Column: Newton turns Carolina blue

Alison Foley knew.

The interviews were wrapped up, cameras turned off, and her players were nowhere in sight. Foley stood there, taking in the scene, looking at the maintenance staff clean up the stands. Earlier that evening, the aluminum stands were full, fans of soccer took in a match-up of two top-10 nationally ranked teams. They came to see a brand of soccer. This, Foley knew.

She knew why 2,200 fans came. They came to see the University of North Carolina women's soccer team take on her squad. They came to see the all-time winningest team in women's soccer history. They wanted to see the Carolina blue uniforms. They came to watch forwards like Heather O'Reilly and midfielders like Kacey White. They came to watch future and current national team players who get an education in between time on the Olympic squads down in Chapel Hill, N.C.

"It's the opposition that is drawing the attention now. When this game first went on the schedule, we got calls from area soccer leagues and travel teams. Everyone wanted to make sure that they were here for this one," Foley said.

And they came. They came to see UNC, but Foley knows what that all means for her.

"Only a handful of girls can go to Carolina each year. The others want to beat them," Foley said.

That's right. They want to beat them and pummel them. They would love to make that Carolina blue a muddy brown. The Carolina résumé boasts graduates like Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly. They're too perfect. Three of the current players played on the 2004 Athens Olympic team. Too Olympic-experienced to be liked by the opponent, and don't think that UNC doesn't know that just as there is a visible number on the uniforms, there is also the invisible bull's eye seen by each each team it plays.

The wins are astronomical. The school has won the NCAA national championship 18 times. The last time a team went undefeated? Try 2003. The Tar Heels went 27-0-0. Last time before that? The 1993 edition of the Tar Heels.

So it would have been expected by many and acceptable to some if Boston College backed down a little and came out a little skittish. The young women from Chestnut Hill, though, did not go and run into their net and hide. Rather, they brought the fight to the visitors. After falling behind 1-0 in the second half, BC took advantage of poor communication by UNC's goalkeeper and defenders.

In went the ball. Out went the goalkeeper. Out went two UNC defenders. Think UNC knew the gravity of playing BC? Think that Anson Dorrance, head coach of the UNC women, and a man who literally wrote a book on women's soccer, would have felt urgency against any opponent?

No, he knew the talent of BC and he walked away knowing the fight of the Eagles, who went on to lose 4-1. He came. He saw. He was impressed.

He loved the intimacy of the field, the feel of a high school state championship game with onlookers watching from the sidelines, standing all the while.

"It was kind of colloquial. Big stadiums are coming into our league, and we don't get to see this type of atmosphere as much anymore," Dorrance said.

It was quaint, and packed, and everything in between. Foley knew that. She saw that. But she also knew what the whole situation meant. Her players saw the Carolina blue in person. They ran with them for more than a half. They saw the up close visual. Better yet, they saw the actual, visual pimples and all.

As Foley stood watching the empty stands, Dorrance and his coaches signed autographs on the way to the buses. Crowds awaited the Carolina players as they exited the Newton Campus field. They came to see Carolina this time.

Next time they'll come to see BC.