University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
GoHeels Exclusive: Bridgette’s Four-Year Evolution
December 8, 2019 | Women's Soccer, Featured Writers
Senior forward ready for national title game
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Just over a month removed from the final game of the 2018 season, a 1-0 loss to Florida State in the national championship game, Bridgette Andrzejewski walked into her end-of-season meeting with Anson Dorrance last January.
A rising senior, she knew full well how the conference would go. He'd rattle off everything she needed to do better as a player and tell her what it'd take to improve. He'd also remark on how she could continue building character – that, of course, means the most.
As Andrzejewski expected, Dorrance did all that. But he also made one thing clear: He didn't feel as if she had achieved her vast potential.
"I told her I didn't think she was going to have an opportunity to sign a pro contract," Dorrance recalled Saturday, "because she just hadn't committed herself to the game."
Dorrance's words didn't fall on deaf ears. Andrzejewski took his advice to heart and promptly set about trying to refine her skills, ranging from her touches and finishes to her crosses and finding her teammates faster. His comment about her not playing professionally, though? She took it how anyone who knows her would expect.
For as long as Andrzejewski remembers, she's approached life with an unwavering confidence that's buoyed her through all the ups and downs of her soccer career. Playing with and against the best of the best at North Carolina certainly hasn't changed that.
Each year, Dorrance has his players rate themselves in different areas on a scale of one to five, with five being the best. Each year, when Andrzejewski has gotten to the category marked "self-belief," she's given herself a five without any hesitation. Her teammates would, too. And they know as well as anyone that if she's determined to do something, she'll make it happen.
"No one is getting in her way," said redshirt senior Ru Mucherera.
So, as she listened to her coach tell her the reasons why he thought, at least then, she wouldn't be able to accomplish her lifelong dream, Andrzejewski readied to dispel that notion.
"When he talked about playing pro," she said, "I was just like, 'OK, Anson, I'm going to do it. Just watch.'"
The last 11 months, he has. And heading into Andrzejewski's final collegiate game, Sunday's 8:30 p.m. EST showdown against Stanford in the national championship game in San Jose, Calif., Dorrance praised her Saturday for how far she's come.
"All of a sudden … you saw this 180 in every respect, with her commitment to her own development as a player, her commitment to her teammates, her relationships with everyone from the staff right through the player roster," Dorrance said. "I could not be prouder. Now, I'm absolutely convinced she's going to sign a pro contract."
But Andrzejewski isn't done proving herself.
More than a game
Andrzejewski estimates she was just 5 years old when she joined her first soccer team. But her exposure to the sport began long before that.
Growing up in Lutherville, Md., just north of Baltimore, she attended every game her sister Ali, 13 years her senior, played at McDonogh School, the University of Maryland and Loyola University. Ali was also member of youth national teams and played for the Women's United Soccer Association's Washington Freedom. She was far from Andrzejewski's only soccer role model, though.
There was her oldest brother Scott, who played at Stevenson University. There was also her uncle Dave, a member of the UMBC Athletic Hall of Fame. The person who influenced the early stages of her career the most, however, was her dad, Gary. He coached Andrzejewski's first team.
"Soccer just meant a lot more to me than just a game," she said. "It meant spending time with my dad. I just loved going to practice, and he made it a lot more enjoyable."
It likely didn't hurt she was talented, too.
Not until a few years ago did Gary and Andrzejewski's mom, Patty, tell her of all the parents who came up to them at her youth games, marveling over how good she was and how good she'd be. Their praise proved to be warranted. At 13, Andrzejewski went to her first youth national team camp. She then received her first recruiting letter about a year later.
Shortly after, UNC started showing interest. Virginia did, as well. Eventually, her decision came down to the two ACC schools, and before her junior year at McDonogh, she sided with the Tar Heels because of the strong connection she felt with the coaches and players.
As Andrzejewski went through the recruiting process, Ali advised her and stressed Andrzejewski needed to have a complete understanding of whatever school she committed to. With Carolina and UVA, Ali and Gary told Andrzejewski she'd have to earn a significant role; nothing would be given to her. But that didn't deter her. She embraced the opportunity.
"Even though that kind of sounded a little scary at first, I'm so competitive, so I was totally up for it," said, Andrzejewski, a three-time high school All-America selection. "I was like, 'Even though there are a bunch of star players, I want to get a star spot.'"
