Most women’s soccer stories end in the Raleigh-Cary metroplex. However, this one actually begins at the other end of the 31-minute drive along I-40 West in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1987.
That’s when and where Derek Missimo began to carve his name into the University of North Carolina (UNC) men’s soccer record books.
In his first season in Chapel Hill, Derek helped the Tar Heels earn the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship en route to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. By the time he put the chisel and gouge down four seasons later in 1990, Derek was the program’s all-time leader in goals (56) and total points (138).