Nov. 19, 2004

2004 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA WOMEN'S SOCCER GAME NOTES
2004 NCAA Women's College Cup Round of 16
No. 1 North Carolina (20-0-2) vs. No. 4 Santa Clara (16-4-2)
Saturday, November 20, 2004, 2 p.m.
Fetzer Field, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Women's Soccer Media Contact: Dave Lohse, 919-962-7257, dlohse@uncaa.unc.edu
Carolina Athletics on the World Wide Web at http://www.TarHeelBlue.com
NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA HOSTS NO. 4 SANTA CLARA SATURDAY IN NCAA ROUND OF 16: - The field for the 2004 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament has been pared to 16 teams and top-ranked North Carolina will host fourth-ranked Santa Clara in an improbable third round tournament matchup Saturday at 2 p.m. at Fetzer Field. North Carolina (20-0-2), as the nation's only undefeated team, was expected to be the NCAA Tournament's No. 1 seed but very few people expected Santa Clara to be the No. 16 seed and face the Tar Heels as early as the third round of the tournament. The Broncos, co-champions of the West Coast Conference with Portland, are 16-4-2 and on an eight-game winning streak. They are ranked No. 4 in the NSCAA coaches poll and by Soccer America and No. 6 by Soccer Buzz and Soccer Times. UNC is ranked No. 1 in all four polls. The winner of Saturday's UNC-Santa Clara game will host a quarterfinal match the weekend of November 26-28 against the winner of a third round match being played Saturday in Urbana, Ill. between Nebraska and Illinois. the Cornhuskers and the Fighting Illini, both unseeded, earned upset wins in the second round with Nebraska winning 2-1 at No. 8 seed Kansas and Illinois winning 2-1 at No. 9 seed Texas A&M. The Tar Heels advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament with a first round 6-0 victory over Campbell University and a second round triumph over the College of William & Mary by the same 6-0 score. Santa Clara continued its recent winning ways by beating California 2-1 in the NCAA first round, rallying from a 1-0 deficit to do so, and then taking down Stanford 1-0 in a second overtime period in the tournament's second round. This is the fourth successive year that the two teams will have played each other in the NCAA Tournament and the eighth time overall that North Carolina and Santa Clara have played in the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina has a record of 5-2 against Santa Clara in the seven previous NCAA meetings but the Broncos have won two of the past three NCAA meetings.
NORTH CAROLINA ENDS REGULAR SEASON AS NATION'S ONLY UNDEAFEATED TEAM: - With Notre Dame's 2-1 loss to Connecticut in the Big East Conference Tournament championship match, North Carolina finished the regular season as the nation's only undefeated team. With a 1-1 tie against No. 3 Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship contest, the Tar Heels finished the regular season 18-0-2 and are now 20-0-2 while the Fighting Irish, No. 2 in the final NSCAA coaches poll, finished 19-1-1 and have improved to 21-1-1 with two NCAA Tournament wins. UNC is ranked No. 1 in the nation in all four final regular season polls as issued by the NSCAA coaches, Soccer America, Soccer Buzz and Soccer Times.
CAROLINA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: - Carolina enters Saturday's NCAA Tournament third round game with Santa Clara with an all-time NCAA record of 83-5. The Tar Heels have been invited to every NCAA Tournament since the inaugural tourney was staged in 1982. UNC has captured the championship in 17 of the previous 22 NCAA Tournaments while George Mason, Notre Dame, Florida, Santa Clara and Portland have each captured one NCAA title. UNC also won the AIAW national title in 1981, the first and only soccer championship sponsored by the governing body for women's sports prior to the NCAA.
UNC VERSUS THE NCAA FIELD: - North Carolina has played 17 of its first 22 matches against teams which qualified to play in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels are 15-0-2 in those matches.
SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS: - North Carolina enters the Santa Clara match with an overall record of 20-0-2 and a regular season ACC mark of 9-0. The Tar Heels played ties this year against Tennessee 0-0 in Knoxville and against Virginia 1-1 in the ACC Tournament championship match. Carolina outscored its opponents 68-13 in its 22 matches, recording 11 shutouts. The Tar Heels have allowed one goal in nine matches this season and they allowed two goals each in 4-2 wins over California and Duke. Junior goalkeeper Aly Winget has started all 22 matches and has a 0.54 goals against average while playing 1,991 minutes in the goal. She has made 46 saves while allowing 12 goals for a save percentage of .793. The Tar Heels have a balanced scoring attack with eight players compiling 10 points or more. Sophomore striker Heather O'Reilly leads the Tar Heels in scoring with 37 points on 13 goals and 11 assists, just ahead of freshman forward Jaime Gilbert who has 11 goals and 12 assists for 34 points. Gilbert leads the Tar Heels in game-winning goals with four while O'Reilly, Kacey White and Lori Chalupny are tied for second on the team with three game-winning goals each. White ranks third on the team in scoring with 24 points and she leads the Tar Heels in assists with 14. Other double figure scorers for UNC are sophomore forward Elizabeth "Libby" Guess with seven goals and eight assists for 22 points, senior forward Anne Morrell with 20 points (6g, 8a), junior midfielder Lori Chalupny (6g, 5a. 17 pts), junior midfielder Lindsay Tarpley (5g, 4a, 14 pts) and junior defender Kendall Fletcher (3g, 5a, 11 pts). UNC's efforts in the NCAA Tournament have been buoyed by the full-time return of junior midfielder Lindsay Tarpley to the lineup. Tarpley broke her right fibula in a game against Virginia Tech on September 26 and was out of the Tar Heel lineup for nearly six weeks, returning to see action off the bench in the ACC Tournament against Maryland, Duke and Virginia. Tarpley was the leading scorer in the nation in 2003 and won five National Player of the Year accolades last season.
TARPLEY RECORDS FIFTH HAT TRICK OF HER CAREER AGAINST WILLIAM & MARY: - North Carolina junior midfielder Lindsay Tarpley recorded the fifth hat trick of her Tar Heel career when she scored three goals in Carolina's NCAA Tournament victory over William & Mary November 13. The three goals also tied the NCAA Tournament record for goals in a match. It marked the 28th time in tourney history a player had scored three times in a game. Tarpley's hat tricks have come against Florida International on September 22, 2002, against Washington State on August 29, 2003, against Duke on October 1, 2003, against Wake Forest on October 14, 2003 (four goals) and against William & Mary on November 13, 2004. Tarpley's seven points in the match against William & Mary also tied the NCAA Tournament record for points in a game. It is the 11th time a player has recorded seven points in a single match.
O'REILLY MATCHES NCAA RECORD FOR ASSISTS IN A GAME: - Heather O'Reilly tied the NCAA record for most assists in an NCAA Tournament game when she had four in North Carolina's NCAA second round win over William & Mary. The other players who have had four in a match are Cindy Parlow of UNC versus Wake Forest in 1997, Jena Kluegel of UNC versus Wake Forest in 2002, Lindsay Tarpley of UNC versus UNC Greensboro in 2003 and Lori Chalupny of UNC versus Purdue in 2003.
TARPLEY TIES NCAA RECORD FOR MOST CAREER ASSISTS IN NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY: - With one assist in UNC's 6-0 victory over William & Mary on November 13, Tar Heel junior midfielder Lindsay Tarpley tied the NCAA Tournament record for most career assists with 15. She now shares the record with Notre Dame legend Holly Manthei who had 15 assists in NCAA games from 1994-97.
UNC IN THE ACC STATS: - Carolina leads the Atlantic Coast Conference this week in shots per game at 21.64, points per game at 9.82, goals per game at 3.09, assists per game at 3.64 and goals allowed average at 0.57. Junior goalkeeper Aly Winget ranks No. 1 in the ACC in goals against average at 0.54 goals allowed per contest. The Tar Heels ranks fifth in the nation in the scoring offense at 3.09 goals per game and are 10th in goals allowed per game at 0.571 per contest.
GUESS ON FIRE IN THE POST SEASON: - Tar Heel sophomore forward Elizabeth "Libby" Guess has moved into a reserve position in the post-season, coming off the bench to give the Tar Heel offense a lift. The change has been dynamic for both Guess and UNC. After scoring only one goal in the regular season, Guess has exploded for six in the Tar Heels' five post-season matches. She scored twice against Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals and twice each against Campbell in the NCAA Tournament first round and against William & Mary in the NCAA Tournament second round.
