University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Look for Continued Success in 1999
August 24, 1999 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 24, 1999
GENERAL OUTLOOK: Despite returning eight starters and 24 letter winners overall from the 1998 season, the 1999 women's soccer campaign at the University of North Carolina must be considered a rebuilding campaign.
No soccer program, even one with the status that North Carolina's enjoys, can possibly lose four players the calibre of Cindy Parlow, Tiffany Roberts, Siri Mullinix and Rakel Karvelsson and not be looking at a rebuilding task of some kind.
Coming off a 25-1 1998 campaign the Tar Heels will be eager to get back to work as they approach this season. There is one matter of unfinished business. Despite all the success enjoyed by the 1998 team, there was one thing that eluded the Tar Heels--the NCAA championship. Carolina ran off 25 successive wins to open the 1998 season, surviving three nailbiting overtime games in the process. But the 26th game proved to the Tar Heels' undoing as the University of Florida, which had taken Carolina to overtime during the regular season, outlasted an offensive onslaught by the Tar Heels in the national final, winning 1-0 on an early goal.
This Carolina team therefore is focused on getting the national crown back. A program that has won 15 national titles since 1981 usually feels that way. But the Tar Heels are also wise enough to know that there are plenty of challengers to that crown. While the Tar Heels are the preseason #1 pick in the coaches poll heading into 1999, both Soccer uzz Magazine and Soccer America have tabbed the Heels as the nation's #2 team behind Santa Clara, an NCAA semifinalist each of the past three seasons.
Coach Jerry Smith's outstanding program on the West Coast returns 10 of its starters after falling to Florida 1-0 in last year's NCAA semifinal.
Also looking to challenge the Tar Heel throne are several other top programs. Notre Dame, gone from the Final Four last year after four straight appearances, has nine starters back on a talent-laden roster.
And Portland, which took UNC to four overtimes in last year's national semifinal, had what it considered to be the best recruiting class in the history of the program. And then there is Connecticut which features last year's National Freshman of the Year, forward Mary-Frances Monroe.
It should prove to be an exciting 1999 college soccer season overall. The Tar Heels have a challenging and an exciting schedule which will take the team from coast-to-coast, playing the nation's best. And with players like senior starters Lorrie Fair, Laurie Schwoy, Lindsay Stoecker and Rebekah McDowell returning to the Tar Heel lineup in 1999, this team isn't ready to concede anything to anybody.
The long-awaited signs that parity has arrived in college soccer seem to be there in force. UNC has now failed to win 50 percent of the last four NCAA championships and there are more and more teams each year with legitimate shots to make the NCAA Final Four or earn a Top 10 national ranking.
LOOKING BACK AT 1998: Despite its failure to win the 1998 national championship, last season could not possibly have been viewed as a failure. Having to blend four new starters into the lineup, the Tar Heels competed at a very high level early in the season. In fact, the Heels may very well have peaked too early last season. Down the stretch, the Heels' offense did not click as usual and that was evident in the NCAA Final Four when UNC scored only one goal in 240 minutes of action.
The Heels were led by the play of senior forward Cindy Parlow, who was the consensus National Player of the Year, winning the Hermann Trophy and the Missouri Athletic Club Sports Foundation Award for the second successive year. Parlow, also the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, led the Tar Heels in scoring with 53 points on 21 goals and 11 assists. She also led the Tar Heels in game-winning goals with seven.
Two other first-team All-Americas also played their last games for the Tar Heels last year--wing midfielder Tiffany Roberts and goalkeeper Siri Mullinix. Roberts was the Most Valuable Player of the 1998 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament last year as the Tar Heels won their 10th straight league title. She went on to be a valuable reserve on the 1999 United States Women's World Cup Team and her future in the international game is bright indeed. Mullinix started as a Tar Heel as a senior, ranking second in the nation in goals against average at 0.30 goals per game while compiling 16 shutouts. Mullinix was one of the last players cut from the 1999 Women's World Cup Team and she went on to star for the U.S. under-21 national team this past summer when it won its version of the gold medal in Iceland.
