Dream fulfilled: Brownsville grad Dellarose plays key role in UNC无毛视频檚 23rd women无毛视频檚 soccer championship
Tessa Dellarose reminisced about her days as a youth soccer player in Brownsville and all the hard work and time she put in over the years, and contemplated.
无毛视频淚 think my younger self, that girl would be very proud and very happy to know what we did this year,无毛视频� Dellarose said.
What the Brownsville graduate did Monday night was earn the opportunity to hold and hoist the NCAA national championship trophy as a member of the North Carolina women无毛视频檚 soccer team.
Dellarose was a key cog in the Tar Heels无毛视频� run to a record 23rd national title, which culminated with a 1-0 victory over ACC rival Wake Forest in the final at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
Dellarose got a clear view of teammate Olivia Thomas无毛视频� second-half goal on a free kick that was the difference, raising her arms as she watched the ball curl in and find the net in the 62nd minute.
North Carolina hung on from there and Dellarose无毛视频檚 dream was fulfilled.
无毛视频淚t feels just incredible and also so surreal, knowing that we are the first team since 2012 to accomplish a national championship at a historic program such as this,无毛视频� Dellarose said. 无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 almost unbelievable that we truly did it.
无毛视频淚t means a lot to all of us. We all love the university so much and we love each other so much. To be able to have done this together and bring the championship back home after so long was just such a great moment.无毛视频�
Dellarose had found success on national and international teams, but had come up short of her ultimate goal at UNC in her first two years with the Tar Heels, losing in the final, 3-2, in double overtime, to UCLA her freshman year.
North Carolina would not be denied this time, even after it entered the tournament off a bitter 3-2 loss to Florida State in the ACC tournament final.
Dellarose played a huge role in the Tar Heels无毛视频� run through the NCAA tournament, coming up with late-game heroics twice; scoring the winning goal with 22 seconds left against Santa Clara in the second round and assisting on Kate Faasse无毛视频檚 game-winning goal in overtime against Penn State with a perfect corner kick off her powerful left foot.
Dellarose took a moment to reflect after Monday无毛视频檚 match.
无毛视频淓ven before I committed to UNC, even before high school at Brownsville, the goal is to go to college, and then when you无毛视频檙e in college, the goal is to be the best and be a national champion,无毛视频� Dellarose said. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 why you come to a university like North Carolina, to be able to not only be here but to actually fulfill a lifelong goal.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 something you dream of as a young athlete. It无毛视频檚 just really amazing. You really grasp how there无毛视频檚 such a small percentage of people who do play sports that not only get to play in college but then get to be a national champion. It无毛视频檚 just a great feeling.无毛视频�
Dellarose was a phenom at Brownsville, scoring a still school-record 108 goals in three years and helping the Lady Falcons win their first WPIAL playoff match before moving on to play on a club team her senior year.
Her parents, Ron and Melinda Dellarose, were in attendance Monday night, and Ron looked back on his daughter无毛视频檚 journey.
无毛视频淚 watched her from when she was four years old, just every single day, practice and train,无毛视频� Ron said, then added with a laugh, 无毛视频淥ur picture frames downstairs are all busted up because she kicked the ball off the walls down there so many times.
无毛视频淪he did everything right, studied and committed her entire life to this dream. To see all the hard work, grit, determination, perseverance, the dreams she had when she was a little girl, and have it come to this 无毛视频� I just felt so incredibly happy for her. She earned it. The girl from Brownsville, Pennsylvania, she reached the pinnacle.无毛视频�
The Dellarose family has also had other members find success in soccer. Tessa无毛视频檚 older sister, Talia, was a key player with her on the Brownsville teams that won multiple playoff matches. Her older brother, Colton, helped Brownsville无毛视频檚 boys soccer team reach the playoffs for the first time in 2017. All had great support from their parents, who Tessa found after Monday无毛视频檚 victory.
无毛视频淭hey were so happy and so excited, not only for me but the team,无毛视频� Tessa said. 无毛视频淭hey were in attendance for the national championship two years ago, so they saw the low of that one, and now got to see the high of this one. They got to stick around the rest of the night so we all celebrated.无毛视频�
Dellarose recalled what was going through her mind before Monday night无毛视频檚 match began.
无毛视频淚 think all the antics leading up to it, the big walk out, the fireworks during the national anthem, the hype videos, all that definitely gets the nerves pumped up a little bit and snaps you back into reality, like this is the biggest stage, you are playing in the national championship.
无毛视频淏ut then once the whistle blows you kind of focus back in and make it seem like just another game.无毛视频�
Dellarose felt the loss to UCLA two years ago 无毛视频� she was a starter but wasn无毛视频檛 on the field when the Bruins scored the winning goal 无毛视频� helped her in the final against Wake Forest.
无毛视频淛ust having the experience of not only playing in the final, but also of playing through as long of a season as it takes to get to the final carried over for those of us who played in that game,无毛视频� Dellarose said. 无毛视频淭he experience came into play. We无毛视频檇 been on that stage. We knew what it felt like. We knew the emotions, the highs and lows, and how momentum can change on a dime.无毛视频�
North Carolina survived a tense moment in the first half when Claire Gagne made an outstanding save to keep the match scoreless.
无毛视频淲ake Forest had a lot of good chances in the first half,无毛视频� Dellarose said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e a good team, so we knew it wasn无毛视频檛 going to be easy. Our goalkeeper, Claire, she无毛视频檚 been amazing all season, and her coming up big in a big moment on the biggest stage wasn无毛视频檛 surprising. She无毛视频檚 a phenomenal goalkeeper, and we knew she was going to be rising to the challenge.
