SPORTS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Monday, December 3, 2018 3B
INTERNATIONAL SOCCER
Gregg Berhalter to
coach U.S. men’s team
BY RONALD BLUM
Associated Press
Gregg Berhalter was hired Sun
day to coach the U.S. men’s national
team, making him the first person to
run the Americans after playing for
them at the World Cup.
Berhalter, who spent the past five
seasons as coach of Major League
Soccer’s Columbus Crew, repre
sents a generational change for an
American team staggered
by its failure to reach this
year’s World Cup after seven
straight appearances at soc
cer’s showcase.
A native of Englewood,
New Jersey, Berhalter grew
up in Tenafly and played
alongside future U.S. captain
Claudio Reyna at Saint Bene
dict’s Prep in Newark.
Berhalter’s Columbus
teams succeeded despite one of the
league’s lowest payrolls.
“They try to keep the ball. He’s
got ideas and a style of play that
they stick to,” U.S. goalkeeper Brad
Guzan said. “That guidance will be
important going forward.”
The 45-year-old was long viewed
as the front-runner for a job that
stayed open for nearly 14 months.
He is the second youngest coach
for the Americans in four decades;
Steve Sampson was 38 when he took
over in 1995.
“He is a coach that is learning at
all times,” said U.S. general manager
Earnie Stewart, who made the deci
sion approved Saturday by the U.S.
Soccer Federation board of direc
tors. “Every single day he tries to
develop himself so he can be a bet
ter leader for the team that he has.
That is something that really stood
out with Gregg and went a long way
in the decision to offer him the job.”
Berhalter is a godson of baseball
Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski. His
47-year-old brother, Jay, is the U.S.
Soccer Federation’s chief commer
cial and strategy officer.
A defender who made 44 appear
ances for the U.S. from 1994-06,
Gregg Berhalter started on the left
side of a three-man back line in the
2002 knockout stage matches against
Mexico and Germany after Jeff
Agoos got hurt and U.S. coach Bruce
Arena changed formation.
In the 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Ger
many, Berhalter’s 49th-minute shot
bounced off goalkeeper Oliver Kahn
and the left arm of German defender
Torsten Frings, but Scottish referee
Hugh Dallas did not award a penalty
kick.
Ten minutes earlier, Michael Bal-
lack outjumped Berhalter and Tony
Sanneh to head Christian Ziege’s free
kick past Brad Friedel.
Berhalter was a late addition to
the 2006 World Cup roster after Cory
Gibbs injured a knee in a pre-tour
nament exhibition against Morocco,
but Berhalter did not get into a World
Cup match that year. He also was on
the roster for the 1995 Copa America,
1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the
1999 and 2003 Confederations Cups.
He played college soccer at North
Carolina. Months after the U.S.
hosted the 1994 World Cup, Belhalter
made his national team debut that
October in an exhibition at Saudi
Arabia. Berhalter played at the club
level with Zwolle (1994-96), Sparta
Rotterdam (1996-98), Cambuur
Leeuwarden (1998-00), Crys
tal Palace (2001-02), Ener-
gie Cottbus (2002-06), 1860
Munich (2006-09) and the LA
Galaxy (2009-11).
Berhalter started his
coaching career at sec
ond-division Hammarby
in Sweden in Decem
ber 2011 and was fired
in July 2013. Berhalter
was hired by Columbus in
November 2013 and led the team to
third, second, ninth and consecutive
fifth-place finishes. The low-budget
Crew lost to Portland in the 2015 MLS
final and to Toronto in the 2017 East
ern Conference final.
Arena replaced Jurgen Klinsmann
in November 2016 after a 0-2 start in
the final round of World Cup quali
fying. The Americans fell one point
short of the tournament when they
lost 2-1 at Trinidad and Tobago on
Oct. 10, 2017, and Arena quit three
days later.
A search was delayed until after
the USSF presidential election. After
Carlos Cordeiro was voted in to suc
ceed Sunil Gulati in February, the
USSF board decided to institute a
men’s national team general man
ager to head the search. Stewart, a
former Berhalter teammate on the
national team, was hired in June but
didn’t start until mid-August because
of his obligations to the Philadelphia
Union, further delaying the search.
