.
Dellarose, like a few other players on the Riveters' roster grew up as part of the Riverhounds' youth system, meaning that some of the players already knew one another and knew head coach Scott Gibson.
"It's an honor," Gibson said. "It's just kind of like the natural step for us. For me personally, I've worked with a lot of the players before when they were younger and I've been here a while now. I came over a long time ago. I'm ready for this and like I said, it's our inaugural season, so we're gonna have to taper our expectations a little bit, but it's gonna be so much fun."
"Since we have so many people in different circumstances and coming from different backgrounds, everyone has different experiences to lend to each other and you can learn so much just from your teammates," Dellarose said.
The Riveters' first game against Cleveland at Highmark Stadium is set for 7 p.m. on Friday.
