University of Tennessee Athletics
NO. 11 LADY VOLS TO CHALLENGE NO. 2 NORTH CAROLINA IN SWEET 16
November 20, 2002 | Soccer
Nov. 20, 2002
| NCAA SOCCER - 3rd ROUND | ||
 North Carolina Tar Heels | vs. |  Tennessee Lady Vols |
Match Notes in PDF Format   Download Free Acrobat Reader | ||
| Live Internet Audio Broadcast | ||
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
Having advanced to the third round of the NCAA Women's College Cup for the first time, the 11th-ranked Lady Vol soccer team will encounter an opponent that is quite familiar with postseason success, 16-time NCAA champion North Carolina. Tennessee (18-5-1), possessing a school-record nine-match unbeaten streak, will face a second-rated Tar Heel club which is 19-1-4 overall this season. UT Head Coach Angela Kelly, a 1994 UNC graduate who earned four national championship rings as a player under Anson Dorrance between 1991-94, will guide the Orange and White onto Fetzer Field for Saturday's tilt that will kick off at 5 p.m.
"This is the reason why we train as hard as we do throughout the season," said Kelly. "To be able to play against the best competition in the NCAA Tournament is a dream come true. Carolina has dominated NCAA women's soccer for over 20 years and again has an extremely explosive and dynamic squad. I have the utmost respect for Anson (Dorrance) and his staff and I will do everything I can to prepare my team for Saturday's match. Our fan support has been tremendous and the support of our administration has helped us achieve new heights this season."
The visit to Chapel Hill will be even more special for senior forward Kim Patrick (Pleasanton, Calif.), who competed for the 'Heels during the 1999 and 2000 campaigns and was a member of two NCAA title-winners before transferring to Tennessee. Patrick, one of 15 finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy given to the nation's top player, leads the Lady Vols with 33 points on 12 goals and nine assists.
Junior striker Rhian Wilkinson (Baie d'Urfe, Quebec), a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection, has equaled her career high of 31 points with eight goals and a school-record 15 helpers. Sophomore Kayla Lockaby (Hamilton, Ohio), Sunday's second-round hero against 22nd-ranked Cincinnati with the match-winner at 85:01, has accounted for 23 points on eight goals and seven assists, while senior Jen Laughridge (Wilson, N.C.) has produced career highs in points (20) and goals (seven) to go along with six assists. Another top-playmaker for the Orange has been sophomore Lyndsey Patterson (Puyallup, Wash.), who has handed out 10 assists as part of her 18 points.
The Lady Volunteer defense, responsible for a program-record-tying total of seven shutouts this fall, has not surrendered more than one goal in its last nine matches dating back to a 2-1 overtime setback at Florida on Oct. 18. First-team All-SEC selection sophomore Keeley Dowling (Carmel, Ind.) has anchored this contingent, while the corps comprised of Laughridge and juniors Marie-Eve Nault (Trois-Rivieres, Quebec) and Carie Swibas (Lakewood, Colo.) have all done their parts to shut down opponents' front-runners. Four-year starter Ellen Dean (Memphis, Tenn.) has enjoyed her finest season between the pipes, as she has compiled a 0.92 goals against average and made 73 saves while logging a school-record 2,142 minutes on duty.
The University of Connecticut and North Carolina are the only programs to have competed in all 21 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournaments since 1982. The Tar Heels have compiled a staggering 73-4 (.984) record in NCAA matches and have brought home 16 national championships: 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000. UNC has been the runner-up on three occasions, in 1985, 1998 and 2001, and fell in the Final Four in 1995 to eventual champion Notre Dame.
Tennessee reached the field of 64 squads for the second-straight year and is 2-0-1 (.833) at the event. Last November, the Lady Vols were eliminated by Duke on penalty kicks at Fetzer Field following four 15-minute overtimes. UT's success last weekend versus Furman (5-0) and Cincinnati (2-1) raised its postseason winning streak to five matches after three wins at the SEC Tourney.
Since a 2-1 loss to N.C. State on Oct. 10, North Carolina is cruising along with an 11-match unbeaten streak. During this span, the 'Heels recorded consecutive shutouts of Wake Forest (3-0), No. 16 Maryland (4-0) and No. 12 Clemson (6-0) between Nov. 7-10 to claim their 14th straight Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament crown. The only blemishes within the stretch were ties against Duke (0-0 on Oct. 27) and No. 23 Maryland (1-1 on Nov. 1). Carolina picked up its 13th ACC regular-season title with a 4-1-2 mark.
UNC's roster reads like a who's-who of U.S. National Team members, All-Americans and All-ACC performers for legendary coach Dorrance. Easily acknowledged as the top coach in the world of collegiate soccer, he has amassed a 530-24-15 (.945) record in his 24 years as the lone Tar Heels' mentor since the infancy of the school's program in 1979. Carolina has claimed 14 straight ACC Tournaments and has reached the Final Four of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament every year it has been held. The Tar Heels hold down the consensus number two spot in all of the national ratings behind Stanford, a team it defeated earlier this season, 1-0.
A whopping 23 different players have figured in the unit's offensive production, headlined by freshman Lindsay Tarpley (14 goals, 14 assists, 42 points), junior Alyssa Ramsey (14 goals, 10 assists, 38 points), senior Susan Bush (five goals, 13 assists, 23 points) and sophomore Anne Morrell (nine goals, three assists, 21 points). Sophomore Mary McDowell (5G, 8A), junior Catherine Reddick (5G, 3A), freshman Lori Chalupny (3G, 7A), junior Elizabeth Ball (2G, 8A) and sophomore Anne Felts (3G, 4A) have also reached double-figures in points. Senior Jenni Branam (0.30 GAA, 26 saves, 902 minutes) and freshman Aly Winget (0.93 GAA, 56 saves, 1,254 minutes) have anchored a defense that has posted 11 shutouts this season.
North Carolina has an all-time record of 223-7-4 (.962) in home matches in the 24-year history of its program. The Tar Heels have not lost at home in their last 35 matches and are a remarkable 50-1 (.980) at Fetzer Field in NCAA competition. UNC's last home defeat came to Penn State by a 3-2 score on Sept. 12, 1999, and the Tar Heels are 33-0-2 (.971) on its own turf since then.
Tar Heel senior defender Leslie Gaston was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the ACC Tournament in Tallahassee, Fla., while all-tourney selections included Branam, Bush and Tarpley, a teammate of Dowling's at the 2002 FIFA Under-19 World Championships. Tarpley became the first UNC player to be tabbed as the ACC's Rookie of the Year since Laurie Schwoy took home the prize in 1996 and it was her Golden Goal that lifted the U.S. squad to the dramatic overtime win over Canada at the FIFA event.
Six North Carolina players earned All-ACC honors, as Reddick, a U.S. National Team starter, and Tarpley achieved first-team status. The trio of senior Branam, Gaston and Ramsey received second-team mention and the tandem of Chalupny, another Under-19 U.S. player, and Tarpley made the ACC's All-Rookie team.
North Carolina has claimed all five of its meetings with Tennessee, including a 5-2 decision in Knoxville on Sept. 26, 2001, before a UT Soccer Complex record crowd of 3,042 spectators. UNC and the Lady Vols have encountered five similar foes this season, Clemson, Duke, N.C. State, Stanford and Wake Forest. The Tar Heels were 7-1-1 (.833) against this competition, while the Lady Vols were 3-2 (.600). Carolina's only setback this season came against N.C. State, a club that the Orange defeated by the same score on Sept. 1.
