It's been a long offseason for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
The last time the team played a meaningful game was August 2006. But coach Gene Klein thinks the year-long hiatus of the professional soccer team will be worth the wait.
"By far, without question, it's been a long (offseason), way too long for me," Klein said. "Personally, I'm very happy to be back on the field, especially with this group of players. They are an enthusiastic bunch, and everybody wants to play."
The Rivershounds, which made their debut in 1999, switched ownership following the 2006 season and took a year off to regroup -- or rebuild, as Riverhounds defender Jason Kutney explained.
"We had so much work to do," he said. "We built up a foundation, so it was good to have a season off to get things together."
The Riverhounds will compete in the United Soccer League's Second Division, where they finished the 2006 season with a 8-6-6 record and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Several players from the '06 team include Kutney, defender Nathan Salsi, forward Leon Browne and midfielder Jean Robens Jerome. But there also is a plethora of new players who signed with the Riverhouds this season, highlighted by midfielder Joe Zewe, midfielder Justin Evans and forward Thabiso Khumalo.
The Riverhounds, who went 3-0-1 in the preseason, hope to come together in time for their season opener Saturday night on the road against the Cleveland City Stars.
"You have many different egos, cultures and different styles of play coming together in under a month, and you have to spit out the best product you can," Kutney said. "This team gets along better than many of the other teams I played on."
The Riverhounds will play home games at Chartiers Valley High School instead of Consol Energy Field, which is a baseball field that was converted into a soccer facility for Riverhounds games. The Riverhounds averaged 2,200 fans in the season prior to their hiatus. The team is confident the paying customers will return this year.
"All we can do is hope," Kutney said. "We as players have come to realize in this league we are playing for the love of the game and the hearts of the fans in the community. Believe me when I say it's not about the money. I hope people in the community respect that."
The majority owners are Greentree SportsPlex LP, the Hill family (represented by Amanda, Ray and Dan Hill), the Washington Wild Things and Nannette Staropoli. They have high expectations for the future of the franchise, which is hoping to one day construct its own playing facility.
"All of the owners expressed to me that they were in it for the long run," Klein said. "They want to make this thing work, do it the right way and build it from the ground up. Also, with the eye on the prize of having a stadium and practice facility, if that comes to fruition, the sky's the limit."
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