Stewart consulted with eight
Americans with 100 international
appearances, then worked with
USSF chief sport development offi
cer Nico Romeijn and chief soccer
officer Ryan Mooney to develop a
five-page job description. It included
10 base value qualifications such as
implementing a recognizable style
and understanding analytics, and six
with added value such as multiple
languages.
Stewart compiled a list of 33 can
didates, narrowed it to 11 and inter
viewed two: Oscar Pareja, who left
FC Dallas last month for Mexico’s
Tijuana, and Berhalter.
“His willingness, work ethic and
ideas about developing this player
pool and influencing these players in
and outside of camp and the thought
process he has about that — con
stantly seeking new things — set him
apart,” Stewart said.
Dave Sarachan, Arena’s top assis
tant, has coached the team in the
interim.
Berhalter
COLLEGE SOCCER
BEN MCKEOWN I Associated Press
Florida State celebrates their victory over North Carolina in an NCAA women’s soccer championship
game Sunday in Cary, N.C.
Florida State women’s team
wins national championship
Associated Press
CARY, N.C. — Dallas Dorosy
made one more play for Florida
State at another big moment.
Dorosy scored in the 60th min
ute to help the Seminoles beat
North Carolina 1-0 on Sunday for
the NCAA Women’s College Cup
championship.
Florida State (20-4-3) won the
NCAA title for the second time.
It also won it all in 2014.
“I thought our kids fought
extremely hard,” coach Mark
Krikorian said. “Resilient as can
be.”
Dorosy scored five of her
seven goals this season in Flor
ida State’s final seven matches.
She was a big reason why the
Seminoles advanced to the Final
Four, scoring the equalizer in
the second and third rounds with
her team trailing 1-0.
“As a senior, you realize that
it’s your last run,” Dorosy said.
“My teammates work so hard
for me, and I try to work hard
for them.”
Dorosy uncorked the winning
shot as she slid to the ground
in front of North Carolina
defender Lotte Wubben-Moy,
beating Samantha Leshnak to
the near post. Dorosy one-timed
a feed from Deyna Castellanos,
who crossed the ball along the
ground from just outside the
penalty area on the right side.
“I just threw my body in there
with everything I had,” Dorosy
said.
Caroline Jeffers made two
saves in Florida State’s 16th
shutout of the season. She dived
on a dangerous loose ball in the
85th minute to preserve the lead.
North Carolina (21-4-2), a
21-time NCAA champion, was
shut out for the second time all
season.
“If there was a way for nei
ther team to lose that game,
I think that would have been
the just result,” North Carolina
coach Anson Dorrance said.
North Carolina’s best scoring
chance came in the 36th minute,
when Rachael Dorwart’s header
off a corner kick sailed wide left.
The Tar Heels outshot Florida
State 6-2 in the second half and
finished with a 5-1 advantage in
corner kicks for the game.
“It was really close,” North
Carolina defender Julia Ashley
said. “But we just weren’t able
to get it done. It was one pass or
one shot away.”
The Seminoles finished the
year with a nine-match unbeaten
streak after a 1-0 loss at Miami
on Oct. 25. They recorded their
10th win all time against North
Carolina, more than any other
school against the Tar Heels.
The final was the third meet
ing this season between the
Atlantic Coast Conference
rivals. North Carolina won 1-0 at
Florida State on Sept. 14, and the
Seminoles beat the Tar Heels 3-2
in the ACC Tournament final on
Nov. 4.
After scoring twice against
North Carolina in the ACC title
game, Dorosy hurt the Tar Heels
once again.
“Same team, same stadium,”
she said.
Florida State completed an
impressive run to the national
title. In their last four games, the
Seminoles eliminated the last
three NCAA champions (Stan
ford, Penn State and Southern
California) and the most accom
plished program in the sport.
The Tar Heels were in the
Final Four for the 28th time in
the 37-year history of the tourna
ment. They have now gone six
years since their most recent
NCAA title in 2012. Before this
stretch, they had never gone
more than two years in a row
without the crown.
“It’s never easy, no matter
what the stage is, to play against
North Carolina,” Krikorian said.
“They’ve defined excellence
in all of college sports, not just
college soccer. For us to be sit
ting here, finding a way to score
a goal, finding a way to get the
result and win, I think we all feel
very good about that. ”
GOLF
Rahm wins third tide of season in Nassau
BY DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press
NASSAU, Bahamas — Jon Rahm broke
into tears when he beat Tiger Woods in the
Ryder Cup, the most meaningful moment of
his career.
