Danielle Slaton bounced back from a knee injury to earn a starting job with the U.S. women. Now she’s ready to make an impact in Carolina.
It’s the magnitude and variety of her gifts, and how she weaves them into a cohesive whole, that has all drooling over Danielle Slaton.
She’s as can’t-miss as they come, a beguiling blend of grace and fury, athleticism and intellect, strength, skill, fearlessness and leadership qualities that have had her pegged since her mid-teens as a future captain of the U.S. women’s national team.
And her moment, it appears, has arrived.
Since playing a pivotal role in Santa Clara’s magical run last fall to the NCAA Division I women’s soccer title, Slaton has emerged as April Heinrichs’ first-choice companion for Joy Fawcett in the center of the U.S. defense. She was the no-brainer first selection in last month’s WUSA draft and is expected to pay immediate dividends for last year’s last-place club.
Marcia McDermott, for whom Slaton is a vital component in rebuilding the Carolina Courage after the first season’s 6-12-3 nightmare, warns that she doesn’t want to put pressure on her rookie, that the jump from college soccer to the pros is quite a leap, that adjustments must be made.
Even she doesn’t fully believe the spiel.
“Danielle’s certainly an intelligent defender,” McDermott says. “She’s a good leader in the back, an excellent 1-v-1 defender; she attacks well out of the back. She’s versatile – she can play centrally or on the left side. When she plays centrally, it’s very difficult to get behind her. When she plays outside, she makes the team more dangerous because of her ability to attack.
“She has a lot of different qualities that make her special. … She’s a real find.”
BREAKING BONES. You won’t receive an argument from Heinrichs, who brought Slaton along to the Sydney Olympics and quickly installed her in the first 11 when she returned to the national team in January after 15 months away. She was dominant, in the center and on the left, in the Americans’ win over Mexico in Charleston, S.C., and at China’s Four Nations tournament, using her speed to cut off through balls and balls played behind the U.S. back line, and her athleticism to beat taller foes in the air.
“Danielle Slaton in the Olympic year was really coming on strong, making a push to start in 2000, then she sat out 2001 injured,” Heinrichs says. “She’s come back where she left off and thensome. As long as she stays healthy – and her performance is on the upswing – she is going to be a starter for us.”
Slaton, 21, captained the U.S. U-16 squad while in high school, and she was one of the nation’s dominant college defenders the instant she stepped on Santa Clara’s field. She was a four-time All-American with the Broncos who got her first national team call-up after her freshman season and was in residency with the U.S. women throughout preparations for the 2000 Olympics.
“She was so eager and willing to learn, extremely coachable, and an unbelievable athlete,” says Carla Overbeck, Carolina’s defensive leader, who was the national team captain through the Olympics. “You could tell at a young age she was going to be a great national team player and do so many great things for her country.”
Slaton, in McDermott’s mind, separated herself from the rest of her class in December during the NCAA College Cup, where she gave a heroic performance as Santa Clara toppled North Carolina to win its first national title. The weekend in Dallas capped a critical campaign for Slaton, who was the youngest U.S. women’s player in Sydney but, because of a painful knee injury, hadn’t kicked a ball from the end of the 2000 college season until late last summer, nearly nine months.
Slaton has articular cartilage damage in her right knee that surgery, performed in February 2001, could not repair. She’s severely knock-kneed, and her doctor wanted to break her tibia and realign the articulation of her legs and knees.
“That was an option we discussed,” Slaton says. “It was not the only option.”
She chose rest, staying away from soccer until the Broncos began preparations last summer. Twenty-five games, played at an inspired level without trouble, seemed evidence Slaton made the correct choice.
“[The knee is] good,” she says. “It hasn’t gotten any worse – it hasn’t gotten better, but it’s not worse – and I’ve been pounding it. When it gets to the point where it starts to hinder my play, becomes extremely painful all the time, that’s when I’ll have to look into doing something more invasive.”
NEW COURAGE. McDermott has done much work during the offseason to turn around the Courage, acquiring German forward Birgit Prinz and Norwegian midfielder Unni Lehn to enhance the attack. Slaton’s addition, for a defense that surrendered a league-worse 40 goals last season, may be more critical. She provides speed to a back line that lacked pace in 2001 and experience surpassed only by Overbeck’s. She’ll earn her 30th cap before Carolina’s opener.
“She’s a great addition for us,” Overbeck says. “We needed a true left back, one who can attack and defend. She should step in right away and be an impact player.”
Overbeck might not return from her knee injury until midseason, so Slaton may be called upon to provide a class of leadership seldom requested from rookies. She’ll likely play in the middle until Overbeck’s return, then move out wide.
Either works for Slaton – she “constantly goes back and forth on which I like better” – who was just happy to be wanted.
“I was fairly confident I was going to get drafted,” she says, “but I didn’t know when or where I’d go. The biggest thing was just relief, finally saying, ‘OK, I can focus on going here and can prepare myself mentally for the upcoming season, for this new adventure.”
Within a few weeks, Slaton could be among the WUSA’s elite defenders. She has the potential to tower over everyone else.
But let’s not put her under too much pressure.
“There’ll always be a little pressure, being a first-round pick,” Slaton acknowledges. “They expect you to come in and make a difference almost immediately. But there’s no pressure greater for me than the pressure I put on myself.
“I have high expectations for myself. I expect to perform, play well and make a difference. I know what I want to do, I know my goals, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
by Soccer America Senior Editor Scott French