William & Mary Athletics

The criteria for a former athlete to be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame is deservedly high, but that for a team is even higher, requiring not just outstanding achievement, but achievement that can withstand the test of time.  Even by those lofty standards, the 1997 women's soccer team has few equals, cutting such a swathe through the nation's fields and Tribe history that even to this day, it represents a model of excellence that teams in every sport can aspire to.
 
The 1997 season did not spring from the ground unheralded by previous seasons.  The core of the team had been formed over the previous campaigns: the seniors had reached the NCAA Quarterfinals as freshmen in 1994, going 17-4 and winning the CAA title to finish the year ranked No. 5 in the nation.  In 1995, W&M had again gone undefeated in conference play, but fell in the championship game to James Madison and in the NCAA first round.  1996 had seen the Tribe recapture the CAA crown, but again fell in the NCAA first round to perennial national champions North Carolina.
 
With four future W&M Hall of Fame players on the roster, the Tribe opened 1997 ranked No. 11 and with four-straight wins, winning by an average of more than three goals a game.  That included a 7-1 win over ODU, and a 4-1 upset of No. 10 Maryland.  That streak catapulted W&M up to No. 4 in the polls, before back-to-back losses to SMU and No. 11 Clemson on the road dropped the Tribe back to No. 9.  Another three-game winning streak followed with W&M outscoring its opponents 15-1, before another pair of losses on the road, this time to state rivals No. 3 Virginia (3-2 in overtime) and No. 23 George Mason (2-0).  That left the Tribe at No. 20 nationally, and 7-3 overall.  W&M would not lose again for two months.
 
Saturday, Oct. 4, saw the Tribe record a 4-0 shutout of UMBC, beginning a 13-game winning streak that extended deep into the NCAA Tournament.  W&M, back up to No. 12 for the CAA Tournament, buzzed through VCU and JMU to earn a championship-game rematch with No. 25 George Mason, and got revenge with a 1-0 victory to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  That boosted the Tribe back into the top-10, ranking No. 7 in the nation, and bracketed at No. 21 Penn State in the first round. 
 
The first-round game at State College was played in snow flurries, with the Tribe pulling out a 3-2 win in double-overtime over the Nittany Lions.  Penn State struck first, just five minutes in, before sophomore Lindsay Nohl finished the half with two goals to take a 2-1 lead.  After Penn State tied the match in the 65th, the two teams advanced deep into the second overtime before Missy Wycinsky scored in the 112th minute.  In the round of 16, the Tribe (back to No. 9 in the polls) had to travel to No. 12-ranked and sixth-seeded Virginia for another rematch, and again took the win, 1-0, on a 40th-minute goal by freshman Janet Sury.  The quarterfinal match-up in the Elite Eight was against No. 3 UConn, who took a 4-0 win en route to a national runner-up finish.
 
W&M finished the year at 20-5 and ranked No. 5 nationally, which is the second-highest final ranking in school history.  The Tribe's 20 wins are still the school record for a single season, and a mark that only 3-4 teams a year reach nationally even to this day. The Tribe's 13-game winning streak also set a school record that is still standing today, and the two wins in the NCAA Tournament are the most for the program in any single year.  Four players – senior Ann Cook, Wycinsky, sophomore Carrie Moore, and junior Stephanie Loehr -  have been inducted into the W&M Hall of Fame in their own rights over the years, and all four were also named to the CAA 25th Anniversary Team in 2009-10.
 
Cook was named the CAA Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, still one of just three players in conference history to win those awards in the same season, and also earned first-team All-America honors.  Cook set the still-standing school and CAA records with 20 assists that season, part of a team-record 88 assists.  Her season stat line included 16 goals, 20 assists, and five game-winning goals.  Wycinsky was named third-team All-America, after leading the Tribe in scoring with 59 points on 21 goals and 17 assists.  She still ranks second all-time on W&M's single-season scoring list for both points and goals.