University of North Carolina Athletics
Brewer: Tar Heels Make Anniversary A Special One To Celebrate
December 4, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Dec. 4, 2006
CAROLINES
y Rick Brewer
It is a year of anniversaries in Carolina sports and there are none more worthy of celebrating than a special one in women's soccer.
Each year Carolina could look in the past and find something important enough to receive special attention. But, this one is filled with some memorable ones.
This will be the 25th anniversary of the 1982 NCAA basketball championship team and the 50th year since the Tar Heels won the 1957 title. And this will mark the 40th year since Dean Smith took his first team to the Final Four.
It was 60 years ago this fall that Charlie Justice and his teammates made the first of three major bowl appearances. It has now been been 10 years since Karen Shelton's field hockey team won its third NCAA championship and second in a row.
But, when you consider its long-term significance, it's hard to beat the women's soccer title 25 seasons ago. It was the first year the NCAA recognized a national champion in the sport. The old AIAW had handled soccer prior to that.
Since then... Well it's been the most remarkable quarter century by any team in any sport.
On Sunday the Tar Heels defeated Notre Dame for their 18th NCAA women's soccer title. That's 18 of the 25 played. In fact, Carolina has only missed the national championship game three times.
Since that 1982 season, Coach Anson Dorrance has guided his teams to an overall record of 575-21-18. There have been 10 undefeated seasons and an additional one prior to that first year of NCAA play.
That's just a start in listing the top accomplishments for Carolina's soccer program.
Consider this--the Tar Heels have put together the top six winning streaks in NCAA history. That includes a staggering 92-match victory stretch from midway in the 1990 season until early in 1994. Throw in two ties and that eventually reached 101 games without a loss. There have also been winning streaks of 46, 36, 36, 35 and 31 matches.
The Tar Heels have achieved all this with with an entertaining style of play. No team, either men's or women's, plays with such an attacking style. Regardless of where the ball is, Carolina is on offense. Now usually the ball is on the opponent's side of the field. But even if the opposing team has possession, the Tar Heels are trying to push forward.
"We want to press offensively," says Dorrance. "We end up taking a lot of risks by doing that. But, it's a good way to take advantage of our athletic ability."
Those risks c ould be costly. If someone gets behind that offensive pressure just once in soccer, it could lead to a game-winning goal. Even with Carolina's high-scoring attack, one goal is often difficult to overcome.
But, Dorrance's philosophy has obviously worked for a long time. It's been exciting to watch. Carolina players dominate the NCAA record book.
Seven of the top 25 scorers in NCAA history are Tar Heels--Mia Hamm, April Heinrichs, Robin Confer, Kristine Lilly, Debbie Keller, Cindy Parlow and Tisha Venturini. Ten of Carolina's 25 teams have scored over 100 goals, more than any other school.
As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, the NCAA asked a panel of soccer historians and athletic administrators to select an alltime team. Carolina had six of the eleven players on that squad--Hamm, Heinrichs, Lilly, Venturini, Carla Overbeck and Cat Whitehill. No other school had more than one player selected. Dorrance was named the top coach of the quarter century.
Carolina has had 64 first-team All-Americas. Connecticut and Santa Clara are tied for the second most with 22 each. In addition, 43 Tar Heel players have been part of the U.S. National Team and seven were on the 2004 Olympic Team that won the Gold Medal in Athens.
Carolina has produced a National Player of the Year on 21 occasions. Heather O'Reilly joined that list this year.
A complete look at everything accomplished by Carolina women's soccer players and teams would take pages. But, perhaps the most important aspect of the program can't be judged by exact numbers.
Women's soccer is the fastest growing sport in college athletics. In fact, more women played soccer this year than will compete in any other collegiate sport.
There are also more girls playing soccer at all age groups. Parents are happy to allow their girls to play. It's great exercise and inexpensive. There are soccer camps across the country for girls who want to compete at a higher level and not just for recreation.
Now Dorrance and his teams can't take credit for all that growth in the sport. But some of it has to be a product of Carolina's success. Everyone knows how popular Hamm has been with kids. Even though she has retired, you can still find young girls with "Mia" tee-shirts playing the game.
The sport has gotten more television exposure in recent years. It became more prevalent after the great TV ratings of the 1999 World Cup. Eight of Dorrance's players were on that championship team.
However, when games were only occasionally televised, they almost always included the Tar Heels. That helped stimulate interest of girls. The sport has really grown in this state. The Tar Heels' 1991 team included only three players from North Carolina. By 2000 there were eight and that increased to 13 in 2003. All of those teams won NCAA titles. Ten players from this state were members of this year's championship squad.
But, the women's game has exploded everywhere. All that has eventually led to a larger pool of talent for colleges. More scholarships are being offered and Carolina is facing more quality competition every year.
That's what has made all that the Tar Heels have accomplished and are continuing to achieve more impressive each season. This is an anniversary to be relished. It's hard to believe anyone will ever be able to celebrate something like this again.
