Fair takes her place among UNC's all-time greats

--Dec. 12, 1999

It seems every year that Carolina graduates one of the best players in the country -- Debbie Keller, Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm, Tisha Venturini, Cindy Parlow -- and this season, it's defender Lorrie Fair. Fair, from Los Altos, Calif., the �99 ACC Player of the Year, has had quite a year. Back during the summer, she was part of the unforgettable U.S. National team's march to the World Cup title. But when she returned to Chapel Hill, even though her body was worn out, she focused on her school work and on her Tar Heels' season. Not only did she do that, but she changed positions, from midfielder to defender, because injuries had depleted the back for UNC. The result was a third national championship in her four years at UNC, and she was a starter on each of those NCAA title teams.

Clearly, Fair should be a leading candidate for National Player of the Year, which each of those aforementioned former Tar Heels won.

"To the victor goes the spoil," UNC coach Anson Dorrance said of Fair. "Lorrie makes a difference in the back. The difference is we were not giving up goals with her back there. She has made a case for herself (for National Player of the Year). She has played as a starter in four national championship games, and has won three of them. Not a bad statistic."

Fair's career at Carolina is now over, and looking back, she feels pride in adding her mark to the Tar Heels legacy.

"When you come in and look at the tradition, maybe you feel pressure," she said after UNC's 2-0 win over Notre Dame in the national championship game on Dec. 5. "At the beginning of the season, there's no question what our goal is; our goal is to win the national championship. So every day in practice, the things we do, everything, is written down and everything's a competition. In that environment, you can't help but get better.

"Even though our program is about developing players, our team goal is to win the national championship. We make it a point to say history doesn't matter here. Nothing that's happened before matters now. We have to take one game at a time playing an awesome regular season. We'd like to be undefeated, but we play a tough schedule on purpose, so that tough teams can exploit our weaknesses, so that we're peaking by tournament time."

Fair says Dorrance's unparalleled success in women's soccer has been built on strong direction and hard work.

"The way (Coach Dorrance) has structured the program is a lot of the reason why it's a dynasty," Fair said. "What the players put out in practice, they put everything, the blood is left on the practice field. We're so intense out there, but yet, we can go off the field and be buddies. It's a tribute to the coaches and the heart of the players that we can achieve our potential during the tournament."