Some hometown kids are making good through their sports

of choice and deserve to be mentioned and heralded.

First to mention are Clint Mathis and Josh Wolf, who

have both been called up to play for the U.S. National soccer

squad. Former D.C. United coach Bruce Arena was recently named

coach of the national team and he immediately began to reshape the

team with young talent. Mathis was a member of the Lightning 77

Gold team which won two state cups and a regional championship.

Both Mathis and Wolf are from the Atlanta metro area and

were also teammates on the University of South Carolina's soccer

team as well on this year's MLS Champion Chicago Fire. The U.S.

national team will face Australia in San Jose, Calif. this Saturday.

Silke Cousin of Fayetteville is proving to be an offensive

threat off the bench for Emory University's girls soccer team

this season. Cousin leads the team in scoring with six goals and

three assists for a total of 15 points. "If you had asked me who would

lead the team in scoring at the beginning of the season I

would've mentioned several other names before Silke's," Coach

Mike Sabatelle said. " Silke has improved in many different areas

of the game. One of her greatest assests is her aggressiveness

in the penalty area." Emory was ranked 21st going into

October among NCAA Division III schools and hopes to return to

the NCAA national tournament for the fourth consecutive year.

Brannan Duncan of Fayetteville is a junior wide

receiver at Liberty University. Brannan has four catches for 110 yards and

a touchdown this season. His biggest game of the year came

against South Florida where he amassed 80 yards and scored.

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