Anson Dorrance, the 24-year head coach of No. 2 North Carolina, held a book signing Wednesday for what has been dubbed "the Bible of women's soccer." Dorrance's book, "The Vision of a Champion: Advice and Inspiration from the World's Most Successful Women's Soccer Coach," highlights his philosophy and coaching style--a philosophy that has led the Tar Heels to 17 national championships since 1979. In that span, North Carolina has dropped just 23 games.
Duke (6-8-1, 1-3-1 in the ACC), under the tutelage of second-year head coach Robbie Church, will travel down Tobacco Road Sunday afternoon to square off against the heavily-favored Tar Heels (13-1-2, 3-1). The Blue Devils will be under the gun, needing at least a tie to remain eligible for a NCAA Tournament invitation.
Despite North Carolina's superior record, the Blue Devils, who have picked up just one win in their last eight games, anticipate a great game against their rivals.
"I think pretty much the entire team is looking forward to playing UNC," co-captain Rebecca Smith said. "In years past we've come close to beating them... I'm pretty sure we can beat them [Sunday]."
The Blue Devil offense has suffered since the loss of freshman phenom Carmen Bognanno, sidelined with an injury that has kept her out of action since after a loss to Clemson Oct. .
"Carmen's a sparkplug," Church said. "She'd really just settled in and she'd just played her two best games of the year... so losing Carmen in the midfield has changed our formation in the midfield some, and you know it's hurt us. Carmen adds a lot of intensity [to our team]."
In her absence, however, Casey McCluskey, last
McCluskey's recent outburst has created a conundrum for Duke's offensive attack. As Virginia showed in a 2-0 victory Oct. 23, an opponent's zeroing in on McCluskey gives Duke myriad problems.
"No question about it, people are really keying on Casey," Church said. "She is being attacked and brought down, with at least one player or two players with Casey. We need more people to score goals; we need more people to step forward."
Duke is hardly short on talent, however. Early season wins over No. 15 Tennessee and No. 14 Florida are testament to that fact.
"I think we have a lot of outstanding players that also contribute a lot to our offense, and they also play a big role in putting pressure on their defense," Smith said.
Recently, however, the team's inability to put together a solid 90 minutes of soccer has neutralized Duke's offensive attack. Of the team's eight losses, seven have been decided by one goal. The Blue Devils played No. 17 Florida State close as well, battling to a 1-1 tie.
"We just have not done our part of finishing," Church said. "In almost every game we've had a lot of chances."
The Blue Devils will have to start winning soon if they want to return to the NCAA tournament in 2002. A year removed from advancing to the NCAA tournament with a 7-9-1 record, Duke now faces a new NCAA rule preventing teams from qualifying for the postseason without a winning record. The squad is in desperate need of wins, which are hard to come by in America's premier soccer conference, the ACC, four members of which rank in the top 25. North Carolina, of course, heads the list.
Though the contest against the Tar Heels has dire implications, the Blue Devils will approach Sunday's game as if it were any other.
"Nothing [will be] different," Smith explained. "We go into every game pretty much with the same mentality. We'll have a higher intensity level, but we're not going to change how we play or anything like that."
North Carolina's offense has produced 51 goals this year, while the defense has allowed a mere 11. The majority of the scoring has come f Alyssa Ramsey and Lindsay Tarpley, who have combined for 22 scores.
The onus of stymying the duo will ultimately fall on the shoulders of goalie Thora Helgadottir.
Though the junior from Iceland is widely considered one of the top goalies in the country--she spent the first half of her season representing her home nation in international competition-her performance thus far may not rank her as even the top goalie on her team.
Church recognizes that Helgadottir has had a good year, but also admits that the transition from international play to college competition has been difficult.
"Mentally and physically it's been a tough year for her," Church said. "I think she's handled it well, though. I think she is feeling comfortable now, and getting into a groove."
Church's optimism extends far beyond individual performances.
"We feel confident in going to play Carolina," he said. "We're going to go over there and we're going to play very, very hard, and we expect to win."
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