Thursday August 30, 2007

          The Atlanta Silverbacks will play in their final regular season home match on Saturday night when they host the Puerto Rico Islanders at 7:55 pm at RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium. The Silverbacks (11-8-6) and the Islanders (10-7-9) sit neck-and-neck in the USL First Division standings and Saturday night’s match will play a major role in the playoff seeding. Atlanta sits in fourth place with 25 games played, while Puerto Rico sits in sixth place with 26 games played. The final standings will determine the match-ups for the first round of the playoffs, with the top four seeds deciding whether they will host the first or second leg of the two-game series.
         The Islanders come to Atlanta off a three-game winning streak at home that included victories over Miami FC (1-0), Miami FC (3-2) and Portland (1-0). Puerto Rico will look to their two highest scorers, Taiwo Atieno and Noah Delgado, to lead the offense – they’ve each put away five goals on the season. Willie Sims stepped into the spotlight for the Islanders in their recent 3-2 win over Miami when he recorded a hat-trick, his first three goals of the season. Defensively, the Islanders may have found the right formula as they have shut out two of their last three opponents. Puerto Rico clinched their playoff spot with the win over Portland, becoming the sixth team to qualify for the 2007 playoffs.
         The Silverbacks are coming off a four-game away stand which saw them go 2-1-1, including a win over Minnesota that made Atlanta the fifth team to qualify for the 2007 playoffs. Atlanta’s strong defense coupled with a diversified offense make them a difficult team for any opponent. When playing at home, the Silverbacks have gone 7-3-3 and outscored their opponents 23-12 (second best in the league for home goal differential). Atlanta will look to remain in fourth place in the league with a win over the Islanders, thus improving their playoff positioning and finishing the home season with a win.
         The Silverbacks will be giving away the fourth and final set of 2007 Official Silverbacks Player Cards to the first 300 fans through the stadium gates on Saturday night. Be sure to arrive early to get the last set of player cards to complete this season’s entire edition. 

For ticket information please call 404-969-4900 or visit www.atlantasilverbacks.com.

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