Women’s soccer team to get kicks in Europe

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, May 21, 2002 | 10:05 a.m.

It worked for the Lady Rebels' basketball team. Why not soccer?

Last summer Regina Miller's basketball squad spent 12 days touring Europe while also playing five exhibition games. And that trip, which was credited with helping create team unity, was followed by the Lady Rebels' first NCAA Tournament appearance in almost a decade.

Now third-year UNLV women's soccer coach Dan Abdalla is hoping for similar results from a 11-day, 10-night trip to Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, which begins this afternoon.

The Rebels will play four games during the stay including two against top-notch German club teams. They'll also do plenty of sight-seeing with a cruise along the Rhine River planned as well as a visit to Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam.

"I definitely talked to (Miller) about the trip," Abdalla said. "I knew they had just gone back there last year and had some good results because of it. She told us to bring some warm clothes because it could be a little chilly back there. I guess they're having kind of a wet spring."

Abdalla said 20 players will make the trip, including five seniors who recently graduated. NCAA rules prohibit incoming freshmen from participating but allow graduated seniors to travel.

"We look at the trip being a positive from a couple of standpoints," Abdalla said. "One, it will reward our seniors who helped start the program four years ago. And it will also help bring together our returning team for next season."

The Rebels finished the 2001 campaign with a 12-7-2 record and a second-place finish in the Mountain West Conference. Abdalla is hoping the trip will help his team advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, much like Miller's did this past season.

"We were a (NCAA Tournament) bubble team last year," Abdalla said. "Hopefully this experience will help us get over that hump."

The Rebels fly to Frankfurt, Germany, tonight and then bus to Heidelberg on Wednesday. Their first game is Saturday against German first division club team SC 07 Bad Neuenahr.

"It's going to be challenging," Abdalla said. "The two German teams we play are two of the top teams in Germany. They both have a couple of World Cup players on them. We're not playing young girls. They're a couple of veteran teams."

The Rebels depart Frankfurt for the United States on Friday, May 31.

Robinson said he believes Dorsey, the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, should be able to obtain a special medical hardship waiver from the NCAA and will be eligible to play in the fall.

"He's applied for a hardship waiver and we think he'll get it," Robinson said. "He has to do solid work (in summer school) but he'll be back. He's gained about eight or 10 pounds. We're very excited about seeing him."

Robinson declined to reveal the specific nature of the medical problems Dorsey experienced.

The bus will depart the Thomas & Mack Center parking lot at 5:45 a.m. on Saturday morning and stop for breakfast in Barstow, Calif., before arriving at the Staples Center in time for the noon tipoff between Frohlich's New York Liberty and the defending WNBA champion Los Angeles Sparks. The bus is expected to leave Los Angeles for its return trip home around 3:30 p.m.

Price for a bus ticket is $35 while game tickets in the special Frohlich rooting section are $12. Reservations must be made by Thursday by calling Cynthia Ritchie at 567-1249.

Robinson made the announcement at a press conference on Monday at the Si Redd Room that was attended by boxing promoter Bob Arum and ex-Michigan and Arizona State head basketball coach Bill Frieder, among others.

"He'll help us connect with the community and give us access to people you wouldn't otherwise have access to," Robinson said. "It also makes a statement about what we're trying to do here. He's got a whole world of marketing and fund-raising abilities that we would like to put to good use."