GoHeels Exclusive: Expectations Met

Anson Dorrance
University of North Carolina Women's Soccer v Florida State
NCAA Championship
Wake Med Soccer Park
Chapel Hill, NC
Sunday, December 2, 2018

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

December 3, 2018 | Women's Soccer, Featured Writers

One game did not define Tar Heels' season

By: Pat James

By Pat James, GoHeels.com

CARY, N.C. — Anson Dorrance stood on the pitch at Finley Field South, a few minutes removed from the North Carolina women's soccer team's season-opening win over Illinois.

The Tar Heels had just rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat the Fighting Illini 3-1. They'd cleared the first hurdle in this marathon of a season. But as opposed to discussing his team's comeback, Dorrance spent most of his postgame media availability fielding questions about if this group had enough potential to claim the program's 23rd national championship.

Only here do Augusts begin like this, with the same grand expectations surrounding Dorrance's program each year. And only here have those expectations been met so often.

"I'm not going to burden this team with the tradition because I know what the tradition is," said Dorrance that August day, the first in his 40th season as UNC's head coach. "This is a tradition that if you don't win the national championship, the season is a failure."

In past years, that might've been the sentiment after Carolina's quest for a 22nd NCAA title ended with a 1-0 loss against Florida State in Sunday's national championship game at WakeMed Soccer Park. But it was far from it. Instead, Dorrance and his players took the time to appreciate their season for what it was, a magnificent run that came up just short. And they certainly had reasons to be proud.

The Tar Heels seemed as likely as any team to reach the College Cup during a regular season that saw them go undefeated and untied during ACC play for the first time since 2006. But in their final match before the postseason, Alessia Russo, the team's leading scorer, broke her leg.

Losing a player of Russo's caliber would've doomed most teams. But it didn't deter UNC.

Alex Kimball and Rachael Dorwart filled in admirably for Russo, helping Carolina reach the ACC Championship game and earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels subsequently won five straight games to make the NCAA championship. Among those were a penalty kick shootout victory against UCLA and a 1-0 triumph over previously undefeated Georgetown, the latter of which came after Julia Ashley scored on an end-to-end run in double overtime.

"The postseason especially is what I'll remember the most, and how we've really grown as a team," said Ashley, who had 11 points in the NCAA Tournament. "We really are truly a family."

And that, more than anything, made Sunday's defeat all the more difficult.

Despite being outshot 6-2 in a scoreless first half, UNC had the best scoring chance for either team in the 36th minute, when Dorwart got her head on a corner kick from Lotte Wubben-Moy. But Dorwart flicked her shot wide, just inches left of the goal.

After halftime, Carolina outshot Florida State 6-2. The Seminoles broke the tie in the 60th minute, though, when Deyna Castellanos somehow found enough space between two defenders to deliver a perfect ball to Dallas Dorosy. Dorosy slid through Wubben-Moy and redirected the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead. It was her third goal against the Tar Heels this season.

For the next 30 minutes, UNC relentlessly pushed forward, trying to find an equalizer. But as much as it threatened, it couldn't find one.

Sunday's match marked the third between the Tar Heels and Florida State this season. Carolina won 1-0 in Tallahassee, Fla., during the regular season, then fell 3-2 in the ACC Championship game on Nov. 4. Since the latter, Dorrance said the Tar Heels "closed the gap."

"Those of you who watched the (ACC) final, it was a clear statement about Florida State being the superior team," he said. "Today, if you clip out the goal that they scored and you ask anyone who knows anything about the game, 'We've clipped out the one goal. Which team won?' Guess what they would say? They would say North Carolina."

But as Dorrance also stated, soccer "is a bizarre game" and can be "punishing." So as the Seminoles celebrated their second national championship, the UNC coach was left to reflect on this season.

"When you look at your team from a coach's perspective, the thing you're always interested in is evolution, getting better," Dorrance said. "And we got so much better from the first game of the season to where we are now. But also, we got a heck of a lot better from the ACC final to now, as well. And that's as much as we can ask for.

"I'm very proud of our kids, the season we've had and certainly my fabulous leadership, among the best of any team I've ever coached."

Carolina will be without many of those leaders next season. Sunday's match was the final one for 10 Tar Heel seniors, including starters Ashley, Dorian Bailey, Kimball and Samantha Leshnak. But 20 letter winners return.

Among those returnees are starting midfielders Taylor Otto and Brianna Pinto. Along with Bridgette Andrzejewski, Dorwart, Rachel Jones and Russo, they'll form a dynamic attack. On defense, three of four starters return – including Emily Fox, who received a call-up to the U.S. National Team in November and started two matches. Dorrance will also surely find contributors among an 11-member recruiting class.

But with eight months between now and August, when the questions about another championship pursuit will naturally arise again, Otto wanted to cherish what this group accomplished.

"This team has been unbelievable, and we were so, so happy to be here," she said. "We fought so hard to get here, and we deserved to be here. Unfortunately, we didn't win today. But we don't regret it at all."