Girls Soccer

St. John's Soccer Star 'Leads by Example'
McCarty Motivates Team and Sacrifices for It
By B.J. Koubaroulis

Special to The Washington Post

Thursday, September 27, 2007; Page DZ09

On a hill overlooking the turf field at St. John's College High School in the District, there is a single tree under which Vince McCarty finds shade during his daughter's soccer games. From that spot, McCarty, the team's statistician, has a view of the entire field.

It's the spot from where he has recorded the majority of two-time All-Met senior forward Tiffany McCarty's 167 career goals and 52 career assists. And it is the spot where he can watch his daughter make history this fall as she chases the Washington area's record for career goals.

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) has McCarty as the career scoring leader in the District and Virginia. She needs 22 goals to pass former McDonogh star Laurie Schwoy, who scored 188 goals from 1992 through 1995, setting Maryland's mark.
McCarty has recorded 19 goals in 12 games this season for an average of 1.6 goals per game. With 10 regular season games and a few anticipated playoff games ahead, "It's going to be hard," said Cadets Coach Manny Villafana.

"She has basically sacrificed a lot of goals this year that she could have had to basically help the other kids score," he said. "She knows how important it is for us to be ready when she is not here next year."

The 16-year-old Florida State-bound senior has also scored goals as a member of the U.S. under-17 women's national team and the Washington Freedom. She helped lift the Freedom, the area's semipro women's soccer team, to a W-League championship in the summer. "She was playing with women 25 and 35-years-old," Villafana said.

But McCarty, who has led the Cadets to three consecutive 20-win seasons, is interested in more than finishing her career as a national team star and semipro standout with scoring records.

"If I don't score 200 goals and I win a championship, that's fine with me," said McCarty, whose squad fell to Bishop O'Connell in a penalty kick shootout in last season's WCAC title game.

An unexpected 1-0 loss to Pennsylvania's Villa Joseph Marie on Sept. 16 knocked St. John's (11-1) off the top of the national rankings and robbed McCarty of her goal of an undefeated season. But it also injected a new attitude into McCarty and the talented Cadets, whose roster includes 11 Olympic Development Program players and six division I college recruits.

"She really gave us some motivational speeches letting us know that we have to step it up and we can't let this happen again," said senior defender Zania Barnum, who has committed to George Mason. "She encourages us a lot of and she leads by example."

In the three games following the loss, McCarty has recorded eight goals on 16 shots to help the Cadets outscore their opponents 15-3.

"After the [loss], we realized that it was a wake-up call," McCarty said. "But, we have to learn from it. We can't just say that it's a wake-up call and not do anything. Our goals are the same. The only thing that's changed is that we aren't undefeated. We are trying to win a WCAC championship."