Named the NCAA tournament s Most Valuable Defensive Player in 1991
Most Valuable Offensive Player in 1994
Was selected to the all-tournament team in 1992 and 93.
Was also named the 1994 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year,
Three-time ACC Tournament MVP in 1991, 1993-94 and four-time All-ACC 1991-94.
Broke her foot on September 28, 1993 and came back just 22 days later to play in the ACC Tournament and was named the MVP!
In the 1994 tournament she netted the first-ever hat trick againist Duke!
In '94,she also set a new record for points scored in a single game(6) for the tourny
Named Freshman of the Year by Soccer America
ACC Rookie of the Year in 1991.
PLUS she was also named the Freshman of the Year by Soccer America
And ACC Rookie of the Year in 1991.
Her # 13 jersey is retired along with Kristine Lilly's # 15 and Mia Hamm's # 19 jerseys @ UNC.
Teammates say Tisha cracks them up. A more recent example: A few days before the first game of the WWC Julie Foudy, Tiffeny Milbrett, and Tisha made an Austin-Powers-like videotape that was making fun of Brandi Chastain. Tisha won rave reviews from her teammates for playing Mini-Brandi!
Mia and Tisha have been best friends for a really long time. They roomed together in college as well as all of the WWC and Olympic training camps. They both describe themselves as being shy. If you ever read interviews with one of them, they are always complimenting each other. "Tisha is never a player you have to worry about in terms of getting ready for a game or being an impact player, says Mia, "She goes above and beyond what her role is. Everyone should get to know Tisha. She's so positive and genuine. She exudes energy." Tisha returns the compliments by saying "Mia's something special. I compare her to Barry Sanders. She just explodes out there. She'll go full speed, stop and change direction like that. She's got incredible feet." They also care about the other's improvement on and off the field. Example: "Let's say I am going against Mia in one-v-ones," says Tisha. "The harder we go, the more we are helping each other. If I am going 50 percent on defense, that doesn t make her any better. Sure, you can get angry. I get angry, but once the practice is over, that is it. It s healthy. We don't carry it off the field."
Kristine Lilly is also one of Tisha's best friends. "She's still overlooked and still so underrated, but the people who are really soccer gurus know that she's a workhorse and someone who plays more minutes and more games than anyone. The thing about it is that's fine with her. She knows what she contributes and her team knows how much she contributes, and that's what matters to her. She's one of the most honest, true people I know off the field," said Tisha, "I can remember when I got to college (North Carolina, where she was two years behind Lilly) and was really homesick. One night I just walked outside and started to cry. She saw that I was upset and followed me outside, sat down with me and just let me cry, and she started crying. She told me how she'd been there before and she knew exactly all the right things to say and what I needed to hear. Sometimes she doesn't say a lot and is kind of quiet like me, but just her being there that night and letting me get stuff off my chest is something I'll never forget. I look to her to keep me going. She keeps me inspired through being one of the hardest workers I've ever seen. And, to be honest, Lil is one of the reasons I keep playing." Tisha lists Lil as one of her favorite players. Here's a picture of the three of them in college along with head coach Anson Durrence.
"I hadn't done something like that in years,"Tisha said of her now-famous backflip. "I'd often thought about what I'd do if I ever scored. I'd see other awesome celebrating (after scoring), and I thought, `I've got to do something similar.' And then when I scored, there were all those people screaming and hollering, and I had to do something to remember it by."
"The timing was right -- there were no teammates I could crash into -- but I don't know where I got the energy. I guess I was so excited about the opportunity I had. It's just called a round-off back-flip," said Venturini, "I thought about it, thinking that I haven't been playing as much. If I get in the game and manage to score, I have to do something spectacular. I couldn't do it the first time because I was too close to people. I would have knocked some one down or injured them. I didn't want to do that.That would have been terrible to knock MacMillan down and out of play."
"I was in awe," U.S. midfielder Julie Foudy said. "I said, 'Tish, where the hell did you pull that one out?' She said, 'Hey, I'm a gymnast, Jules.' "I think she's still one of the greatest goal scorers in the world," Julie said.
Here's Michell Akers re-count of the celebration:
Tish scores lots of goals with her head, so no one was really surprised to see her bag another one, but the celebration afterward made our jaws hit the floor. Get this. She broke into a cart wheel, round-off, and then, did a backwards flip laying herself out fully in mid-air . . . and then, she stuck the landing. We were floored. Vench played a terrific game, but this absolutely put her over the top. WOW.