TARPLEY AND O'REILLY ARE GOLDEN TAR HEELS: - When North Carolina and Florida met on September 3, the game marked the first 2004 Tar Heel action for All-America forwards Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O'Reilly. Both standout strikers spent most of 2004 practicing and playing with the U.S. National Team leading up to the squad's gold medal win in Athens in August. Tarpley, a junior, and O'Reilly, a sophomore, were the only two collegiate undergraduates on the U.S. Olympic Team and both played key roles in the American victory. O'Reilly scored the game-winning goal for the U.S. in overtime in the semifinal victory over 2003 World Cup champion Germany. Tarpley scored on a 30-yard world class strike in the gold medal match to stake the U.S. team to a first-half lead. The Americans went on to beat Brazil 2-1 in overtime. Four former UNC players also played on the World Cup Team -- Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Cindy Parlow and Catherine Reddick. Tar Heel alumnae April Heinrichs and Tracey Bates Leone served as head coach and assistant coach, respectively.
UNC CARRIES 49-MATCH UNBEATEN STREAK INTO SANTA CLARA MATCH: - North Carolina will carry a 49-match unbeaten streak into Saturday afternoon's matchup with Santa Clara The Tar Heels have not lost since dropping a 2-1 decision to the Broncos in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on December 6, 2002 in Austin, Texas. Carolina won all 27 of its matches last season en route to winning the NCAA championship and Carolina has gone 20-0-2 this season with ties against Tennessee and Virginia.
THE SERIES WITH SANTA CLARA: - North Carolina leads the all-time series with Santa Clara 14-3, including a 5-2 edge in NCAA Tournament matches. The Broncos have won three of the last four matches against the Tar Heels after Carolina won the first 13 matches in the series. UNC won the most recent meeting, 3-0 in last year's NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, to break a three-match losing streak to the Broncos. Other than Virginia Select, a club team UNC played in its women's soccer infancy in 1980, no other team had won three straight matches against Carolina in any series. Notre Dame did beat UNC twice in a row in 1995 and 1996.
DORRANCE IS NCAA'S CAREER WINNINGEST COACH: - North Carolina head coach Anson Dorrance currently ranks as the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history in women's soccer. He goes into the Santa Clara game with an all-time record of 579-25-17 in what is now his 26th season as the Tar Heels' head coach. Amongst active head coaches, Chris Petrucelli of Texas ranks second in winning percentage and Len Tsantiris of Connecticut ranks second in total victories.
THREE TAR HEELS EARN ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARDS: - Three Tar Heels have earned ACC Player of the Week awards during the 2004 season. Freshman forward Jaime Gilbert won the award on October 11, junior midfielder Lori Chalupny took the honors on October 18 and sophomore forward Heather O'Reilly copped membership on the team on October 25.
TAR HEELS ON THE SOCCER AMERICA TEAM OF THE WEEK: - The following Tar Heels were named to the Soccer America Team of Week this season -- Jaime Gilbert in week seven, Lori Chalupny in week eight and Heather O'Reilly in week nine.
TRIO OF TAR HEELS NAMED M.A.C HERMANN TROPHY SEMIFINALISTS: - Junior forward Lindsay Tarpley, junior midfielder Lori Chalupny and sophomore forward Heather O'Reilly have all been named among the 15 semifinalists for the 2004 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy.
TAR HEELS REAP HONORS FROM THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE: - Three Tar Heels were named first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004 -- junior midfielder Lori Chalupny, junior midfielder Kacey White and sophomore forward Heather O'Reilly. Two UNC players were named to the All-ACC Freshman Team -- forward Jaime Gilbert and midfielder Robyn Gayle. UNC head coach earned honors as the ACC Coach of the Year. Dorrance has won the ACC Coach of the Year Award in 1987, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Three Tar Heels were named to the All-Tournament Team at the 2004 ACC Tournament--sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Guess, sophomore forward Heather O'Reilly and freshman forward Jaime Gilbert.
THREE TAR HEELS NAMED TO PRESEASON SOCCER AMERICA ALL-AMERICA TEAM: - Olympians Heather O'Reilly and Lindsay Tarpley and U.S. national team midfielder Lori Chalupny, among the final cuts from the Olympic squad, gave top-ranked North Carolina three players on Soccer America's 2004 College Women's Preseason All-America Team. Chalupny is among a half-dozen players on the 11-woman team who in July helped the United States' under-21 team to its sixth successive Nordic Cup title. Tarpley, Soccer America's 2003 College Women's Player of the Year, was outstanding in the midfield for the U.S. women in Greece, and O'Reilly -- the 2003 Freshman of the Year -- scored the overtime winner in the Americans' 2-1 semifinal victory over Germany.
