bell tower sports
 
Oct. 30, 2002
Carolina Sports
Next Update: 11/06

Riding the Legs of a Freshman
by Aaron Mesmer

After Carolina freshman forward Lindsay Tarpley finished leading the under-19 national team to a world championship, she came to Carolina thinking one thing: win the NCAA championship.

"I'd love to see our team win for national championships," she said. "I think that's the dream of everybody."

If the Heels do just that, they'll likely have Tarpley to thank for it.

"She's just an extraordinary individual player who's very creative on the ball and a lot of fun to watch," UNC Coach Anson Dorrance said.

For opposing teams, however, she isn't fun to play against. Her 10 goals and 10 assists have come despite missing the first two games of the season.

"Tarpley is one of the top freshmen in the country right now," Dorrance said. "We think she's going to get better every year and we're excited she's a Tar Heel."

Tarpley said she's just as excited to be one.

"It's such a great environment to be in and be a part of. I just feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be here," she said.

Teammate Alyssa Ramsey said Tarpley's quickness to the ball is her greatest asset. Because of this, Ramsey said Tarpley is able to create goals and assists out of nothing.

"I didn't expect [going from the under-19 team to UNC] to be so easy," Tarpley said.

Despite the thrill of representing her country on the U.S. team, she find the closeness of the Tar Heels even more appealing.

"We're a college team. We spend almost every second of the day together," Tarpley said. "It's like a family."

With the end of the regular season approaching and the ACC and NCAA tournaments not far behind, Tarpley will try to lead her "family" to a national championship.