Even then, she didn't anticipate how quick she'd secure one.
'Everything has clicked'
Andrzejewski never planned on playing during her true freshman season in 2016. In fact, she never even planned on being in Chapel Hill most of that fall.
Instead, she intended to train with the U.S. under-20 women's national team for much of the year, then travel to Papua, New Guinea, for the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup. She never received a call-up, though. And that pushed her throughout her first season.
With Tar Heel teammates Taylor Otto and Jessie Scarpa redshirting while playing for the U.S. U20 team and Joanna Boyles and Kate Morris redshirting while recovering from injuries, Andrzejewski worked her way into the starting lineup. In recording a team-high nine goals and two assists, she captured ACC Freshman of the Year honors. She also led UNC to the College Cup, also held in San Jose.
"It really was just a fire in me that just wanted to prove myself, what kind of soccer player I am," Andrzejewski said. "I think at the end of the day, it was kind of good that I didn't go to the World Cup because I feel like I really took another step in my game and who I'd become."
That, however, brought an unexpected challenge, she said.
Given her immediate success, Andrzejewski felt as if she needed to live up to that the rest of her Carolina career. She quickly learned that wouldn't be easy, as she initially struggled to score at the rate she wanted as a sophomore. Still, she managed eight goals and seven assists.
She couldn't maintain that statistical production her junior year, though, as she tallied five goals and four assists while averaging a career-low 56.9 minutes. That season was the most trying.
"It was all a mental thing and I felt like that really took away from me playing like myself on the soccer field," she said. "I'm really happy that happened because I feel like my junior year really, really made me mentally strong and made me realize how to go through hardships."
As much as last season and Dorrance's remarks in their January meeting motivated her in the offseason, that she was preparing for her final collegiate season inspired her even more.
Andrzejewski recognized, as a senior, her results in preseason conditioning would show how committed she is to the sport and also set an example for the underclassmen. That, she said, made her work harder in the summer. Then, once the season began, she continued asserting herself as a leader, which led to her connecting more with her teammates.
"My senior year I feel like I've been the closest with the whole team since any year I've been here," she said. "And I've also evolved in my game and I feel like finally everything has clicked, not just for me as a soccer player but me as a teammate and as a leader."
Dorrance can't emphasize the latter part of that statement enough.
He said Andrzejewski would be the first person to admit "she thought the universe revolved around her" as a freshman. But that's far from the case now. And Andrzejewski knows exactly who and what to credit for how she's developed as a human being.
"I truly mean it when I say with all their core values and book meetings and the lectures by Anson, I honestly soaked it all in and realized each year, I was becoming a better person," she said. "I totally achieved everything and I just look back and am thankful for all those moments."
Moved by memories
Andrzejewski's senior season, during which she's registered 20 points (six goals and eight assists) has been filled with more memorable moments. Some historical ones, too.
In the season opener against Indiana, she scored the first-ever collegiate goal at the new Tar Heel soccer stadium. A month later, she netted the first goal, the eventual game-winner, in UNC's 3-0 victory over Notre Dame on Dorrance Field Dedication Day. There was also the overtime win over Virginia in the ACC Tournament title game.
No moment elicited as much emotion, though, as when she walked into the locker room before her Senior Day game and saw photos of her and her classmates spread around the room. Among them was one of her holding a soccer ball as she stood next to her dad when he was her coach.
"Seeing all that right away when I walked in, I started bawling my eyes out," Andrzejewski said. "Everyone came over and was hugging me."
"Ever since that day," she added, "I kind of just was like, 'Wow, I'm playing not only for my team or my family, I'm playing for every girl like myself as a little girl holding the soccer ball in my hand. I'm playing for all those little moments and memories from when I was young.'"
Many of her goals she set back then are still within reach. Hopefully, she'll accomplish another Sunday, when she takes the field one last time in a Carolina uniform, trying to win an NCAA title.
After that, it's off to the professional ranks. The National Women's Soccer League Draft is in January, coincidentally in Baltimore, and to be selected during it would fulfill a dream. But that's not all her sights are set on. She has every intention of playing for the full U.S. national team.
"There's no other option," Andrzejewski said. "At the end of the day, I'm going to get on the national team. I don't care if it's four years from now or five years from now. There's no question I'm going to do it."
