DRC..Soccer..No 8 is great (Marilyn Marin)

OldTimer · November 5, 2002

UNT?s No. 8 is great

Marin leads Mean Green into Sun Belt tourney

11/05/2002

By Terry Britt / Staff Writer

Marilyn Marin knows she is usually the center of attention whenever she steps onto a soccer field for the University of North Texas.

She knows she is the all-time leading goal scorer at UNT. She knows she is going to get the ball. She knows opposing defenders will try to double-team her, sometimes even triple-team her. She knows reporters are going to ask her a lot of questions about the goals she scores.

None of it matters to Marin ? all that does matter is that the Mean Green ends the match with a victory.

"It doesn?t bother me at all," said Marin about all of the individual attention she has had to deal with in three seasons at UNT. "I just hate to lose. I?m very competitive when I get out there."

This week, Marin has only two things on her mind as the Mean Green prepares for the Sun Belt Conference tournament in Mobile, Ala.

"Two of my goals this season have been for us to win the conference [tournament] and make it to the NCAA tournament. We have a shot at those if we do well this week," said Marin.

Many people think the Mean Green has an excellent chance at grabbing the Sun Belt?s tournament title and automatic NCAA berth with Marin at the helm. Her record-setting play this season has garnered attention from college coaches across the country, and she has no bigger fan than UNT head coach John Hedlund.

"She having such a tremendous year. The regular season is over and she is well ahead of the second and third-place players in total points for Division I," Hedlund noted.

In fact, Marin enters the Sun Belt tournament with 67 points this season, nine more than California-Santa Barbara?s Krystal Sandza. Marin leads Division I in points per game and goals per game.

It?s all merely a byproduct of Marin?s rigid determination to score and to help her team win every time out on the field. She said she developed that inner drive competing for the Dallas-based Sting ?83 soccer club for six years.

"Club soccer was so much more important than high school soccer at that time, and it?s why a lot of players get their exposure at various [club team] tournaments.

"We had a really awesome team," Marin said of her days with the Sting ?83 soccer club, which won the Snickers North Texas State Cup championship in 1997 and 1998. "We went to nationals once, and to regionals several times. I think the fact it was so competitive stuck with me. We were the team to beat."

But Marin worked magic in the high school soccer wars as well. A three-year starter for Skyline, Marin posted an incredible 82 points in her junior year on 31 goals and 20 assists. That followed an 80-point season as a sophomore with a high school career-best 32 goals.

Although she had offers from other collegiate programs, Marin was firm on her desire to stay in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and signed with North Texas for that reason.

"I chose UNT due to the fact I was close to home here. I?m an only daughter and I just wanted to stay close to home," said Marin.

She also said she admires Hedlund?s winning determination as a coach. "We?re both very competitive and we talk about it all the time," said Marin. "We both hate to lose so we just were always on that same page there."

Banging home 26 goals and adding 15 assists hasn?t been easy for Marin, who is generally the target of the opposing team?s best defender or two.

"It?s something I?ve come to expect," she said of the double-teaming or triple-teaming tactics she has faced. "It is frustrating at times but that just makes me work harder.

"There were some occasions before where I would get pushed around and stuff and that would take me completely out of my game. I?ve come to realize it?s going to happen and I?ve got to work harder," Marin added.

However, she credited the great play this season of her teammates ? most notably Melinda Pina, Michelle Uselton, Jessica Hennessey and Alyssa Carrier ? with helping to divert some of the defensive attention from her.

"It helps a lot. They take a lot of the pressure off of me sometimes. They work hard and try to get me the ball and help me," said Marin.

Free kicks within 40 yards have become prime scoring chances for the North Texas junior. "It?s something I?ve worked on throughout the years, and every chance I get I try to work on that," she said about her shot accuracy.

"You need to place it sometimes, depending on the way the opposing team is set up. I do have confidence in my shot, but I?m just determined more than anything," she said.

Marin?s determination is now focused solely on getting the Mean Green into the NCAA Tournament, a quest that will begin with Wednesday?s first-round match against Middle Tennessee.

"I think we definitely have a good chance of taking the tournament. Hopefully, we can make the finals and I know we can. We will definitely give all we can and leave everything here. We don?t have anything to lose," said Marin.

TERRY BRITT can be reached at 940-381-9605.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE SOCCER TOURNAMENT

At Mobile, Ala.

Wednesday?s Games

10 a.m. ? (3) South Alabama vs. (6) Florida International

1 p.m. ? (4) Louisiana-Lafayette vs. (5) Western Kentucky

4 p.m. ? (2) North Texas vs. (7) Middle Tennessee

7 p.m. ? (1) Denver vs. (8) Arkansas State

Thursday?s Games

4 p.m. ? Tournament semifinal

7 p.m. ? Tournament semifinal

Saturday?s Game