Add to the losses a player like Karvelsson who despite starting only eight games in her entire career scored an amazing 113 points, among the Tar Heels' all-time leaders. As a senior, Karvelsson was the Heels' third-leading scorer with 10 goals and 12 assists for 32 points, scoring three game-winning goals.
FORWARDS: Carolina will look to both experience and youth in building a cohesive up-front unit to attack opposing goals during the 1999 season. Two starters returning to the Tar Heel starting unit in the person of juniors Raven McDonald (Benson, N.C.) and Meredith Florance (Dallas, Texas). Both played for the U.S. under-21 national team this past summer in Iceland.
McDonald, an honorable mention All-America last year and a second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, returns as a two-year starter for the Tar Heels. A red-shirt junior, she scored eight goals and had eight assists last season for 24 points. Half of her eight goals last year were game-winning goals.
After a less than consistent freshman year Florance was probably the most improved player on the team last year. She was Carolina's fourth-leading scorer a year ago with 31 points on 10 goals and 11 assists. She improved her assist total from four as a freshman to 11 last season, a sign of her growing maturity. It was her dramatic goal in the 150th minute of last year's NCAA semifinal game versus Portland that lifted the Tar Heels into the national final.
Three other letter winners return for the Tar Heels in the forward line, led by sophomore Anne Remy (Norman, Okla.). Remy came off the bench for the Tar Heels last year and had some outstanding moments, scoring six goals and adding six assists for 18 points. She scored the game-winning goal in overtime of the ACC Tournament quarterfinal victory over Duke.
Senior Helen Lawler (Jupiter, Fla.) is a three-time returning letter winner who has seen significant action for the Tar Heels over the past two seasons. Carolina is also looking for contributions from sophomore Amy Whittier (Fairfield, Conn.), who had to sit out last season with an injury after making a solid contribution as a freshman in 1997.
North Carolina is also looking for major contributions this year from two of the most highly recruited players in the nation. Freshmen Susan ush (Houston, Texas) and Kim Patrick (Pleasanton, Calif.) are both talented and athletic individuals with great speed. Both were sought by virtually all of the top programs in the nation.
Bush had the opportunity last spring to gain invaluable experience by practicing with the United States National Team at the Residency Camp in Orlando, Fla. Bush was the only high school player invited to participate in the camp and was also one of only 28 women's soccer players in the nation to receive an invitation to the residency camp.
She also had a valuable experience this past summer when she played for the United States under-21 National Team which won the gold medal in Iceland. Bush assisted on the game-winning golden goal in overtime of the tournament final.
MIDFIELDERS: Despite the loss of Roberts to graduation the Tar Heels return a talented and veteran midfield unit for the 1999 campaign. Leading this unit is three-time first-team All-America selection and three-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference midfielder Laurie Schwoy (Baltimore, Md.).
One of the most prolific scorers in UNC women's soccer history with 41 goals, 33 assists and 115 career points entering the 1999 campaign, Schwoy is the best attacking midfielder in the collegiate ranks.
Plagued on and off by injuries over the past two years, her good health will be an important factor in Carolina's ability to compete nationally in 1999. Last year the McDonogh School graduate was UNC's second-leading scorer with 40 points on 16 goals and eight assists.
Heading into her senior year she has scored 15 game-winning goals in her Tar Heel career, amongst the top figures in school history.
"There is no question that Laurie Schwoy is one of the most talented players in the college game," says UNC head coach Anson Dorrance. "I have no doubt that she will be one of the top candidates for the National Player of the Year awards this year. Her attacking ability, playmaking ability and explosiveness make her one of the most exciting players to watch in the college game."
Joining Schwoy as one of the mainstays in the Tar Heel midfield is yet another three-year starter, Rebekah McDowell (Lakewood, Colo.). After toiling for two years in the UNC midfield in relative obscurity, McDowell finally started to earn the recognition she deserved as a junior in 1998. Not only was she named a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, she was also tabbed a first-team All-America midfielder by both Soccer News and College Soccer Weekly Online.