Sunday wasn’t bad either, not with Woods
handing him the trophy after Rahm turned a
potential shootout into a runaway victory on
the back nine in the Bahamas to end his year
by winning the Hero World Challenge.
That makes two full years as a pro for the
24-year-old Spaniard, each with three victo
ries worldwide.
“I hope I keep winning three times every
year,” Rahm said. “Still wouldn’t get to what
Tiger’s done in 20 years, but it would be
pretty impressive.”
Starting the final round in a three-way tie
with Tony Finau and Henrik Stenson, Rahm
took the lead for good on the eighth hole and
never trailed again. Finau was his final chal
lenger until he took double bogey on the par-4
14th hole as Rahm made birdie for a five-shot
lead, and the rest was easy.
Rahm closed with a 7-under 65 for a four-
shot victory at Albany Golf Club.
“Even if I make a 4 there, I’m going to
have to do something pretty dang special,”
Finau said. “Hats off to Jon this week. He
played incredible golf, and he deserved to
win this week.”
Woods was never in the picture until it was
time to hand out the trophy. Woods got off to
another rough start, rallied on the back nine
and had to settle for a l-over 73 to finish 17th
against the 18-man field. He finished 19 shots
behind, the biggest gap this year from the
winner over 72 holes.
“Overall, it was a long week, but one that I
hope the players enjoyed,” Woods said.
DANTE CARRER I Associated Press
Spain’s Jon Rahm poses with the
tournament trophy after winning the Hero
World Challenge at Albany Golf Club
Sunday in Nassau, Bahamas.
PLAYOFF
■ Continued from 1B
title on Saturday, paying
back a three-point loss in
October in Dallas in the Red
River Rivalry game.
Oklahoma is making its
third appearance in the five-
year-old playoff. Defending
national champion Ala
bama has played in them
all. Clemson is making its
fourth straight appearance.
Notre Dame is in the playoff
for the first time, making it
10 teams in five seasons to
participate in the playoff.
Unbeaten UCF finished
eighth in the final rank
ings, nowhere to be found
in the committee’s playoff
discussion. The Knights will
put their 25-game winning
streak on the line against
another SEC team after
beating Auburn in the Peach
Bowl last season.
The debate leading up
to championship Saturday
was whether Oklahoma or
Ohio State might take the
fourth spot if Alabama beat
Georgia.
The wild card was Geor
gia beating the mighty Tide,
which could have meant
two SEC teams for
the second straight
season. Instead, the
Bulldogs lost but
played well enough
to allow coach Kirby
Smart to make that
case that Georgia
should remain in
the top four. Smart
told reporters after
the SEC title game
to ask Alabama coach Nick
Saban which team he would
like to avoid in the playoff?
Saban, of course, endorsed
his former defensive coordi
nator and conference-mate.
The committee didn’t
buy it and stayed with the
one consistent data point
throughout the five years of
playoff selections: No team
with more than one loss has
ever made the playoff. Of
the 20 teams that have been
selected, only two have not
won a conference title.
For the second straight
season, two of the Power
Five conferences were
left out and for the second
straight season it was the Big
Ten and Pac-12. Ohio State
was the first team out last
season and again appears
to have gotten squeezed
because of a lopsided loss to
an unranked team.
The Buckeyes were
blown out by Pur
due in October, sim
ilar to the way they
lost at Iowa in 2017.
“The CFP com
mittee does its best
and I appreciate
their commitment
to college football,”
Big Ten Commis
sioner Jim Delany told the
AP in a text message. “Not
frustrated at all because I
know we have three teams
capable of winning it all, but
only have four playoff slots.”
The Pac-12 was never
in the discussion, with its
champion Washington fin
ishing 10-3.
Georgia had both two
losses and a blowout loss (at
LSU, by 20 in October). The
Bulldogs have been rolling
since and had Alabama on
the ropes before the Tide
erased a 14-point deficit.
The Bulldogs proved they
could hang against the best,
but it was not enough.
Oklahoma has had defen
sive issues all season, but its
offense has been virtually
unstoppable.
Smart
INTRODUCING
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