University of Georgia Athletics
Soccer Debuted 20 Years Ago Today
September 03, 2015 | Soccer
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
It was 20 years ago today, Sept. 3, 1995, that the Georgia women's soccer program made its debut. It was 20 years ago today that the Bulldogs earned win No. 1.
"I don't feel like we're old enough for it to have been 20 years," said Mandy (Aiken) Crawford, who was on the inaugural squad, comprised almost entirely of freshmen.
Playing at the team's original home, on the main field at the intramural fields, in front of a crowd of around 1,500, the brand new Bulldogs beat Georgia State 4-0. Danya Harris scored the first goal in school history that day; Crawford, the first player Georgia's first coach, Bill Barker, signed, also got a goal.
"We were all freshmen, which is just crazy to think about, really," said Crawford, who is second on Georgia's all-time goals list with 33. "None of us really knew any more than anyone else."
The Bulldogs did have one older player in junior goalkeeper Mindy Hyde. Everyone else was brand new and learning. Among them was Stephanie (Yarem) Ransom, who went on to be the Bulldogs' first All-American, earning the honors as a junior and senior.
Ransom, now Georgia's Assistant Athletic Director for Business Operations, remains the 20-year-old program's single-season scoring leader with 18 in 1997. She's also in the top three in program history in career goals and points, and her 15 career game-winning goals is No. 1 all-time.
For a program making its debut, Ransom said, that opening win was special.
"It's a great feeling: it's the first win, the first goal, the first everything," she said. "Certainly there was a lot of emotion attached to that, and having the crowd that was out there to support us, it was just a great moment in our history."
Beth (Lewis) Beach was one of several freshmen on the team from Texas, which makes you wonder how does a recruiting pitch go when the program only exists on paper at that point? Beach said she fell in love with Athens and UGA during her recruiting trip, which made her decision pretty easy. She also liked the idea of being part of the beginning of the program.
"I would love to say that I had the true appreciation of that when I was 18 years old, and I knew it was special, but I didn't realize how special it was," she said. "Looking back, I have an even deeper level of appreciation for it."
Georgia went 10-5-3 during that opening season. The Dogs enjoyed some success while also learning a great deal and developing as players and as a team.
"Yes, there was a sense of accomplishment — we made it," Ransom said. "We won some games, we lost some games, but really it was a stepping stone to the next year. And I think we knew that we were a good team and needed to put in some more work. I think overall we felt like we had done something."
Season two showed progress as the Dogs went 14-7, including a 6-2 run in SEC play. In the program's third season it broke through and made its first NCAA tournament appearance. Georgia finished 15-6-1 and lost 1-0 to Clemson in the first round of the NCAAs.
Then came the original squad's senior season. Fourteen members of that first freshman class had stuck around for all four years and they experienced what remains the high-water mark for the program, advancing to the third round of the NCAA tournament.
"It was a tight group and a good group," Beach said of the seniors in 1998.
After an up-and-down regular season, things came together in the NCAAs. Georgia hosted Wake Forest in the first round — this was the team's first season in their new home, the Turner Soccer Complex — and beat the Demon Deacons 5-2. Then came what remains one of the standout wins in program history.
"I can almost play back in my head the entire game," Beach said.
Playing at Virginia, the game was tied 2-2 at the end of overtime, leading to penalty kicks. Georgia won the shootout 3-1 to advance to the round of 16, still the deepest the program has ever been in the tournament.
"The Virginia game, if you look on paper they were the better team, but we just wanted it so bad," Beach said. "That's why you play the game. It was just a wonderful, wonderful experience."
The Bulldogs fell at Dartmouth, 2-1, in the next round, ending the eventful, educational and memorable run of the program's first class of players.
"I felt like we did make progress for the program and I thought we had great coaches that did a great job," Crawford said. "I'm proud of what we did and definitely making the Sweet 16 our senior year was incredible."
Georgia has made the NCAAs nine times overall, including last season, but has yet to establish itself as one of the top programs in the SEC and beyond. Billy Lesesne, hired in December 2014, is the program's fifth head coach. He came to Georgia after 14 seasons as an assistant at Duke and sees great potential and a bright future.
"It's a fertile pasture," he said prior to starting his first season. "There's a lot of potential in the job, and part of that is the number of players in Atlanta and the quality of the players there. It's making sure that Georgia is an option for those top players, and that's what our staff has in mind, keeping some of the best players home and having Georgia be a place where they can be successful academically and within the soccer program.
"It is a sleeping giant, I think."
Georgia's alumni, including members of that original team, will gather in Athens later this month for a reunion weekend. They will be recognized at the Texas A&M game at the Turner Soccer Complex on Sept. 27.
Like Crawford, Beach has a hard time believing it has been 20 years since that first fall. The memories are still fresh and the feeling of pride in what they did is still strong.
"You were just proud to put on your Georgia jersey," she said. "When you got to wear your school jersey and represent your school, you knew you were going to do the best you could for this program. It was an amazing experience and I am just so happy each and every day that I go to do it."
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter: @TheFrierson and @ITAHallofFame.