TARPLEY NAMED SOCCER BUZZ PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR: - Lindsay Tarpley, a junior forward from Kalamazoo. Mich., has earned 2004 Preseason National Player of the Year honors from Soccer Buzz internet magazine. Tarpley, who played with the U.S. National Team at the 2004 Olympic Games, was Soccer Buzz's 2003 Player of Year as well and Soccer Buzz's 2002 National Freshman of the Year. Tarpley was also one of The Elite 12, Soccer Buzz's Preseason All-America Squad, and was joined on that team by fellow Tar Heels Lori Chalupny and Heather O'Reilly. Tarpley is a two-time Soccer Buzz All-America and she led the NCAA in both scoring and assists in 2003. Overall, she scored 23 goals and had 27 assists during Carolina's 27-0-0 campaign in 2003. Tarpley was also a finalist for both the Honda Soccer Award and Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year Awards in 2003. Chalupny was a Soccer Buzz first-team All-America last year and a first-team All-ACC selection in 2003. She had 11 goals and 12 assists for the Tar Heels last season. O'Reilly was the National Freshman of the Year for Carolina in 2003 as she exploded in the NCAA Tournament to earn Offensive Most Valuable Player honors. O'Reilly finished her freshman year with 16 goals and 11 assists.
THREE TAR HEELS ON HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST FOR 2004: - A trio from the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels, including two players on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team, highlighted the 25 players named to the second preseason watch list for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy. The list was compiled by a committee of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, the official selection body for the MAC's Hermann Trophy. The three Tar Heels include junior forward Lindsay Tarpley (St. Louis, Mo.), a finalist for the award last year, and sophomore forward Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), both of whom competed with the U.S. Olympic Team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. They were joined by teammate Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), a junior midfielder. Nine of the players were part of the U.S. Under-21 National Team that recently gave the United States its sixth consecutive Nordic Cup title. That group included Chalupny. The 25 players were considered to be among the top players entering the 2004 college season and are the ones to watch for outstanding play this fall. A list of 15 semifinalists will be announced in November, with three finalists selected in early December. The winner will be announced at a dinner at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo., on Jan. 8, 2005.
TAR HEELS WIN ACC REGULAR SEASON TITLE AFTER BEING TABBED AS PRESEASON ACC FAVORITE: - The North Carolina Tar Heels captured the ACC regular season title with a 9-0-0 record after having been selected as the top pick for the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Soccer season, as determined by a vote of the league's 10 head coaches. The Tar Heels, who have won 15 consecutive ACC titles, tallied 98 points including eight first place votes. North Carolina returned 23 letter winners and six starters, including Lindsay Tarpley, the nation's leading scorer as well as National and ACC Player of the Year in 2003. Last season the Tar Heels posted a perfect 27-0-0 record en route to winning their 18th national championship. The Florida State Seminoles came in at second place with 83 points after advancing to the school's first ever College Cup as part of the final four in 2003. The Seminoles return 18 letter winners including nine starters from last season's squad that finished with a 17-8-1 record. Virginia is the coaches' pick to finish third after accumulating 76 total points including one first place vote. The Cavaliers who finished the 2003 season with a record of 12-5-4 return eight starters and 17 letter winners from last year's team. Completing the preseason poll in order of projected finish are Clemson (69), Duke (64), Maryland (47), Wake Forest (46), NC State (28), Virginia Tech (22) and Miami (17).
TARPLEY IN THE NCAA RECORD BOOK: - Lindsay Tarpley wrote her name several places in the NCAA record book during her magnificent sophomore season in 2003 when she was named the National Player of the Year by five different organizations. Tarpley led the nation in scoring last season with her 73 points on 23 goals and 27 assists. The 73 points stand as the 12th highest single season point total in NCAA history. Tarpley averaged 1.00 assists per game last season, the 13th best single season average in NCAA history. Tarpley's total of 27 assists was also the seventh highest single season assist total in NCAA history. Tarpley headed into the 2004 season averaging 2.31 points per game in her career which ranks her 22nd in NCAA history. She was averaging 0.81 assists per match in her career, the third highest total in NCAA history, trailing only Holly Manthei of Notre Dame at 1.29 and Marit Foss of Jacksonville at 0.88. As a sophomore in 2003, Tarpley led the nation in points with 73, in assists with 27 and was fourth in goals with 23. Teammates Alyssa Ramsey and Kacey White ranked second and fourth in assists with 25 and 16, respectively, during the 2003 campaign. Tarpley was the leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament as a sophomore in 2003 with 19 points on four goals and 11 assists. The 11 assists set an NCAA Tournament record for assists in a single NCAA Tournament.
