Hall of Fame
The 2003 women’s soccer team will become the second Team of Distinction honoree following the 1972 men’s soccer team that was inducted in 2005.
The 2003 team became the first team in the history of the college to win a national championship, doing so on its own home field during thanksgiving break of 2003. Prior to winning the national championship in 2003 the program had never advanced past the final 16, but found themselves rolling along with dramatic win after dramatic win including its win in the national championship game.
The road to the championship began with a game against Ithaca at the New York Regional championship hosted by Union College. The game ended 0-0 and, after two overtime periods, the game went to penalty kicks where Oneonta advanced 3-2. In the regional championship game they beat a physical Union squad 1-0 on a goal by Tricia Jaeger on a restart.
In the national quarterfinals Oneonta hosted Scranton University, who had allowed only one goal all year long entering the contest. The Red Dragons once again found themselves in an overtime battle that would end on a goal by Brooke Davis, who out-raced a defender and put the ball by a charging keeper for a 1-0 victory and a date in the national semifinals.
In the national semifinals Oneonta was facing The College of New Jersey, who they had defeated earlier in the season. The Red Dragons fell behind early before tying the game in the 32nd minute on a goal by Alissa Karcz. The game remained tied until the 79th minute when once again Davis found herself in the right place at the right time and converted a cross into the box passed the keeper. Oneonta held off a late surge by the Lions and earned the right to play in the national championship game against the University of Chicago.
The national championship game proved to be a nail-biter as well having the game go down to the final minute when the drama unfolded.
Trailing 1-0 and entering the final minute of regulation, there was a foul called on Chicago, giving Oneonta a restart. With the clock continuing to count down, senior Rose Velan, screamed for her teammates to get to the front of the goal. Meanwhile she was placing the ball down for the free kick from about 35 yards out. She made the kick, which was heading into the box high in the air. With players moving to the front of the goal and the Chicago defense a bit disorganized, the ball came down. Who else, but Davis, was standing in position to control the ball and get a shot off that headed for the goal. The ball was out of reach of defenders trying to catch up with it as it found the back of the goal to tie the score with just 29 seconds left.
In the first overtime, Oneonta ended the game on a goal by senior Sanada Mujanovic, who crossed a ball from the right flank that hooked and somehow found the inside of the upper left corner of the goal for the game-winner and the school’s first team national championship.
2003 Women’s Soccer
Tracey Ranieri, Coach
Holly Bisbee
Brooke Davis
Alex DeSousa
Patricia DiMichele
Liz Femia
Cristina Gaspar
Brittany Gates
Candace Grosser
Patricia Jaeger
Alissa Karcz
Amanda LaPolla
Jami Leibering
Laura Morcone
Sanada Mujanovic
Cassie Perino
Meghan Putnam
Leslie Small
Kelly Stevens
Sarah Tauber
Corinne Tisei
Rose Velan
Colleen Wolbert