无毛视频淚t was just about weathering the storm. They had us on our heels a little bit in the first half. We stayed together and made adjustments at halftime.
无毛视频淲e knew that we needed to keep working together, keep playing our game, keep playing with each other, that something would come if we could keep being resilient and persistent.无毛视频�
That came with the goal by Thomas.
无毛视频淪he just had a great strike, and it was an awesome moment for her and for all of us,无毛视频� Dellarose said. 无毛视频淔or the past couple weeks, Olivia had been spending time after every single practice to take free kicks, practice free kicks in those exact spots. To see her put one in after all the hard work she had put in was really rewarding for us, and certainly for her, too, that it paid off.无毛视频�
Ron Dellarose felt the seeds for UNC winning the national championship were planted before the season began.
无毛视频淭hey asked Tessa to be a captain, and she embraced that role and ran with it,无毛视频� Ron said. 无毛视频淭hat gave her some extra confidence that the coaches believed in her.
无毛视频淚 think another thing that was instrumental for her was the TST tournament over the summer, where she got to rub elbows, meet and play alongside some of her idols she grew up watching 无毛视频� Heather O无毛视频橰eilly, Ali Krieger, Carli Lloyd, Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Wendy and Bill Palladino 无毛视频� just to be there with them and absorb their winning mentality was so beneficial for her coming off the spring and into the summer.无毛视频�
Dellarose wound up playing an expanded role offensively.
无毛视频淚 did play a little bit of a different position this year,无毛视频� Tessa said. 无毛视频淚 was in a defensive-mid role, I wasn无毛视频檛 on the back line, so I was able to get up a little bit more. It was great to have a little bit more action in the attack. Anything I can do for the team I无毛视频檓 going to oblige. I just want to be able to contribute to the team in any way possible.无毛视频�
Dellarose was one of the best players on the best team in the country. She was fifth on the team with 15 points, sixth in goals with four, including three game-winners, which was third, and tied for first in assists with seven. She also was one of just five players to play in every match and was third in minutes played.
That led to a prestigious honor.
无毛视频淚 was on the All-American fourth team,无毛视频� said Dellarose, who as usual deflected credit to her teammates. 无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 very rewarding but individual accolades don无毛视频檛 come without a team performance and a great team culture. That was just a reflection of how good my teammates are and how good they make me look. I could not have been in position to get that honor without them.无毛视频�
Dellarose provided much more than statistics and individual awards for her team, as Ron Dellarose pointed out.
无毛视频淪he无毛视频檚 always had an extraordinary work ethic. She无毛视频檚 always been in great shape and has never allowed herself to not be prepared, and I think that rubbed off on her teammates, especially the young girls coming in,无毛视频� Ron said. 无毛视频淭hey kind of bonded as the season went along. They had really great players, but nobody that was selfish. They all had the same goal in mind, and that was to win, no matter who scored or who assisted. That goal was to win by any means, and that无毛视频檚 what they did.无毛视频�
The Tar Heels无毛视频� march to the championship started with an 8-0 win over USC Upstate in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The second-round match against Santa Clara was much tougher, and in a scoreless tie when the final seconds of regulation were ticking away, the match seemed destined to head into overtime.
Then Dellarose stepped up.
无毛视频淚 saw Olivia Thoms get on the end of a through ball from Belle Sember, so I just started running towards the goal,无毛视频� Dellarose said. 无毛视频淜ate Faasse kept the play alive, and I saw the ball pop out from the goalkeeper, so I just ran to it and lifted it over the other players无毛视频� feet and into the goal.
无毛视频淚t was a very special moment, and I was so happy to help the team keep our tournament run alive.无毛视频�
The 1-0 win over the Broncos was followed by a 3-0 win over Minnesota to set up a quarterfinal match with Penn State, which went into overtime tied at 1-1.
Again, Dellarose stepped up in the clutch and delivered for her team with the corner kick that Faasse headed into the net.
无毛视频淲e were deciding who was going to take the corner kick and one of my teammates told me to go take it, and I wasn无毛视频檛 going to disagree with her, so I just went over there and was really trying to put it in a good spot to make sure I gave us a chance to finish it,无毛视频� Dellarose said. 无毛视频淚 honestly just kicked it as hard as I could into a good spot. Kate was there, where she needed to be, and had a great header into the net to take us back to the College Cup (soccer无毛视频檚 version of the Final Four) to go face Duke.
无毛视频淚t was a really awesome moment. Scoring a golden goal is unlike anything else. The immediate celebration was just so much fun because everyone was so excited. Also, Kate is a classmate of mine. We came in our freshmen year together. So to be able to connect with her on the goal to send us back to the College Cup was a really special moment.无毛视频�
North Carolina romped over Duke, 3-0, to set up the final with Wake Forest.
无毛视频淚t was just a great display of team effort, of what we are about at North Carolina, how we want to play,无毛视频� Dellarose said of the win over the Blue Devils. 无毛视频淚t was an extremely dominant performance.无毛视频�
After the win over Wake Forest, came the celebration with the trophy Dellarose so coveted.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 really a one-of-a-kind feeling, something that you dream of and something I无毛视频檇 worked for for so long,无毛视频� Dellarose said. 无毛视频淭o finally have it pay off and to hold it, it无毛视频檚 extremely heavy, but in such a great way. It无毛视频檚 just so awesome to know that we did that. It无毛视频檚 part of history now, it无毛视频檚 permanent.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檒l forever be attached to the 2024 season and this championship.无毛视频