Besides improving by leaps and bounds at her playmaking midfield position in 1998, McDowell also blossomed offensively, not so much by scoring four goals, but by leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in assists with 18. McDowell earned every bit of the title playmaking midfielder last season.
"I was very pleased to see Rebekah start to get her due last season," says Dorrance. "She was, in my opinion, the most underrated player in the college game her first two years at Chapel Hill. Her work ethic is amazing. As I have said many times, I challenge anyone to go out on a soccer field after a North Carolina game and point out a blade of grass to me that Rebekah McDowell has not trampled at some time that afternoon. She is literally all over the field, every time we take the field."
The third returning starter in the North Carolina midfield unit is talented sophomore Jena Kluegel, who played for the United States women's soccer team in the 1999 Pan American Games at Winnipeg, Manitoba. A third-team freshman All-America selection last season, Kluegel started 25 games last season, scoring four goals and passing for 10 assists. She also had two game-winning tallies for UNC.
Backing up this group is one of the team's top leaders, red-shirt senior eth Sheppard (Cypress, Texas). Sheppard, who started for the Tar Heels in the midfield as a freshman in 1995, spent much of the past two seasons hurt, but she recovered in time to play the best soccer of her college career near the end of the 1998 season. Sheppard had key goals as UNC defeated William & Mary in the NCAA second round and Dartmouth in the NCAA quarterfinals.
Other returning letter winners for the Tar Heels at the midfield position include sophomore Johanna Costa (Chapel Hill, N.C.), junior Julia Marslender (Raleigh, N.C.) and junior Mandy Morrison (Raleigh, N.C.).
Carolina also recruited a pair of talented midfielders in the freshman class who will have a great opportunity to make an immediate and positive impact as first-year players. Both midfielders hail from the talent-rich Dallas, Texas area. Freshman Elizabeth Ball of Dallas is a former high school teammate of UNC junior forward Meredith Florance at Highland Park High School. She is a past member of both the U.S. under-16 and under-18 National Teams. Also joining the Tar Heels is freshman Jordan Walker of Richardson, Texas. She attended Ursuline Academy and was coached there by former UNC soccer player Susan Ellis.
DEFENDERS: Although the Carolina defense returns without standout goalkeeper Siri Mullinix, the Tar Heels should be a very talented and experience unit in 1999. Last year Carolina boasted the second-best scoring unit in the NCAA, allowing only seven goals in 26 games, a goals against average of 0.26 goals per game.
Returning to the Tar Heel defense as starters are senior first-team All-America Lorrie Fair (Los Altos, Calif.), senior second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection Lindsay Stoecker (Raleigh, N.C.) and sophomore first-team freshman All-America Danielle Borgman (Cincinnati, Ohio).
All three players were instrumental in the success of Carolina last year. Fair, a consensus first-team All-America selection each of the past two years and a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection in both 1997 and 1998, was the only player with collegiate eligibility remaining who competed for the United States on the 1999 World Cup Team.
Fair, who finished 10th in the balloting for the Missouri Athletic Club Sports Foundation Player of the Year in 1998, has to be considered one of the leading if not the leading candidate to earn National Player of the Year honors this season. Starting all 26 games for the Tar Heels in 1998, Fair was the squad's fifth-leading scorer from her defender position. She scored five goals and added 16 assists, the second-highest total on the team, to finish with 26 points. Because of her speed and athletic ability, Fair can play anywhere on the field for North Carolina and may be utilized in that manner by Coach Anson Dorrance this year.
"Lorrie Fair represents to me all that is right about college athletics and about the sport of college soccer," says Dorrance. "She had an opportunity after her World Cup experience to cash in on her participation and take the money offered by the United States Soccer Federation. But her devotion to the University of North Carolina led her to decide to return for her senior year to help this team try to win back the national championship.
"I think that is an amazing statement on the part of Lorrie Fair and I have great admiration for her for making this decision. She will be crucial to our success this year. She is the most versatile player we have returning and we may call on her to play several different positions. If we have injuries or chemistry problems, we know we can look at her as a senior and get a tremendous lift."
