Atlanta Silverbacks

WOMEN PLAY TWO GAMES AT HOME, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
         The Atlanta Silverbacks Women, 3-3, will host the Central Florida Krush and the Charlotte Lady Eagles, this Friday and Saturday night respectively. This weekend’s play will give the team a great opportunity to jump in the Atlantic Division standings; two wins means the Silverbacks jump from 5th place up to 3rd place.
         The Silverbacks will play the Krush Friday night at 7:30 pm. The first 500 fans entering the game will receive official Silverbacks “thunderstix” and each seat will have an individual cup holder. This will be the 2006 season’s first meeting between Atlanta and Central Florida; last year, the two teams split the series with Atlanta winning 1-0 at home and losing 2-1 on the road.
         The meeting between Atlanta and their rival Charlotte will be the teams’ second and final match for the regular season. Charlotte was the only team to beat Atlanta twice last season; in their first meeting this year the Silverbacks took revenge on the Lady Eagles with a resounding 3-0 win. During the match Sarah Steinmann made franchise history by scoring the first ever hat trick. Steinmann, the team’s leading scorer, currently ranks 9th in the W-League for goals scored, she has five goals so far this season.
          Tickets for this weekend’s games are available, however, after midnight the night before the game remaining tickets will only be available through the online “print-at-home” option. Tickets will also be available at the stadium box office starting at 5:00 pm on the day of the game. Please purchase your tickets early! Parking opens at 5:30 pm and the stadium gates open at 6:00 pm. For more information call 1-866-GO-BACKS or visit www.atlantasilverbacks.com.

MEN AWAY AT CHARLESTON, FSC TO BROADCAST THE GAME
The Atlanta Silverbacks Men, 2-4-3, will play the Charleston Battery tomorrow night at 8:00 pm in Charleston, SC. The Fox Soccer Channel will air a live broadcast of the game between the USL First Division’s 8th ranked Charleston and 9th ranked Atlanta. This will be the third meeting between the two teams this season, but the first of the 2006 Southern Derby Cup. The Cup was founded in 2000 and will include the match this weekend in Charleston and the match next weekend (June 30) in Atlanta. The team with the most aggregate points (3 per win, 1 per tie) will win the Cup for the year. The Silverbacks and Charleston were co-champions last year when the aggregate score was an even tie. Atlanta has won the Cup three times: 2002, 2004, and 2005.
The Southern Derby Cup will be decided in the Silverbacks’ next home match, which is next Friday, June 30 against the Charleston Battery. The game will kick-off at 7:30 pm with the first 500 fans receiving Silverbacks Sport Horns. For ticket information please call 1-866-GO-BACKS.

U23’s ON THE ROAD IN VIRGINIA
The Atlanta Silverbacks U23’s, 3-2-2, will travel to Virginia this weekend for a two-game road trip with games against the Virginia Beach Submariners and the West Virginia Chaos. The Submariners, 5-2, and the Chaos, 4-4-2, sit at the top of the PDL’s Mid Atlantic Division. The Silverbacks U23’s currently sit in 3rd place of the South Atlantic Division. The U23’s will play at home again on July 6th against the Carolina Dynamo. For more information call 1-866-GO-BACKS or visit www.atlantasilverbacks.com.