UNC wins 20th national title when they defeated Stanford 1-0 in the championship game yesterday. Mississippi native, Rachel Givan played the full 90 minutes and did an outstanding job on defense. To read more about Rachel and her teammates click on the link below.

http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/unc-w-soccer-body.html 

CONGRATULATIONS TO RACHEL GIVAN AND HER TEAMMATES ON ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON!!!

FYI- UNC is the only program to play in all 28 NCAA Tournaments and is the only program with an unbeaten, untied season. The Tar Heels have done it four times –1991, ‘92, ‘93 and 2003.

Coach Anson Dorrance react after his team victory.

Mississippi native and former Ridgedland high school standout Rachel Givan will be playing in the semifinals of the NCAA Women’s Championship on Friday December 4th.  The Tar Heels who are ranked 3rd in the country defeated #9 ranked Wake Forest 5-2  to advance to the semifinals. 

Given  is a junior defender and has been solid on defense throughout the season. When asked to comment on their big win against Wake Forest, she said ” I am extremely excited to be back in the semifinals.  My teammates and I have been working very hard all season long. We really want to win this championship for our awesome seniors”. 

If the Tar Heels were to advance to the championship game and win, It would be their 20th  NCAA Championship tittle in the 27  year of  the NCAA  Championship. This game will be televised live at 7:00pm  on ESPNU on Friday the 4th.

Good luck Rachel! 

To read more click here http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/113009aaa.html

Rachel Givan

Defending NCAA Champions to host High Point in first round.

We have concluded our ACC season! We had some bumps in the road at the end of our regular season losing to Miami and Florida State.

 However, we pulled out some wins against Maryland and Clemson. We won the ACC tournament which was held this past weekend November 4, 6, 8^th. This makes it our 20^th  ACC championship.

We met Maryland November 4^th in the quarterfinals beating them 3-0. We then played Boston College on the 6^th in the semifinals beating them 1-0 in double overtime! It was an exciting win and we played really well. We then played Florida State in the finals on Sunday, November 8^th we beat them 3-0.

It was a great way to win the ACC championship after losing to Florida State in regular season. We finished the regular season with a record of 17-3-1 and will host High Point in the first round of the NCAA Championship, which begins on Friday November 13^th.

High Point has a record of 7-14-2. They were the winners of the Big South Conference.  The team is very excited for NCAA play. Our seniors are such an amazing class and we are going to work hard and play for them. (Written by Rachel Givan).

To read more about the Rachel givan and UNC women’s soccer click here http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/unc-w-soccer-body.html

Rachel Givan

My name is Rachel Givan and I play for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am a junior and play left defense for the tar heels. I am going to try and blog about our games this season.

We are in the middle of our season right now with a record of 10-1-1. We are in to our ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) games and play usually on Thursday and Sunday. This past Thursday, October 1st we played Boston College in Boston. The weather was 48 degrees, pretty chilly.

We played in front of a large crowd. We also played on turf and won 2-1 in a rough match. We scored off two penalty kicks because of a handball and foul in the 18 yard box.

We flew out Friday morning and had the day off. We practiced Saturday morning and left that afternoon on a bus for VirginiaTech. We were not as successful against Virginia. We lost 1-0 in a rough battle with lots of fouls.

This lost was very difficult for us because it was our first of the season. However, we have learned a lot from this game.  Our coaches were not too happy. We have a lot to work on in practice to get ready for our game against North Carolina State on Friday October 9th, at home.

Written by Rachel Givan.

Rachel Givan

She was a goal scoring machine throughout her select and high school years. As a forward she was simply unstopable. Who would have guessed that Rachel Givan would be one of the top defenders in NCAA women’s soccer. I spoke with Rachel a couple days ago and she is having a wonderful season.

Read some of my questions and answers with Rachel.

 Ddemmin: What was some of the training you did this past summer to get ready for your season?
Rachel Givan:We get a packet every summer by our coaches that consist of running fitness, technical stuff, weights, and suggestions for games. I focus on fitness every summer. I have to pass a 120’s test that is mentally and physically difficult. I also focused on 1v1’s and small sided games. I trained this summer with Mallory Coleman a senior on the Ole Miss soccer team, and Courtney Alexander a senior on Miami soccer team.