Joining Fair in the Tar Heels' backfield is Stoecker, who truly progressed her junior year and worked her way into the position of being one of the nation's top defenders. Soccer America tabbed the Raleigh native as a preseason All-America defender heading into the 1999 season.
"Lindsay was a player who really gave us a lift last season. Going into the 1998 season we had some questions about how we were going to replace both Nel Fettig and Staci Wilson as starting defenders," says Dorrance. "Lindsay started all 26 games for us, was steady, consistent and she was rewarded with All-ACC and All-America honors.
The third returning defensive starter is Borgman, who started all 26 games for the Tar Heels in 1999. She scored three goals and had four assists for the Tar Heels last season and was named a freshman All-America by both Soccer America and Soccer Buzz. Borgman also proved herself to be one of the nation's fastest players last season.
Carolina received a surprise boost to its defensive corps this season when junior Kalli Kamholz of Indian Harbor Beach, Fla. decided to transfer to Chapel Hill after playing two years at Vanderbilt University where she was an All-Southeastern Conference selection. Kamholz played for the under-21 national team in Iceland this past summer, joining her future UNC teammates Susan Bush, Meredith Florance and Raven McDonald in claiming the gold medal.
The Tar Heels have several other returning letter winners on defense who will Carolina tremendous depth in this area. That depth may also allow the Tar Heels to have the flexibility to move other players to other parts of the field. Returning letter winners like juniors Tina Murphy (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) and Nancy Hackett (Tracy, Calif.) are both ready top see increased playing time this season. Murphy played in 20 games last season and Hackett red-shirted to improve her game while practicing with the team. Other letter winners returning are senior Charlotte Mitchell (Houston, Texas) and junior Erika Dempsey (Raleigh, N.C.).
Red-shirt freshman Leslie Gaston (Montgomery, Ala.) is also looking to rebound from injuries which kept her out last year to make a major contribution this season.
GOALKEEPERS: Replacing a three-year starter like Siri Mullinix will not be easy for this Tar Heel team but there are three talented goalkeepers who are lining up for the chance to earn the starting nod.
The one player with collegiate experience at the Division I level is sophomore Kristin DePlatchett (Harborcreek, Pa.). DePlatchett served as the top backup to Mullinix last season. She played 358 minutes and did not allow a goal in any of the nine games she played in. Her top competition will come from incoming freshman Jenni Branam (Placentia, Calif.), who was the most highly-recruited goalkeeper in the high school ranks last season. If no player claims a clear lead in practice, UNC may choose to alternate the two, with each playing one half of each game.
Red-shirt junior Jamie Kinney (Dallas, Texas), who played for two years at Brevard Junior College, gives the Tar Heels a very reliable third goalkeeper to count on.
"We certainly are in a good situation have a group of very talented goalkeepers this year," says Chris Ducar, in his fourth year as UNC's goalkeeper coach. "No situation where you lose a player the calibre of Siri Mullinix can be a positive one for a team, but I guess you have to feel good about the people we have available. I think our fans will enjoy watching these young players compete and mature."
1999 SCHEDULE: As is always the case, the 1999 Tar Heel schedule reads like a who's who of the nation's Top 20 teams. Besides playing in the nation's most challenging college soccer conference--the ACC--the Tar Heels have scheduled trips to play in tournaments at Notre Dame, Duke, San Diego and Hartford. Among the Tar Heels' non-conference opponents will be #2 Santa Clara, #4 Connecticut, #6 Penn State, #7 Notre Dame, #9 Dartmouth, #11 Hartford, #16 UCLA and #24 Southern California as based on the preseason National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.
UNC starts as the #1 team in the coaches poll and is joined in that poll by three other ACC teams--Clemson at #12, Virginia at #18 and Wake Forest at #23.
"It has always been our philosophy to play the very best," says Dorrance. "We do not have as an experienced team as we are used to but I think our young players will take to the challenge."
