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Carolina still has a big connection to U.S. Women’s Soccer.
It is hardly like 35 years ago when it seemed half of the still-newbie U.S. Women’s National Team were teenagers who wound up at UNC after being coached and eventually recruited by Anson Dorrance, who had been hired to at least make the U.S. competitive in women’s soccer.
He certainly did that before he gave it up to concentrate on his own program, and the 1999 women’s World Cup team won the legendary 5-4 match over China before 100,000 fans at the Rose Bowl on a penalty kick by Brandi Chastain, who showed the world her sports bra.
Dorrance, of course, was at the birth of women’s soccer in this country by putting future Tar Heels Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Kristine Lilly on the national team as 14- and 15-year-olds who later invited the first African American soccer player Kimberly Crabbe into their training camp.
And that was the start of the Dorrance Dynasty that brought back 23 national championships to Chapel Hill but has not won one since 2012 because the sport has reached international parity. And Tar Heels are still very much a part of it.
Two Tar Heels – Emily Fox and Crystal Dunn – are in Tuesday’s 12 p.m. semifinal in France. Dunn assisted on the lone goal in extra time by Trinity Rodman, who slashed through traffic and fired a left-footed laser into the upper left corner as the American team edged Japan 1-0 to reach the semifinal against Germany.
Rodman struck the winner in extra time, the latest the U.S. team has scored since Alex Morgan’s goal in 2012 against Canada. The team tackled Rodman and piled on to her for the goal that seemed to surprise even her. It is just the second time the U.S. has started the Olympic games with four straight wins since 2012 when it wound up beating Japan for the Gold Medal.
Prior victories came over Zambia 3-0, Germany 4-1 and Australia 2-1. Brazil and Spain are scheduled to play in the other semifinal at 3 pm.
Dunn is 32, 10 years older than Rodman who has her own story. She is the daughter of former NBA star and eccentric personality Dennis Rodman, who admittedly didn’t have much to do with her while she grew up in California. She briefly attended Washington State before ever playing a game for the Cougars and joined the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) at 18.
Having played in 14 games, Dunn is one of just three three-time Olympians on the U.S. roster. She earned a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (in 2021) and scored a goal in Rio in 2016, when the Yanks lost to Sweden on a penalty shootout after the match ended 1-1. It marked the first exit in the quarterfinals since women’s soccer debuted in the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta.
Featured image via Associated Press/Daniel Cole
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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