Think she won't? Go ahead, tell her. That'll only stoke the fire within her.
Just over a month removed from the final game of the 2018 season, a 1-0 loss to Florida State in the national championship game, Bridgette Andrzejewski walked into her end-of-season meeting with Anson Dorrance last January.
A rising senior, she knew full well how the conference would go. He'd rattle off everything she needed to do better as a player and tell her what it'd take to improve. He'd also remark on how she could continue building character – that, of course, means the most.
As Andrzejewski expected, Dorrance did all that. But he also made one thing clear: He didn't feel as if she had achieved her vast potential.
"I told her I didn't think she was going to have an opportunity to sign a pro contract," Dorrance recalled Saturday, "because she just hadn't committed herself to the game."
Dorrance's words didn't fall on deaf ears. Andrzejewski took his advice to heart and promptly set about trying to refine her skills, ranging from her touches and finishes to her crosses and finding her teammates faster. His comment about her not playing professionally, though? She took it how anyone who knows her would expect.
For as long as Andrzejewski remembers, she's approached life with an unwavering confidence that's buoyed her through all the ups and downs of her soccer career. Playing with and against the best of the best at North Carolina certainly hasn't changed that.
Each year, Dorrance has his players rate themselves in different areas on a scale of one to five, with five being the best. Each year, when Andrzejewski has gotten to the category marked "self-belief," she's given herself a five without any hesitation. Her teammates would, too. And they know as well as anyone that if she's determined to do something, she'll make it happen.
"No one is getting in her way," said redshirt senior Ru Mucherera.
So, as she listened to her coach tell her the reasons why he thought, at least then, she wouldn't be able to accomplish her lifelong dream, Andrzejewski readied to dispel that notion.
"When he talked about playing pro," she said, "I was just like, 'OK, Anson, I'm going to do it. Just watch.'"
The last 11 months, he has. And heading into Andrzejewski's final collegiate game, Sunday's 8:30 p.m. EST showdown against Stanford in the national championship game in San Jose, Calif., Dorrance praised her Saturday for how far she's come.
"All of a sudden … you saw this 180 in every respect, with her commitment to her own development as a player, her commitment to her teammates, her relationships with everyone from the staff right through the player roster," Dorrance said. "I could not be prouder. Now, I'm absolutely convinced she's going to sign a pro contract."
But Andrzejewski isn't done proving herself.
More than a game
Andrzejewski estimates she was just 5 years old when she joined her first soccer team. But her exposure to the sport began long before that.
Growing up in Lutherville, Md., just north of Baltimore, she attended every game her sister Ali, 13 years her senior, played at McDonogh School, the University of Maryland and Loyola University. Ali was also member of youth national teams and played for the Women's United Soccer Association's Washington Freedom. She was far from Andrzejewski's only soccer role model, though.
There was her oldest brother Scott, who played at Stevenson University. There was also her uncle Dave, a member of the UMBC Athletic Hall of Fame. The person who influenced the early stages of her career the most, however, was her dad, Gary. He coached Andrzejewski's first team.
"Soccer just meant a lot more to me than just a game," she said. "It meant spending time with my dad. I just loved going to practice, and he made it a lot more enjoyable."
It likely didn't hurt she was talented, too.
Not until a few years ago did Gary and Andrzejewski's mom, Patty, tell her of all the parents who came up to them at her youth games, marveling over how good she was and how good she'd be. Their praise proved to be warranted. At 13, Andrzejewski went to her first youth national team camp. She then received her first recruiting letter about a year later.
Shortly after, UNC started showing interest. Virginia did, as well. Eventually, her decision came down to the two ACC schools, and before her junior year at McDonogh, she sided with the Tar Heels because of the strong connection she felt with the coaches and players.
As Andrzejewski went through the recruiting process, Ali advised her and stressed Andrzejewski needed to have a complete understanding of whatever school she committed to. With Carolina and UVA, Ali and Gary told Andrzejewski she'd have to earn a significant role; nothing would be given to her. But that didn't deter her. She embraced the opportunity.
"Even though that kind of sounded a little scary at first, I'm so competitive, so I was totally up for it," said, Andrzejewski, a three-time high school All-America selection. "I was like, 'Even though there are a bunch of star players, I want to get a star spot.'"
Even then, she didn't anticipate how quick she'd secure one.
