Today, we have an interesting matchup between Cal soccer players. Alex Morgan v. Joy Biefeld Fawcett. Both amazing players during their time on the team. But only one can move on to take on Joe Igber or Brandon Mebane. Who will it be? More information after the jump. You can read the entire bracket here
The voting will end on Friday, April 29, at noon. Go Vote. Go Bears!
Pete Newell Regional
Alex Morgan (5)
via grfx.cstv.com
Alex Morgan is somewhat of a cult heroine on CGB (mostly on the DBD) because of her wholesome good looks. But she is not CGB HOF-worthy simply because she has so many admirers among Cal fans. Alex Morgan is CGB HOF-worthy because she might be the greatest Cal women's soccer player ever there was. And since Cal is the alma mater of Joy Biefeld Fawcett, that is saying something.
Alex closed her Cal career as the third leading all-time scorer in California women's soccer history with 107 points (45 goals). She was the team's leading scorer in her senior season (2010) despite missing several games due to being called up to play games on the USA National team. She led the nation in scoring for much of the season and it's not a stretch to say she would have won that title easily had it not been for her commitment to USA Soccer.
The accomplishments don't stop there. Alex's career is dotted with achievement:
First team All-American as a senior
First-team All-Pac-10 selection four times
First Cal player ever to be named as a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, the Heisman of women's soccer
Led Cal to the NCAA tournament in each of her four years
Second-team Freshman All American in 2007
Alex has made Cal proud and she'll make America proud on the national team, that's for sure.
Joy Biefeld Fawcett (12)
Great profile by Fawcett thanks to California Pete.
In the 1990s, Joy Fawcett became the world’s most famous soccer mom. One of the mainstays of the pioneering U.S. women’s national team (239 caps over 18 years), Joy played on the World Cup–winning sides of 1991 and 1999, and she also twice won Olympic gold in 1996 and 2004. While attacking players such as Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy attracted a bit more of the spotlight on those teams, Fawcett’s role was no less integral to their success. Indeed, Joy was a true fixture on the back line; she played every minute of every game in the 1995, 1999, and 2003 World Cups, as well as the ‘96 and 2000 Olympics. She did all of this while being mother to a growing family of three girls. A National Soccer Hall of Famer, Fawcett is arguably the greatest outside back the women’s game has ever seen. U.S. attacks often began with Fawcett’s accurate distribution from the flank, and she pushed forward enough herself to score 27 goals during her career on the WNT, most ever by a defender.
I first remember seeing the not-yet-married Joy Biefeld on the back page of the Daily Cal in the mid-to-late 1980s. This was a pretty dismal time for Cal sports, so any news of national-level success grabbed my attention. In 1986, the soccer stories were all about a young Brandi Chastain, who was national Freshman of the Year at Cal before transferring to Santa Clara. But ably stepping into her shoes in 1987 was Biefeld, whose offensive skills would be on full display. A three-time All-American, Biefeld amassed 55 goals and 23 assists during her Cal career, leading the Bears to the national semi-finals two years in a row. Joy was national player of the year in 1987, when she scored a school-record 23 goals.
Joy and her husband Walter now run Saddleback United Soccer Club in Mission Viejo.