Heading in to this year's World Series, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Curt Schilling talked about how the mystique of the Yankees dynasty was nothing more than a fantasy in a nightclub. Nevertheless, that fantasy proved pretty intimidating in games four and five at Yankee Stadium.
Much the same way, the Penn State women's soccer team heads to the mecca of women's soccer in Chapel Hill at 7 p.m. tonight to compete in its quarter-final matchup against North Carolina in its quest for its first national championship title.
Of course beating the Tar Heels to advance to the semifinals would mean beating the 17-time national champions. It would mean beating the team that is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation with a 22-0 record. And it would mean getting past North Carolina goalkeepers Kristin DePlatchett (0.40 goals against average [GAA]) and Jenni Branam (0.44 GAA) who combined have only allowed nine goals to be scored upon them all season and have recorded 15 shutouts. Defensively for Penn State, it would mean controlling forwards Alyssa Ramsey (14 goals) and Anne Remy (10 goals) who are North Carolina's leading scorers for the season.
And the Tar Heels power doesn't stop there.
Penn State women's soccer coach Paula Wilkins recognized that fact in a press conference earlier this week.
"They are 17-deep of equal quality," Wilkins said.
In fact 16 different players have scored for the Tar Heels this year and all 25 athletes on the roster have seen some action this season.
But the Lions aren't scared.
All but one freshman has seen time for the Nittany Lions throughout this season.
And 12 Lions have scored for Penn State with Christie Welsh leading the charge with 25 goals followed by Heidi Drummond with 18.
Defensively, the Lions are ready as well. Senior goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk has a 0.69 GAA and has 76 saves this season, as well as recording 11 shutouts.
"We're confident," Wilkins said. "We've played there before. It's not like we're walking into the game blind. We know how the game went the first time. They beat us 3-0, the pressure is on them to defend that."
Penn State and North Carolina have met three other times in the past, with the Tar Heels leading the series 3-1. The first time the two teams met during the 1999 regular season, the No. 5 Lions beat the No. 1 team 3-2. But Penn State has not been able to repeat that since. The teams met again that same year during the Lions' only trip to the NCAA College Cup and lost 2-0. They met again in 2000 at the Adidas College Classic, which resulted in a 1-0 Tar Heel victory. Penn State's latest encounter with the Tar Heels was early this season on Sept. 9 where North Carolina won 3-0, with one goal coming from Ramsey. Wilkins commented on the growth of her team since that time.
"Our freshmen were untested at that point," Wilkins said. "We're able to go much deeper on our bench now."
North Carolina is coming off of a close 2-1 win against Rutgers last weekend, in which the Tar Heels took the lead with approximately eight minutes remaining.
"We're ecstatic we survived," North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance said. "Athletics is so bizarre; you never know what galvanizes you and what shreds you."
Like Schilling, the Lions are confident.
"To be the best you have to beat the best. . .," Wilkins said. "There's nothing to lose in the NCAA's."
Just like the Diamondbacks had nothing to lose in the World Series -- and we know how that ended.
