University of North Carolina Athletics
From Fetzer to Finley: A Critical Look At Issues Involving UNC Olympic Sports
July 5, 2000 | Women's Soccer
July 5, 2000
The Gnashing Of Teeth Is Always A Welcome Sound In Chapel Hill
Director of Media Relations for Olympic Sports
Editor's Note: The following story, originally written by Dave Lohse on January 2, 2000, was recently honored by the College Sports Information Directors of America at the group's annual convention in St. Louis, Mo. Lohse's article was named the best story in the nation in the event coverage category for the 1999-2000 school year. Many thanks to the UNC women's soccer team and coaching staff for making the writing of this missive a virtual piece of cake.
At approximately 5:00 p.m. E.S.T. on December 5, 1999, a sound so deafening was heard nationwide that literally millions of people had to put their hands to their ears and clamp tight for several seconds. It was not an unusual sound by any means. After all, it had been heard 15 times before since 1981. The sound was so familiar that the 14,000 plus who packed Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif. that afternoon were ready for it. In fact, most expected it and were fully prepared for the grating sound that was to come.
All over America, there were millions of women's soccer fans sitting in front of their television sets glued to ESPN and watching the North Carolina women's soccer team finish off a 2-0 victory over tournament Cinderella Notre Dame. In the process, Carolina claimed its 16th national championship in women's soccer over the last 19 seasons.
And then the gnashing began. It was the gnashing of millions of teeth grinding together in frustration. Once again, the Tar Heels stood atop the pedestal of collegiate women's soccer and all those soccer fans that are not fond of the UNC program found themselves in pain once again.
It wasn't supposed to be this way in 1999. There were signs all around that the dynasty coach Anson Dorrance has built in Chapel Hill was begin to show signs of wear. It all started last year in the NCAA championship game when an underdog Florida team utilized a physical style of play to upset an undefeated Tar Heel team 1-0 and claim the Gators' first national title. The loss was only the third in NCAA play for the Tar Heels, the others being to George Mason in the 1985 championship game and to Notre Dame in a 1995 semifinal contest.
Then, while UNC's women's soccer program was garnering all kinds of positive publicity this past summer when the United States captured the Women's World Cup trophy with a roster featuring eight former and current Tar Heel players, Dorrance was in the process of planning for the 1999 season. He already faced the fact that four extremely valuable players had been lost to graduation off the '98 team. This quartet included 1999 U.S. World Cup stars Cindy Parlow and Tiffany Roberts as well as starting goalkeeper Siri Mullinix, who was one of the last players cut from the World Cup squad. Also gone was Rakel Karvelsson, the super sub who was UNC's third-leading scorer during the 25-1 season in 1998.
The news did not get better for Dorrance. He already knew that All-America defender Lorrie Fair would return to the team in the fall fatigued after practicing and player with the U.S. World Cup team for seven months in a row. In early August, incoming freshman forward Susan Bush, the nation's top recruit, sustained a serious knee injury while playing for the U.S. under-21 National Team in the Nordic Cup in Iceland. As these two players limped into pre-season practice, it was also obvious that dynamic, first-team All-America attacking center midfielder Laurie Schwoy was still less than 100 percent. She had been playing through a nagging hamstring injury for much of the past year and finally a decision had to be made about her status. Doctors advised both Dorrance and Schwoy that several months of rest were needed for Schwoy's injury to fully heal. So the week before the regular season began the announcement came that Schwoy would sit out the 1999 campaign and return to the Tar Heels as a fifth-year senior for the 2000 campaign.
The number of games lost to injury continued to pile up over the course of the season. Besides those three aforementioned stars, other Tar Heel regulars who would end up missing games because of various maladies included starting goalkeeper Jenni Branam, forward Meredith Florance, defensive midfielder Leslie Gaston and playmaking center midfielder Rebekah McDowell. But no one was in any mood to feel sorry for the Tar Heels. When a team has had the success that North Carolina has had, it is doubtful you have very many friends out there offering empathy for your problems.
Meanwhile, as per usual, Dorrance had put together a schedule that was beyond challenging--it was downright lethal. Of course, when schedules are made the assumption is that you will have all your pertinent parts in place. Which of course the Tar Heels never really did at any point during the 1999 campaign. When all was said and done Carolina would end up playing 21 of their 26 games against teams, which participated in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
Despite all the woes, Dorrance and his troops remained undaunted. With the youngest team since the 1995 squad, Carolina ducked no opponent and in the first few games of the season met up with the likes of Notre Dame, Connecticut and Penn State. The game with the Nittany Lions would be the first defining moment of the campaign. On the day that the University honored its 1999 World Cup stars, it was a freshman from Penn State, Christie Welsh, who put on a show. Welsh, who spurned a scholarship offer from the Tar Heels to play for the Lions, scored a pair of magnificent unassisted goals in the first half and UNC, playing sans Fair and Branam, were unable to rally, losing 3-2 at Fetzer Field. It was the first home loss for the Tar Heels since 1995 and it wasn't a fluke. Penn State flat outplayed the Tar Heels that day.
