In a year filled with firsts, KSU Soccer Stadium will add another when it hosts its first international exhibition game.

In a two-game series between two of the world's best women's teams, the U.S. national team will host China before it enters CONCACAF qualifying for next year's Women's World Cup.

The first game will come Oct. 2 in Kennesaw, with the second coming four days later in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pa.

For the U.S. national team, it will be its first trip to the Atlanta area since 1999, when it played at Hallford Stadium (formerly DeKalb Memorial) in Clarkston.

KSU Soccer Stadium's two primary tenants, the Atlanta Beat and the Kennesaw State women's soccer team, had been bidding to attract top-level events to the facility.

"You hope that it was coming to fruition," Beat general manger Shawn McGee said. "U.S. Soccer hadn't been (to the Atlanta area) in 11 years. We are just happy to have a signature event come into this stadium."

After holding the Beat's inaugural season in Women's Professional Soccer, not to mention the WPS All-Star Game and the beginning of Kennesaw State's women's soccer season, KSU Soccer Stadium is hosting another marquee event.

"This wasn't about making money," McGee said. "It was more about having the world's best soccer teams play in this stadium, and having a signature event in this stadium. Hopefully, people will get a chance to sample the stadium and come back. We expect a sold-out crowd for this game, and we're excited for this matchup. It will be (one of) the last (opportunities) of the year to see Hope Solo, Abby Wambach and any other national stars play this year."

The U.S.-China games will be played after the end of the WPS season. The first game will be played six days after the league's championship game, which should allow all of the WPS' national team players to return to the U.S. side in time for the exhibitions.

A few familiar names to the Beat will likely be playing in the games. Solo is expected to start in the net, while Atlanta forward Lori Chalupny is another veteran of international play, having played nearly 100 times for the U.S. team.

The Beat bid to host one of the Americans' two exhibitions with Sweden in July, but those games ultimately were awarded to Omaha, Neb., and East Hartford, Conn.

"It was a matter of timing," McGee said. "(U.S. Soccer) needed to move quickly, and they had some good offers on the table. With our league play and rescheduling in the middle of the year, it didn't work out."

In nine exhibitions this season, the U.S. national team has an 8-0-1 record, its lone tie coming in a 1-1 draw with Sweden 1-1 on July 13. The U.S. women's team hasn't lost on its home soil in 46 matches, winning 42 times.

The Americans' all-time series with China is one of the longest-running in women's soccer. The nations have met 42 times since 1986, its most historic meeting coming in the finals of the 1999 Women's World Cup, when the Americans won on penalty kicks in front of 90,185 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

The nations haven't met since the U.S. won a pair of exhibitions in 2008.

Starting at $18, Tickets for the U.S.-China game at KSU Soccer Stadium will go on sale Friday.