Pittsburgh gets USL women’s team

Franchise will start play in ’25

A year from now, Riverhounds SC won’t be the only soccer team to call Highmark Stadium home.

USL Championship announced moments prior to the Riverhounds’ home match against Detroit FC that Pittsburgh has been awarded an as- yet- unnamed franchise in the USL women’s league and will begin play along the Monongahela River in May 2025.

“We have a new women’s soccer pathway in Western Pennsylvania,” Riverhounds president Jeff Garner said “We hope to open a new chapter of women’s soccer in Pittsburgh.”

Riverhounds management has been in negotiations with USL Championship to bring a new team to Pittsburgh since the women’s league first began play in 2022. Several factors made Pittsburgh an attractive venue, including the Riverhounds’ on-field success and gate draw, the University of Pittsburgh women’s soccer program, and the continued development of WPIAL girls soccer players.

Now, those same players could find themselves staying closer to home when they train in the summer. The USL W is a pre-professional league. Though not a professional league — players will be able to maintain college eligibility — it is still high-level soccer.

That means the new team will have a local flavor akin to the Riverhounds, who sport several area players on the roster including Upper St. Clair grad Robbie Mertz and West Allegheny and Duquesne alum Nate Dragisich.

“As our academy has grown and flourished on the girls’ side, the need to create a First Team pathway for the young women in our city has become increasingly evident,” said Riverhounds sporting director Dan Visser in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited to bring a W League team to Pittsburgh.”