Following the game Dorrance was stern with his Tar Heels but supportive at the same time. He challenged his young team to play Carolina soccer. From then on, the team's work ethic was never in doubt. Still, there were chemistry issues to be addressed.
Just 12 days after the loss to Penn State, the Tar Heels faced another challenge of enormous proportions. Traveling across the country to face UNC in a tournament at Duke was the nation's consensus preseason #1 team, Santa Clara University. The Broncos had been pointing to the 1999 season for the past couple of years. Coach Jerry Smith's talented team returned 10 starters, including five regulars who were seniors. After losing by a single goal in the previous three NCAA Tournaments in the semifinal round, the Broncos were salivating at the thought of playing the 1999 Final Four only five miles from their campus at San Jose State University.
When the Tar Heels played the Broncos on September 24, Santa Clara was as good as advertised. The Broncos beat the Heels 1-0 on an own goal and in the process posted their first win against UNC after 13 previous losses. Eight games into the 1999 season the Tar Heels were now 6-2 and the skeptics were having a field day. For the first time since 1985 UNC had lost two games in the same season and the team's chemistry problems seemed insoluble.
From that point on, however, Carolina would be invincible. The Tar Heels rebounded from the loss to Santa Clara by demolishing seventh-ranked Southern Cal 5-0 two days later. That started a run of 18 successive Carolina wins in which UNC outscored its opponents 61-5. The greatest improvement was on defense where the quartet of Fair, Branum, Lindsay Stoecker and Danielle Borgman would all go on to earn All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors. After allowing seven goals in the first eight games of the season, Carolina would allow only five more scores in the season's last 18 games.
After experimenting with playing Fair in Schwoy's old position and then at center forward, Dorrance eventually moved Fair back to her old position of left back during the second half of a 3-0 win at Maryland on October 24. At that point, Carolina's chemistry problems began to dissipate. Roles were defined and the Tar Heels began to play exceptional soccer. With freshman Kim Patrick, who led the Tar Heels in scoring with 42 points, at center forward and sophomore Anne Remy (40 points) and junior Meredith Florance (34 points) at the wing positions, the forward line developed into a productive unit. The midfield was magnificent. Seniors Beth Sheppard and Rebekah McDowell, who played the last 10 games of the season with a broken bone in her right foot, took control of the middle of the field. Wing midfielders Raven McDonald and Jena Kluegel were spectacular every game.
A solid bench developed with junior transfer Kalli Kamholz, freshman Elizabeth Ball and defenders Tina Murphy and Leslie Gaston allowing the Tar Heels to go 15 players deep. And after tearing up her knee again the night before the Santa Clara game, freshman phenom Susan Bush was being nursed back to health slowly and surely with the hope that she could make an impact in the NCAA Tournament.
After winning their 11th successive ACC championship by blanking three straight opponents in the tournament at Chapel Hill November 4-7, the Tar Heels were ready for the show once again. The newly named Women's College Cup began with an 8-0 win over Central Florida on November 13. A week later, Carolina dispatched 10th-ranked William & Mary in the third round 5-1. All-America Missy Wycinsky scored for the Tribe with only 1:58 to play in that game, the only goal UNC would allow in the last 11 games of the season. In the quarterfinals, the Tar Heels defeated ACC rival Clemson for the third time in 1999.
The following weekend saw the Tar Heels in San Jose at their 20th successive Final Four. The semifinals brought the Tar Heels a chance to avenge one of their two regular season losses and they did so, defeating Penn State 2-0. A first-half goal by Remy and insurance tally by Patrick provided the offense and the defense, led by freshman keeper Branam was brilliant.
The second game of the doubleheader was the shocker of the year. Fifth-seeded Notre Dame, which had survived early round nailbiters against Stanford and Nebraska, was outshot by undefeated and untied Santa Clara 17-3, but a goal by freshman Ali Lovelace in the 75th minute gave the Fighting Irish an improbable 1-0 triumph. It was Santa Clara's seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament semifinals and the Broncos have gone 0-7 in those games.
Carolina fully expected to have its hands full with Notre Dame two days later. The two teams had played in South Bend on September 3 and Carolina need a Patrick goal with three minutes left to force overtime before Florance won it for UNC with a golden goal in the second overtime.
After outshooting the Irish 8-1 in the first half, Carolina still found itself tied with the Irish at 0-0. But Florance scored her second game-winning goal of the season (both against Notre Dame) 10 minutes into the second half and fifth-year senior Beth Sheppard completed a long road back from constant injuries to add the insurance goal with 10 minutes left in the game. Ironically, UNC outshot Notre Dame 17-3, the same margin Santa Clara had two nights earlier in the Broncos' 1-0 loss.
Moments after the game ended, the Tar Heels hoisted the national championship trophy aloft for the 16th time in the last 19 years. And the collective gnashing of teeth across the country began in earnest. And here's more bad news for all those hoping the dynasty will end soon. UNC returns eight of its 10 top scorers for the 2000 campaign.