WINGET SEEKS TO REPEAT SPLENDID 2003 SEASON: - Junior Aly Winget is seeking to repeat an outstanding 2003 season performance again this campaign. After sharing the starting duties with Jenni Branam in 2002, Winget started all 27 matches for Carolina last season. She recorded 16 solo shutouts in those 27 matches. That figure was the third highest number of solo shutouts in NCAA history in a single season in history by a goalkeeper and her shutout percentage of .593 was 13th best single season figure in the NCAA record book. Winget ranked second in the nation in goals against average last season with a final mark of 0.433. Winget began the 2004 season with the 12th best career goals against average in NCAA history. She had a GAA of 0.61 while playing 3,539 in 46 matches in her first two seasons in a UNC uniform.
NOTES ON THE TAR HEEL WINNING STREAKS: - One of the most treasured records in Tar Heel women's soccer history is the team's NCAA record 92-match winning streak which began Oct. 12, 1990 and ended on Sept. 30, 1994. UNC also holds the NCAA record for consecutive games without a loss, going 103 matches from Sept. 30, 1986 to Sept. 17, 1990. UNC has the NCAA mark for consecutive home wins and consecutive home games without a loss -- both records being 84 games from Sept. 6, 1986 to Sept. 18, 1994. Carolina also possesses the NCAA mark for successive conference wins and conference games without a loss at 55 -- from Oct. 23, 1994 to Sept. 1, 2000. That streak includes wins in the conference tournament.
UNC TIES NCAA MARK: - North Carolina's 27 victories in 2003 tied the NCAA record for most victories in a single season. UNC also won 27 matches in 1997.
THE 2003 OFFENSE & DEFENSE: - North Carolina led the nation in scoring in 2003 with an average of 4.19 goals per game. The Tar Heels had a total of 113 goals. The 113 goals were the seventh highest total in a single season in NCAA history and the first time since 1999 that any team in the nation had broken the 100-goal mark in scoring. UNC also led the nation in scoring defense last season by allowing only 0.404 goals per game. The Tar Heels recorded 19 shutouts in 2003, the seventh highest single season total in NCAA history.
UNC'S 20-WIN SEASONS: - North Carolina has won at least 20 matches in 16 successive seasons. Overall, Carolina has had 20 or more wins in 21 out of 256seasons since the program started in 1979. North Carolina reached the 25 or more win plateau for the seventh time in 2003 when Carolina finished the season with a 27-0-0 mark.
THE SCORING DIFFERENTIAL: - In its 26th year as a program, Carolina has now outscored its opponents 2,635 to 287. That is a difference of 2,348 goals. Lindsay Tarpley scored the 2,500th goal in Tar Heel history against NC State on October 10, 2003.
TAR HEELS ARE A POPULAR DRAW: - North Carolina has led the nation in average home attendance in six of the past seven years. Carolina opened the 2004 season by drawing 3,825 fans to its match against Florida on September 3. UNC set an NCAA attendance record by averaging 3,983 fans in 10 home matches during the 2001 season. Of the top 45 crowds to watch collegiate women's soccer matches, UNC has played in 35 of the games involved in compiling that total. UNC played in front of a regular season record crowd of 6,527 when the Tar Heels played at Navy on September 26, 2003.
CAROLINA IN THE POLLS: - Coming off an undefeated and untied NCAA championship season in 2003, the Tar Heels began the 2004 campaign ranked No. 1 nationally in all four major polls -- by the NSCAA coaches, Soccer America, Soccer Times and Soccer Buzz. UNC remained in the No. 1 spot in all four polls at the end of the regular season.
