Watching North Carolina win this year’s Women’s NCAA Division I title reminded me of following the Florida election saga.
I loved the drama, but I had no doubt about the outcome.
There was an air of inevitability to the Women’s College Cup.
True, the Tar Heels had lost a record three ACC games this fall.
And they were missing their two most experienced national team players, Laurie Schwoy and Susan Bush.
But it was no surprise when Carolina came from behind to beat top-seed Notre Dame in the semifinals and then UCLA in the final.
Carolina won its first title in 1981, taking the old AIWA crown in Chapel Hill, and I can remember sitting afterwards with Anson Dorrance in the trailer that served as the Carolina soccer office and listening to his designs for women’s soccer.
They were all-Carolina.
Under Dorrance, Carolina has won 16 of 19 NCAA titles.
He has set the standard for women’s soccer.
When Dorrance led the United States to the first women’s world title in 1991, six of the 11 players were Carolina products.
This year’s final four marks a turning point for women’s soccer. It’s the last college championship before the WUSA’s debut next spring.
Will the college game take a backseat to the new pro league?
The men’s final four was never the same after MLS launched in 1996.
It had become a major happening, in large part because of the success of the University of Virginia under Bruce Arena.
That success followed Arena to D.C. United, where it became the standard for MLS.
The WUSA will need a team like D.C. United and it will need a coach like Arena.
Bottom line: It must become bigger than the college game.
Dorrance is the obvious choice for that mission.