Women’s Professional Soccer makes its debut Friday at Highmark Stadium as the Pittsburgh Riveters take on the Cleveland Force, with a kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. This will be the inaugural USL W League match for both teams.

The ramp up to this has been a calculated one by the parent owners, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, who have put in place a large ground network of staff and resources to make this come true, marking the return of a women’s pro sports team important to the city.

“This is a rallying cry for women’s sports in Pittsburgh,” said Jeff Garner, president of Pittsburgh Riveters and Pittsburgh Riverhounds. “We’re proud to introduce this team to the community — not just as athletes but as the next generation of Riveters who will carry forward the legacy of strength, resilience and pride in our city.”

The Riveters are composed of players from Western Pennsylvania. Growing the game by making rosters of local athletes is one of the drawing cards the club will use. Some of these names include Gina Proviano and Emily Kirkpatrick, who played at Plum. Proviano is coming off a two-year run as team captain at Long Island University. Kirkpatrick played her college soccer at Towson.

The biggest local name might belong to midfielder Tessa Dellarose, who is out of Brownsville. She played college soccer at North Carolina, winning the national title in December.

“It means a lot, and really amazing to do this and pull it off.” Dellarose said. “The support from the city so far has been exciting. We didn’t have this growing up. We didn’t have a women’s team to look up to, so now being on the women’s team and the academy it means a lot.”

When it came time to figure out a captain, the decision was an easy one for coach Scott Gibson.

“Tessa’s everything we want in a captain,” Gibson said. “We want all of the girls to be leaders, some of the girls are captains at their own universities. But Tessa came to our development program. I’ve known her forever. She’s gone on to North Carolina. Had the national team success. She’s a leader.”

As for getting ready to face Cleveland, Gibson discussed something fresh and out of thin air.

“It’s been fun. Usually, you inherit a team and put your own spin on it,” Gibson said. “This has been from ground zero. Many of the players have come through the Riverhounds academy. Not all. But 75% of this roster we have worked with before. Meshing it all together. Some of the players are young. Leadership is going to be key. It should be fun.”

One of those young players is Upper St. Clair senior Natalia Disora, who will play as a defender for the Riveters.

“I always hoped that Pittsburgh would have a girl’s program here, but I never dreamed I’d be able to play on it while still in school,” Disora said. “This has been incredible, playing with girls at this level while I’m still in high school. Many of them are either out of college or still in college. This will help me prepare for going to Wake Forest next year.”

As far as what to expect, Gibson is being cautious, given this club has only been practicing for a short period of time.

“One game at a time. That’s very cliche, but this is the first time we’ve really trained,” he said. “Expectations are let’s play this game on Friday. We still have a number of players that are missing. The squad itself won’t be full until early next week. We get through Game 1. Then the following week we have a full week to prepare. Games come fit and fast after that.”