Players

The Atlanta Silverbacks announced the signing of a homegrown Metro Atlanta product C.J. Cochran on March 12, bolstering the Silverbacks stable of backstops after a record-breaking career with Georgia State University. He entered preseason as a trialist.

​“When I was younger, I used to go to Silverbacks games at the old Memorial Stadium,” Cochran said. “When I found out (head coach Gary Smith) was going to offer me a contract, it was a dream come true.

“I live here; this is my home, so it’s great that my family and friends get to come see me play. All the hard work from college and before that really paid off.”

Cochran was invited to Silverbacks preseason training as a trialist after four competitive years as a Panther, including posting the program’s all-time record goals-against average (1.33). He also finished his NCAA career with the program’s third-most shutouts (11) and with the third-best single-season goals-against average (1.47) as a senior in 2014.

​The 6-foot-4 keeper constructed an impressive career at GSU, earning Sun Belt and College Sports Madness Independent Defensive Player of the Week honors, TopDrawerSoccer.com Midseason Top 100 Freshmen to Watch honors and two CAA Rookie of the Week honors. Cochran played more than 4,345 minutes with a 23-22-2 record in 48 career starts.

He ranks top-10 all-time for the Panthers in career saves (188) while posting five different single-season top-10 finishes.

“I came into preseason with a goal to make the team,” Cochran said. “And, now, from there, (I want to) get better and hopefully see some playing time. I definitely have bigger goals than just coming out and try to play well. I wanted to make the team and represent Atlanta as a Silverbacks goalkeeper.”