'Everything has clicked'
Andrzejewski never planned on playing during her true freshman season in 2016. In fact, she never even planned on being in Chapel Hill most of that fall.
Instead, she intended to train with the U.S. under-20 women's national team for much of the year, then travel to Papua, New Guinea, for the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup. She never received a call-up, though. And that pushed her throughout her first season.
With Tar Heel teammates Taylor Otto and Jessie Scarpa redshirting while playing for the U.S. U20 team and Joanna Boyles and Kate Morris redshirting while recovering from injuries, Andrzejewski worked her way into the starting lineup. In recording a team-high nine goals and two assists, she captured ACC Freshman of the Year honors. She also led UNC to the College Cup, also held in San Jose.
"It really was just a fire in me that just wanted to prove myself, what kind of soccer player I am," Andrzejewski said. "I think at the end of the day, it was kind of good that I didn't go to the World Cup because I feel like I really took another step in my game and who I'd become."
That, however, brought an unexpected challenge, she said.
Given her immediate success, Andrzejewski felt as if she needed to live up to that the rest of her Carolina career. She quickly learned that wouldn't be easy, as she initially struggled to score at the rate she wanted as a sophomore. Still, she managed eight goals and seven assists.
She couldn't maintain that statistical production her junior year, though, as she tallied five goals and four assists while averaging a career-low 56.9 minutes. That season was the most trying.
"It was all a mental thing and I felt like that really took away from me playing like myself on the soccer field," she said. "I'm really happy that happened because I feel like my junior year really, really made me mentally strong and made me realize how to go through hardships."
As much as last season and Dorrance's remarks in their January meeting motivated her in the offseason, that she was preparing for her final collegiate season inspired her even more.
Andrzejewski recognized, as a senior, her results in preseason conditioning would show how committed she is to the sport and also set an example for the underclassmen. That, she said, made her work harder in the summer. Then, once the season began, she continued asserting herself as a leader, which led to her connecting more with her teammates.
"My senior year I feel like I've been the closest with the whole team since any year I've been here," she said. "And I've also evolved in my game and I feel like finally everything has clicked, not just for me as a soccer player but me as a teammate and as a leader."
Dorrance can't emphasize the latter part of that statement enough.
He said Andrzejewski would be the first person to admit "she thought the universe revolved around her" as a freshman. But that's far from the case now. And Andrzejewski knows exactly who and what to credit for how she's developed as a human being.
"I truly mean it when I say with all their core values and book meetings and the lectures by Anson, I honestly soaked it all in and realized each year, I was becoming a better person," she said. "I totally achieved everything and I just look back and am thankful for all those moments."
Moved by memories
Andrzejewski's senior season, during which she's registered 20 points (six goals and eight assists) has been filled with more memorable moments. Some historical ones, too.
In the season opener against Indiana, she scored the first-ever collegiate goal at the new Tar Heel soccer stadium. A month later, she netted the first goal, the eventual game-winner, in UNC's 3-0 victory over Notre Dame on Dorrance Field Dedication Day. There was also the overtime win over Virginia in the ACC Tournament title game.
No moment elicited as much emotion, though, as when she walked into the locker room before her Senior Day game and saw photos of her and her classmates spread around the room. Among them was one of her holding a soccer ball as she stood next to her dad when he was her coach.
"Seeing all that right away when I walked in, I started bawling my eyes out," Andrzejewski said. "Everyone came over and was hugging me."
"Ever since that day," she added, "I kind of just was like, 'Wow, I'm playing not only for my team or my family, I'm playing for every girl like myself as a little girl holding the soccer ball in my hand. I'm playing for all those little moments and memories from when I was young.'"
Many of her goals she set back then are still within reach. Hopefully, she'll accomplish another Sunday, when she takes the field one last time in a Carolina uniform, trying to win an NCAA title.
After that, it's off to the professional ranks. The National Women's Soccer League Draft is in January, coincidentally in Baltimore, and to be selected during it would fulfill a dream. But that's not all her sights are set on. She has every intention of playing for the full U.S. national team.
"There's no other option," Andrzejewski said. "At the end of the day, I'm going to get on the national team. I don't care if it's four years from now or five years from now. There's no question I'm going to do it."
Think she won't? Go ahead, tell her. That'll only stoke the fire within her.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
/ Women's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Women's Soccer
Forward
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