Women's professional soccer returns to Cary on Thursday night when the Washington Freedom play the Atlanta Silverbacks at SAS Soccer Park.

The women's professional teams from Washington and Atlanta met before in the 2003 WUSA championship game where Atlanta won in an overtime victory.

"We're really excited," said Brad Myers, director of business development for Triangle Professional Soccer. "Fans around here care as much about women's soccer as men's."

Several well known players will meet in this match, including Sharolta Nonen and Christie Latham from the Canadian national team.

The game will also be a homecoming for former UNC and Carolina Courage player Nel Fettig. If everything goes as planned, the game will be a taste of things to come, as Triangle Professional Soccer tries to get a women's team to call Cary home, Myers said.

He added: "We're playing this to have a women's team here in 2008."