It rained before the game, likely keeping the walk-up crowd down Friday night.

The referees didn't come out when they were introduced.

The Carolina RailHawks were missing perhaps their best player, forward Casey Nogueira, off training with the USA under-20 team.

Oh, and the Atlanta Silverbacks were very good. Made up mostly of post-college players with professional experience, they gave the RailHawks a hard lesson in high-level football, coasting to a 5-0 victory before a few hundred fans at WakeMed Soccer Park.

"Obviously, we're a work in progress," president and general manager Chris Economides said at halftime, when the RailHawks trailed 3-0.

Economides can literally afford to be optimistic about the return of women's soccer to Cary. Almost all of the RailHawks' 23 players are still in college, and none are paid.

As Economides put it, it's a "doable venture from a budget perspective."

The RailHawks (1-1), who defeated the Carolina Dynamo of Greensboro in their opener a week ago, play in the W-League of the United Soccer Leagues -- the highest level of women's soccer in the United States. It's also an open league, allowing college players to play with international veterans without losing their eligibility.

That makes it a great opportunity for players like UNC goalkeeper Anna Rodenbough to stay sharp in the offseason -- but made it a long night Friday. Rodenbough seemed to be facing a constant onslaught as the Silverbacks found different ways to beat Carolina's defense.

"Our defensive unit is just not used to playing together," said Rodenbough, who will be a senior.

The RailHawks have been working together for about three weeks, coach Jay Howell said, while Atlanta has most of the players back from the team that reached the W-League final last year.

"I just don't think we were quite prepared to step in the ring with them tonight," said Howell, who is also the director of coaching for the Capital Area Soccer League.

"They have a very distinct way they play," Howell said of the Silverbacks (2-0-0), which he called one of the two or three best women's clubs in America. "They're very sharp at going forward. They play the ball very quickly on to the forwards' feet. The biggest thing that hurt us was their movement off the ball. They really unbalanced us on defense.

"... Now we have to go back to Soccer 101 as a team. We have to go back to working on simple defensive principles."

Nevertheless, it was a start, and for those like John Frederick of Durham, who remembered going to Carolina Courage games in the now-defunct WUSA, it was good to see the women's game back.

"You're going to have some growing pains," said Frederick, whose niece, Betsy, plays for the RailHawks and UNC.

It was the Courage's success, in part, that persuaded Economides to add a women's team alongside his men's RailHawks.

"If we can attract a couple of thousand people every game, we'll be very pleased," he said.

The women's team will travel to Richmond, Va., for a game at 6 p.m. Sunday. The male RailHawks (2-0-2) will face the Minnesota Thunder (3-1-0) at 6 p.m. Sunday at WakeMed Park. Tickets are $10, $15 and $20.