Added Mia Hamm, "She's fearless. That goal took courage."
Considering that 10 players scored for the U.S. during the Cup, Tisha said "That's something that's special about this team," Venturini said. "Anybody can score. Our backs can score. People off the bench can score. Its nice for Tony to have those options. We've got some depth off the bench."
"What happened on Sunday (Venturini's two-goal performance) couldn't have happened to a nicer person." Coach Tony DiCicco said.
"The bench is so much fun," MacMillan said. "After the players score, they come over to us - it might be Mia diving or Tiffeny falling into us - but we get up and go crazy. The referee is always yelling at us to sit down and stay in the box,"she said proudly. "If you are quiet on the bench you will just get swallowed up. It is like a mosh pit." Venturini, is considered the bench captain. She makes all cheering decisions for MacMillan, Webber, Sara Whalen, Lorrie Fair, Christie Pearce, Tiffany Roberts, Danielle Fotopoulos and Tracy Ducar.
"New faces keep things interesting and competitive! When someone joins the team, I gain one more sister!" Venturini said.
Tisha has contributed alot to the U.S. Women's National Team.Here are some of her MANY highlights:
Earned the unofficial title of Bench Captain
Member of the Goodwill Games gold medal-winning team.
Member of the gold medal-winning team at the 1996 Olympics.
Scored two goals(Including the first EVER U.S.A. Women's Olympic Goal at the '96 Olympic Games, including the game-winner versus Denmark.
Second on the team with 1,864 minutes played in 1995.
Tied with Kristine Lilly and Tiffeny Milbrett with three goals to lead the team at the 1995 Women's World Championship in Sweden.
She and Carla Overbeck were the only two players to play in all 23 games in 1995.
Member of the U.S. Women's National Team that won the title at the CONCACAF Qualifying Championship in Montreal in 1994 and helped the team qualify for the 1995 FIFA Women's World Championship in Sweden.
Played with the 1993 U.S. team, champions of the CONCACAF Championship in New York.
Member of the U.S. squad that won the silver medal at the 1993 World University Games in Buffalo, N.Y.
A member of the U.S. Under-20 Women's Team in 1992.
Played at the 1990 Olympic Festival in Minneapolis at age 17.
SCORED 2 GOALS VERSUS NORTH KOREA TO HELP THE U.S. WIN 3-0 AND WIN THE GROUP A DIVISION OF THE 1999 WWC!GO TISHA!!
Currently has 123 caps and 43 international goals for the U.S.
Has been called the best header on both offense and defense in the world by many sports broadcasters and experts.
Scored the first goal in the '95 WWC
Scored the first ever U.S. women's Olympic goal in 1996.
Scored the game winning goal versus China last spring in the 2 minutes of stoppage time!
About that stoppage time goal:"The ball just popped out and I said, 'All right,' Venturini said. "It was kind of like 'What's the point?' Then they said three minutes (of injury time) left, and I'm like, 'Oh, what the hell. I'll go in there for three minutes and run around, hopefully not mess up or trip on the ball.' It was the only touch I had on the ball, so I was going to make it a good one. I never scored a game-winner like that at the end, but my team played so hard for so long in that game. . . I was glad I could help."
Said U.S. coach Tony DiCicco: "I was real pleased with how the team played, so it was important playing that well we came out with a (positive) result. For Tisha to get it, it was awesome. My conversation with her before the game was, Tish, I want to be able to put you in the game when we need a goal and for you to get it. My only mistake was probably not putting her in sooner."
The Americans gained a measure of revenge for a 2-1 setback to China March 20 in the Algarve Cup final in Portugal. With extra time winding down, three consecutive fouls by the Chinese allowed the Americans to advance from deep in its defensive end up the right flank. About 40 yards out, midfielder Shannon MacMillan, who entered in the 78th minute, caught the Chinese napping with a quick restart that broke striker Mia Hamm free down the sideline.
Hamm cut left deep into the right side of the penalty area before sending a cross that diving goalkeeper Han Wenxia parried away. Cutting in from the far side, Venturini got the ball and completed a 40-yard sprint by drilling an eight-yard shot into the top of the net.
"I just hit it as hard as I could across the box," Hamm said. "Tisha made this unbelievable run from the middle of the field."
As always, you comments, stories, and suggestions are welcome!!! E-mail me at emilylmlp@hotmail.com
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