ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512290109
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES
VIRGINIA'S MEN and North Carolina's women still have elite programs, but other schools are gaining on them.
College soccer has reached the age of parity. That development became evident after the dynasties in the men's and women's game toppled in the space of a week in NCAA postseason tournament play.
North Carolina's string of consecutive women's championships came to end at nine when Notre Dame downed the Tar Heels last week, while Virginia's dreams of a fifth consecutive men's title disappeared in a 3-2 Cavalier loss to Duke in a men's semifinal Friday.
``The age of parity is here,'' said Hank Steinbrecher, the general secretary of the U.S. Soccer Federation and formerly men's coach at Appalachian State and Boston University.
``I think it's just great for the game,'' Steinbrecher said after watching Wisconsin eliminate Portland 1-0 and Duke dethrone Virginia before a crowd of 21,319 on Friday at the University of Richmond Stadium.
Despite the end of their reigns, North Carolina's women and Virginia's men still are the envy of collegiate soccer. They set standards for others to follow and as a result there are now about 20 schools with men's teams and about a dozen with women's programs that legitimately can challenge for the national championship.
``More and more programs are getting stronger and stronger,'' said Chris Petrucelli, coach of the women's team at Notre Dame, which won its first national title with a 1-0 triumph over Portland on Dec.10 after eliminating North Carolina by the same score in a semifinal.
Clemson, Connecticut, Duke, Harvard, Maryland, Massachusetts, Penn State, Portland, Santa Clara, Southern Methodist and Stanford, to name a few, will challenge Notre Dame and North Carolina for the women's title next year.
The game's popularity and competitiveness among women is expected to reach an even higher level with the women competing in the Olympics for the first time next summer. Also, more schools are instituting women's programs to fulfill the gender equity requirements of Title IX.
North Carolina's dynasty of winning every title but one since the NCAA began holding a national soccer tournament for women, gave other women's programs a goal for which to strive. Likewise, Virginia's men, under the direction of coach Bruce Arena, have set the standard for their peers and become an exciting titan to follow for publications and reporters unfamiliar with college soccer.
``Virginia deserves a lot of credit for what they have done for the game,'' said coach John Rennie of Duke, which will meet Wisconsin in today's championship game here. ``They're wouldn't be this crowd and all the media here if it weren't for them.''
The sellout crowd of 21,319 for Friday's semifinals was the largest in the history of the tournament, which began in 1959.
The coaching philosophy of Arena, who is taking a leave of absence from the Cavaliers to coach the American men at the Olympics in Atlanta next summer, has been the main reason for the college game's growth and popularity. Virginia has been getting the best players from the around the country because of Arena's emphasis on attacking soccer and his willingness to allow self-expression on the part of his players.
``Virginia has set the standards for all teams to attain,'' said Seth Roland, an assistant coach at William and Mary.
This year's finalists, Duke (16-6-1) and Wisconsin (19-4-1) are, of course, two of those teams. Duke is seeking to repeat its accomplishment of 1986, when it captured its first national title, while Wisconsin has reached the penultimate stage for the first time.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Duke players celebrate their first goal with fansby CNBduring their 3-2 win over UVa on Friday.