University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Loses Three Players To Off-Season Injuries
August 11, 2005 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 11, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - With the University of North Carolina women's soccer team having started preseason practice Wednesday as the Tar Heels seek to capture the NCAA title for the first time since 2003, head coach Anson Dorrance faced a depleted roster which has seen three potential starters go down for the season with off-season injuries.
Both head coach Anson Dorrance and head women's soccer athletic trainer Bill Prentice comfirmed Thursday that junior defender Amy Steadman's playing career has come to an end while junior defender Jessica Maxwell and freshman goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris will miss the entirety of the 2005 campaign.
All three players suffered tears of the anterior cruciate ligament. Steadman had already been operated on three times during high school and college for ACL tears and she suffered her fourth near the end of last season. During the off-season Steadman hung up her soccer boots for good as reconstructive surgery was not an option a fourth time, Prentice acknowledged.
Harris suffered her ACL tear in her right knee in June just one day after being cleared to practice and compete again after a serious thumb injury. Maxwell also suffered an ACL tear in the right knee while playing for the United States Under 21 National Team at the Nordic Cup in July. She had surgery last week in her native Texas to repair the damage. Harris will have her surgery in the next few weeks, Prentice said.
Even with the injuries, UNC boasts a roster of 25 healthy players which includes 18 returning letter winners from 2004 and 10 players who started primarily at the tail end of last season.
