Tar Heel women storm London Olympics

The United States sent more women than men to the Olympics for the first time ever this summer. North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance was happy former Tar Heel Tobin Heath, a crafty midfielder, was among them.

“She is the reason people pay money to watch women play soccer,” he said.

Though Heath was the most prominent representative of UNC’s athletic legacy in London, she was accompanied by Olympic veteran Heather O’Reilly on the soccer team and three former members of the UNC field hockey team. Tar Heels Amy Swensen, Rachel Dawson and Katelyn Falgowski all played significant minutes.

When in college, all five were part of two of the school’s greatest sports dynasties. Now, playing internationally, they’re making sure female Tar Heel athletes remain a dynasty on U.S. national teams.

“Playing for North Carolina, the transition isn’t that huge of a jump,” Heath said. “I think Anson and the program itself prepares players who have aspirations of playing for the national team, playing in the Olympics.”

Heath won her second gold medal in London, while O’Reilly, who won College Cups in 2003 and 2006, won her third. O’Reilly provided the game-winning assist in the dramatic semifinal match with Canada. Heath’s three assists in London proved she had arrived as well.

Dorrance called the overtime win the best women’s soccer game he’d ever seen.

“This is sort of like Tobin Heath’s coming-out party,” he said. He then read directly from a transcript of the television play-by-play.

“This is the future of U.S. soccer,” Dorrance read. “Number 17, Tobin Heath.”

UNC’s field hockey players and the handful of former Tar Heels in track and field competitions might not have found their way to the podium, but their teams didn’t suffer for having them on the roster. The field hockey squad’s one win was a 1-0 victory against eventual silver-medalists Argentina.

“(Falgowski) was tasked with marking out the best player in the world, which is Luciana Aymar,” UNC field hockey coach Karen Shelton said. “Falgo basically took her out of the game, and we were able to win that one.”

Shelton said her coaching style primed her players well for international competition.

“They develop good habits here in college and hopefully carry those to the next level,” she said. “The speed is a bit greater and the pressure comes a little bit quicker … But a lot of the same stuff that we coach is coached at the next level as well.”

For Heath, it was the culture she encountered at UNC that prepared her for the next stage.

“What Anson does the best is that he knows how to win,” Heath said. “For instance, when you’re down 2-0 to France in the opening game. It might not be your day in terms of playing the prettiest soccer, but figuring out just a way to win in that moment is what Carolina is all about.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.