Justin Evans grew up in Peters Township following the old Pittsburgh Spirit indoor soccer team.

During the 1980s, that was the highest-profile professional soccer team in the area.

Now, that claim falls to the Riverhounds, who have played the traditional outdoor game around here for a decade. And arguably no player has been more of a face of the Riverhounds franchise over the years than Evans.

The team's first draft pick when it as born a decade ago, Evans is in his third tour of duty with the Riverhounds, who now play their home games at Chartiers Valley High School and will wrap up their United Soccer League Second Division season at 7:05 p.m. Saturday against Crystal Palace Baltimore.

Now an assistant coach as well as standout midfielder for the team, the Riverhounds -- and their long-term success -- hold a special place in the heart of Evans.

"It's always been a goal of mine to help put and keep pro soccer in Pittsburgh," said Evans, who has experience playing for Major League Soccer and Poland's First Division. "Obviously it's a great opportunity to come back home to the team here where I started my career and keep it going and keep the franchise around and trying to put a winning product on the field.

"It's something I know is very near and dear to myself, as well as to [head coach Gene Klein]. It's something we're trying to keep out there year after year every year."

Evans and Klein aren't the only people associated with the Riverhounds with local ties. The Green Tree Sports Plex now owns the franchise, and at least three other players are area natives: Nathan Salsi, Joe Zewe and Matt Langton. The locals seem to be taking the health of the franchise and local soccer community in general to heart.

Salsi, a defender who graduated from Norwin High School in 1999 and played for Duquesne University, serves as the team's captain. Zewe, an East Allegheny graduate, is an offensive-minded forward who played at Penn State.

Langton is a midfielder from Mt. Lebanon and played for Pitt.

"Absolutely, this team means a lot to me," Salsi said. "Being a guy form around the area, growing up here and getting to see some of the guys from my hometown, young kids, they come and say, 'Hey, Nathan, you're from my high school.' That's really cool stuff. It's really a special thing.

"These local guys are guys who are figureheads for the soccer community here. I've known these guys for a long time. Justin being a guy I looked up to who is older than me, Joe is a younger guy who grew up just down the road from me ...

"The common denominator to have soccer be successful in Western Pennsylvania is getting the opportunity to put our faces out there. These guys all are trying to really make it work out. Sometimes it's hard, but we're enjoying doing it"

On the field, the Riverhounds are 5-10-4 and will finish no better than seventh place in the nine-team USL Second Division this season, the second consecutive season they did not qualify for the postseason.

"There have been a lot of plusses, and we're making progress," said Klein, who once led Quaker Valley High School to six PIAA championships and whose ties to the Riverhounds date back to a stint as an assistant coach during their inaugural 1999 season. "But it's disappointing any time you're knocked out of the playoffs.

"We had hoped that we'd be in the hunt and thought we could be a playoff team. But the league is just very competitive top-to-bottom, and we lost a lot of close games that came back to hurt us in the end."

Still, as Salsi said, "We're moving in the right direction" in terms of wins and losses during the team's future. But on-field play is only part of what the Riverhounds strive to be.

The organization runs academies and camps throughout the area to develop young soccer players and support the sport in the community. According to Evans, attendance for the academy more than doubled in one year, and the Riverhounds are expanding their opportunities to make it year-round.

"I think we've made a lot of progress with the camps and academies," Klein said. "We want to be a full club. We want to be able to reach out and help all the clubs and players in the area and have some connection with them, so we're trying to create those opportunities. The young players out there feel connected to the Riverhounds through training or yearlong academy programs or camps, whatever they might be doing."

The success of the developmental soccer programs, of which having the professional players participating in them hands-on is a big part of their appeal, is important to the franchise's long-term viability. Those types of programs will be part of the public's consciousness surrounding the team as much as its win-loss record.

"It's been a tough year for us with our record, but I think everybody is staying pretty positive," Klein said. "I think it's a good core group of guys. We're looking forward to having success for a long time here in Pittsburgh."

John Heller/Post-Gazette

The Riverhounds' Justin Evans, left, fights for the ball with Wilmington's Phillip Hufstader Aug. 1 at Chartiers Valley High School.