Three-sport star leaves a legacy
If anything, the injury she experienced made her stronger and more appreciative of her athletic career. She had a difficult time not being able to play all the sports she loved, but was determined to make a quick recovery. Cleared to play by the end of the spring lacrosse season, she proceeded with caution. After wearing a knee brace during club lacrosse in the summer, she took it off for the first day of soccer tryouts.
“I will never forget that day. I was so proud of myself and just thankful to be on the field,” she said.
Dorsey’s combination of speed, skill and game sense has made her a standout athlete. But her coaches and teammates agree that her finest attribute is her overwhelming desire to be the best and the natural way she brings her teammates along the same path.
Kemper Robinson, a rising junior who plays soccer and lacrosse, remembers how much awe she was in when she first met Dorsey at freshman orientation a couple years back.
“She was someone I always looked up to since middle school and I finally met her and got to talk to her for so long. I honestly felt like I was meeting someone famous. She was just so awesome,” Robinson said. “And then coming onto the team, she was completely welcoming and no matter who you were, she would push you to the best of your abilities, always encouraging everyone to hustle and give it 110% no matter what situation.”
The Eagles soccer team, which won its seventh conference title in nine years, opened the season with plenty of offensive firepower but inexperience on defense. Dorsey welcomed the challenge of moving to the back — where she will likely play at North Carolina — and thrived. She kept the right side of the field clean with her one-on-one defensive skills and was a constant threat on offense with eight goals and six assists.
“She was the heart and soul of our team and the first thing you notice about Julia is how hard she works,” McDonogh soccer coach Harry Canellakis said. “And it’s not just for games, it’s every training session, every small-sided game that we play. She’s the most competitive, most hard-working kid consistently in everything wedo. For the rest, it’s hard to be around a person working that hard and not work hard yourself.”
Lacrosse coach Taylor Cummings, who played the same three sports during her career at McDonogh, went to watch Dorsey play soccer after her injury and was happy to see her confident and excited to be on the field.
“She just looked like she had a newfound appreciation for the sport and I knew that would translate over to the lacrosse season as well,” Cummings said. It did.
Dorsey had 19 goals, 18 assists, 41 draw controls, 25 caused turnovers and 19 ground balls to help cap a 21-0 season as the Eagles took back the conference championship it owned for nine straight years before their national-record 198game winning streak ended in the 2018 IAAM A Conference final.
“Her workhorse mentality and being a solid defender at that end and a true team player on the offensive end was really great for us. She’s a competitor and we had some close games this year and there wasn’t a doubt in her brain that we were going to win,” Cummings said.
Of all the sports she played, soccer and lacrosse have always been Dorsey’s favorites, and when it came down to considering a college, she couldn’t imagine playing only one. She received plenty of D-I athletic scholarship offers — some to play one sport and a couple that would allow her to play both.
North Carolina was the best fit as she’ll become the sixth female Tar Heel to play both soccer and lacrosse.
“Obviously, there’s definitely a higher pace that is more demanding when you get to college, but I feel pretty well prepared,” Dorsey said. “I think the hardest transition is the mindset coming into college because it is so different in that it’s almost like a job. But I feel like I’ve been prepared to jump right in.”
Dorsey, who is considering between business and political science as her major, started taking classes June 24.