Jennifer Branam

Position:
Goalkeeper
Height:
5-7
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Placentia, CA

General
One of the best goalkeepers in the college game...she will be entering her fourth year as Carolina’s starting keeper this season....earned the starting goalkeeper’s job at Carolina as a freshman and had a banner inaugural campaign and followed that up with two more outstanding seasons as a sophomore and junior...has had to fight through injury problems on a regular basis as a collegian...has been the starting goalkeeper on two NCAA championship teams at Carolina...A Parade All-America High School Soccer Team selection in 1998..

ODP Soccer Experience
Currently a member of the full United States National Team as a pool player...has been on the National Team since 2000...has earned five caps while playing for the National Team...missed a large part of the 2000 season when she was in Australia after having been chosen as an alternate member of the U.S. Olympic Team...was chosen to train with the U.S. National Team in the residency camp in San Diego from January of 2000 through the following summer...starred in the summer of 2000 as the goalkeeper on the U.S. under 21 national team at the Nordic Cup Championships.....played club soccer for 12 years before coming to Carolina.

2001 Season
Had another great season for the Tar Heels despite suffering a broken kneecap in UNC’s regular season win over Duke...chosen third-team All-Southeast Region by the NSCAA...she was able to play in 18 of the Tar Heels’ 25 games, starting 10 times...earned an assist in UNC’s 5-0 win over Charlotte on September 7....for the season she had 32 saves while allowing seven goals in 1,097 minutes...she finished with a goals against average of 0.57 for the year and had 5.8 shutouts...had solo shutouts against Charlotte and in the regular season win over Penn State...had a season-high five saves in the regular season win at Duke...named to the 2001-02 ACC Academic Honor Roll with a 3.0 grade point average.

2000 Season
Was an alternate member of the 2000 United States Olympic Team...a Soccer Times honorable mention All-America selection in 2000...played in 16 games for the Tar Heels as a sophomore missing much of the season when she was playing with the U.S. Olympic Team in Australia...made 31 saves on the season while allowing 12 goals...her goals against average was 0.86 per game...she was credited with 4.5 shutouts on the season...she started 14 games last season and played a team-leading 1,257 minutes in goal...she ranked second in the ACC in goals against average at 0.86 per game, seventh in save percentage (.721) and eighth in saves per game (1.94)...made a season-high seven saves in Carolina’s 6-1 win over Virginia on September 1, 2000...that was also her career high total for a single game...she had five saves in the Tar Heels’ 6-1 victory over Tennessee on September 3, 2000 and four saves in a 4-1 victory at Texas A&M on August 27, 2000...she played all 90 minutes of every game the Tar Heels played in winning the ACC and NCAA Tournaments a year ago...she recorded solo shutouts against Florida State and Duke in the semifinals and finals of the ACC Tournament...she also had solo shutouts against Wake Forest and Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament.

1999 Season
Tapped for honorable mention All-America honors by College Soccer Online and Soccer Buzz...Soccer Buzz first-team Freshman All-America selection...was tapped as Soccer Buzz Southeast Region Freshman of the Year...named first-team All-Southeast Region by Soccer Buzz and to Soccer Buzz Southeast Region All-Freshman Team...named second-team All-ACC as a freshman...led the ACC in goals allowed average at 0.30 per game...played in 22 of the Tar Heels’ 26 games last year when not dogged by the injury bug...started in all 22 of those games...had a 0.30 goals against average and recorded 14.2 shutouts...she earned assists against Maryland and against Penn State in the NCAA semifinals when her booming punts from the box set up Tar Heel goals on the other end of the field...recorded 40 saves on the season, including a season-high five at Notre Dame (9/3/99) and against Santa Clara (9/24/99)...named first-team All-Southeast Region by the NSCAA.

Prep
Graduated on June 16, 1999 from El Dorado High School in Placentia, Calif....played four years of high school soccer as a forward and goalkeeper...was MVP of league in soccer as a junior...was Most Valuable Player of soccer team as a sophomore and junior...second-team All-CIF selection as a junior in soccer...was a first-team All-Empire League selection in soccer as a sophomore and junior...named third-team All-CIF as a freshman in soccer...also competed on the football team for two years as a kicker...named Football Special Team Player of the Week...was a member of the track team for two years, competing in shot put and discus...was Most Valuable Player of the track team as a freshman.

Personal
Given name is Jennifer Lea Branam...goes by Jenni...is the daughter of Bryant and Karen Branam...has one brother and one sister...was born October 8, 1980 in Anaheim, Calif....member of the Girl Scouts for 11 years...majors in athletic training...wants to pursue a career in professional soccer...athlete she most admires is Billy Mills...hobbies include playing roller hockey, rollerblading, hockey and mountain blading.