High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Riverhounds were founded by Paul Heasley in 1999 as a member of the USL's A-League, now known as USL-1. It played its home games in Bethel Park, at Bethel Park High School's football stadium. That same year the Riverhounds were named the A-League Organization of the Year. John Kowalski was the first head coach of the club; Justin Evans was the first player drafted to play for the Riverhounds. In their 1999 inaugural season, they advanced to the conference semi-finals in the A-league playoffs. Two years later in 2001, they reached the US Open Cup quarterfinals after beating the Colorado Rapids of the Major League Soccer and then-A-league opponent El Paso Patriots in their first two games, but the Hounds were eliminated in the quarterfinals by their second MLS opponent of the tournament, the Chicago Fire, in a two-overtime, 3-2 defeat. The Riverhounds have not reached that level of success since that time due in large part to undergoing multiple ownership and location changes.