TAR HEELS UNBEATEN IN LAST 57 MATCHES PLAYED AT HOME: - North Carolina has not lost at home in the last 57 matches. UNC's last home loss came to Penn State by a 3-2 score on September 12, 1999. UNC is 55-0-2 at home since that time. The ties came against Duke 0-0 on October 27, 2002 and Maryland 1-1 on November 1, 2002.
ONLY ONE ACC LOSS AT HOME: - In its women's soccer history, Carolina has only one ACC home loss and two home ACC ties in regular season play. The only home ACC loss came against Duke in 1994. UNC played home ties in 2002 against both Duke and Maryland. Carolina has also lost four ACC regular season road matches in its history and has one regular season road tie. UNC's all-time ACC regular season record is 95-5-3.
THE ALL-TIME HOME RECORD: - North Carolina has an all-time record of 244-7-4 in home matches in the 26-year history of the program. UNC finished 11-0-0 at home in 2003.
TARPLEY ON THE THE TAR HEELS' CAREER SCORING CHARTS: - With 44 goals, junior forward Lindsay Tarpley has moved into 13th place in career goal scoring at UNC. Tarpley's 46 career assists ranks her tied for 11th in that category in UNC history and her 134 points make her 13th in Tar Heel career scoring. Senior Anne Morrell is currently tied for 25th in career goals at UNC with 31. Sophomore Heather O'Reilly is currently tied for 27th in career goals at UNC with a total of 29 while junior midfielder Kacey White is tied for 26th in career assists with 33.
WINGET SETS CAREER SAVES RECORD AT UNC: - Junior goalkeeper Aly Winget broke the Tar Heel record for career saves in UNC's 3-0 victory over Florida on September 3, 2004. Winget now has 173 career saves entering the Santa Clara match. The old career record was 132 held by Jenni Branam (1999-2002).
THE LAST 19 SEASONS: - Over the past 19 seasons of North Carolina women's soccer, the Tar Heels have posted one of the most amazing records in all of college sports. Beginning with the first game of the 1986 season against Massachusetts and going into the Santa Clara match on Saturday, UNC has an amazing record of 445 victories, 13 losses and 15 ties. That's an overall winning percentage of .954 in that time.
THE ALL-TIME RECORD: - North Carolina is currently in its 26th year as a varsity program. The Tar Heels have an all-time record of 579-25-17, averaging 22.2 wins per season against 0.96 losses per year and 0.65 ties. UNC's all-time winning percentage is .946. Carolina is 95-5-3 in ACC regular season matches since league play began in 1987, a percentage of .937. The Tar Heels have posted an all-time overtime record of 19-3-16.
DORRANCE IS NCAA'S WINNINGEST COACH: - In virtually any category you can think of Tar Heel head coach Anson Dorrance ranks as the winningest coach in NCAA and ACC history. Entering the 2004 season, Dorrance had an all-time winning percentage of .946. Amongst active NCAA coaches, Chris Petrucelli of Texas was second at .790. Dorrance had 559 victories entering the season. Second on the list of active coaches was Len Tsantiris of Connecticut with 398 wins.
TAR HEELS IN THE COACHING RANKS: - Twenty former UNC players and staff members are currently head or assistant coaches in the national team or collegiate ranks in 2004. This group includes April Heinrichs, head coach of the U.S. National Team and Tracey Bates Leone, assistant coach of the U.S. National Team.
NORTH CAROLINA PLAYERS ON THE NATIONAL TEAMS: - Seventeen current or former Tar Heel players are members of current rosters for the United States National Team (12), United States U.S. Under-21 National Team (3) and United States Under-19 National Team (2). Since 1985, UNC has had 43 of its alumnae play on the full U.S. National Team at one time or another. This includes 11 players who earned status on the team sometime during the 2004 season. Eight of the 18 players with the most caps in U.S. National Team history are Tar Heels and five of the Top 10 goal scorers in National Team history played at Carolina.
TWELVE RETIRED NUMBERS: - North Carolina has had 12 players have their numbers retired following their careers at North Carolina. Each earned National Player of the Year honors while a player here. The retired numbers are #2--April Heinrichs, #3--Shannon Higgins, #7--Robin Confer, #8--Debbie Keller, #13--Tisha Venturini, #14--Lorrie Fair, #15--Kristine Lilly, #19--Mia Hamm, #22--Cindy Parlow, #27--Stacy Wilson,#28--Meredith Florance, and #31--Catherine Reddick.