Ddemmin: How was preseason training?
Rachel Givan: Preseason was good this year. Our coaches thought that our team came into preseason extremely fit.  The freshman class came ready to compete and their fitness level was very good. It helps being a junior, it brings experience and confidence with all the  preseason test and games. This preseason was longer than usual, we spent one week in Chapel  Hill and another week in Ocean Isle North Carolina, at the beach. It was not all fun at the beach, we did a lot of hard work too.

Ddemmin: How is your season going so far?
Rachel Givan:Our season is going great so far!  We have played some difficult teams and have really connected. Our record is 10-0-1.

Ddemmin: How you felt after winning your first NCAA women’s soccer championship?
Rachel Givan: It was AMAZING! The day is a blur in my memory, but it is such a great accomplishment and I am very blessed to have experienced it and play with my awesome teammates. Our team would do anything for each other.

Ddemmin: You have played forward throughout your high school years. Was it difficult to switch to a left back position?
Rachel Givan:Yes, luckily I got to make the transition my Freshman spring season so we could afford to make some mistakes in the back. It was difficult also playing on the left becasue I AM NOT LEFT FOOTED. But, I now feel very confident in the back and my left foot has improved a lot. It was challenging but it has been a great experience.

Ddemmin: If your coach gave you the choice of choosing a position to play, what position would you choose?
Rachel Givan:Right now I am really enjoying playing defense, because all the players on my team are incredible and just to get on the field is an accomplishment for me. I miss getting to shoot though!

Ddemmin: What advice would you give to young soccer players that want to follow in your footstep?
Rachel Givan:I would just say work hard, but have fun while your doing it. And just take aditional time from team practaice and focus on your strengths and weaknesses and try to improve them. If you really want to succeed just work hard and keep your head up.

Ddemmin:I have a question from Cheyne Bush, One of the u-12 Brilla girls that you met this summer. The one that fell in love with your championship ring and didn’t want to give it back. She wants to know how many times you can juggle the ball?
Rachel Givan: I wish I had practiced juggling a lot when I was her age. I did practice a lot over the summer with Mallory and Courtney. I can juggle over a hundred.

Ddemmin: Good luck with the rest of your season and we will talk soon.
Rachel Givan: Thanks!

To read more about Rachel click here http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/givan_rachel00.html

Rachel Givan

Rachel has set the bar extremely high. She dazzled the fans with fancy foot skills and an amazing goal scoring ability throughout her high school career. She scored over 150 goals and was a three time Gatorade Player of the Year.

She was honored twice as the Clarion Ledger Player of the Year and was voted 4A Player of the Year 3 times. She was selected to the All State Team 5 consecutive years. To top it all off, she represented the country at the national level, U15, U16, U17, and U20.

Her strength and speed were major concerns for all coaches. Her ability to score goals was a nightmare for all defender. As a forward she was, in a word, simply unstoppable.

It has been a privilege and honor to work with Rachel over the past years. She is not only an outstanding soccer player, she is also an exceptional person and an excellent role model. Although I have never coach Rachel at the high school or club level, I have worked with her several times on an individual basis.

Rachel Givan

The many things that amazed me about Rachel were 1. Her hunger for success. 2. Her exceptional work ethic, she was never satisfied with just 100% effort; she always tried to give more.

3. Her stamina, She never complained about the heat, the cold or being to tired to train. 4. her self-motivation. This was perhaps the trait that most impressed me. She would spend hours practicing not to please he parents or anyone else, but because she wanted to improve her skills.

Her self confidence. She thought she was better than me at a game we used to play after working out. (cross bar game).

She did win the very first game we played, but that was only because I didn’t know the rules(smile). After that first game, she never came close to winning again. She might have won one other time when I wasn’t feeling too good or I wanted to cheer her up(smile). In my opinion Rachel Givan is probably the best female soccer player to come out of MS high schools.

Presently Rachel is a junior at the University of North Carolina(UNC), the number one ranked team in the country. While there, she has been switched from forward to a defensive left back position where her role is to stop top forwards in the nation. She has responded to the new position extremely well and is having an outstanding season.

So my question again: Who will be the next Rachel Givan to come out of MS high schools?

To read more about Rachel and her team click here http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/unc-w-soccer-body.html