By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

The Atlanta Classics women's soccer team, Atlanta's only women's sport franchise, opened its season recently.

The Classics have fielded one of the top teams in the nation for the past two seasons and were knocked out of the playoffs last year by the eventual national champions.

Playing their games at DeKalb County Adams Stadium, which is on North Druid Hills Road, the team also has many players from this area, including Nancy and Julie Augustyniak and Jennifer Rawlings, all of whom played their high school ball at McIntosh High School. The Augustyniaks both played for Clemson in college, while Rawling played for Virginia. Twelve of the 15 menbers of the team are from Georgia.

In their opening game against the Jackson Calypso Saturday night, the Classics were on fire, winning 9-0. From the onset, Jackson was outmatched by the speed of the Classics. Forward Jenny Crawford recorded four goals for her team, while Jennifer Rawlings added two goals, one of which was a converted penalty kick.

The Classics led 7-0 at the half and had more goals from Kerry Gragg, Alison McCurry and Mandy Aiken. The team was swarmed by young fans seeking autographs after the victory and each player obliged until the last one was signed.

The Classics play two games this weekend in Florida. They face the Tampa Bay Extreme Friday and the Miami Gliders Saturday. They will return home Saturday, May 29 to face the Long Island Lady Riders. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.

In other local soccer action, the Atlanta Silverbacks lost their second straight home match. The loss came at the hands, or rather feet, of the Staten Island Vipers. They had a number of opportunities to score but fell 2-0 anyway. One goal was called back due to an offsides infringement, one shot hit the cross bar and one penalty kick completely missed the net.

The Silverbacks outshot the Vipers 14-7, and even had a two-man advantage when two Viper players were ejected for the final seven minutes, but it did no good. Atlanta dropped to 2-3 on the season.

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