The Soccer Career of Mary Frances Monroe, like the careers of many in sports has been an adventure. And this young lady is no exception...A stellar high school career and then a trip to Storrs where she made an immediate impact..But a decision after her junior year to go elsewhere didn't keep her from continuing a run as a four time All American...
Monroe was a two time High School All American at Northport HS on Long Island, where her team won a State Championship in 1996. In fact this fall she'll be inducted into the Long Island Soccer Hall of Fame...The First College stop was to play for Len Tsantiris and UConn...
The Huskies, coming off a berth in the National Championship Game, were loaded once again to make another run. The 5-1 spitfire midfielder as a freshman was filling some big shoes as All American Sara Whalen moved on...The numbers would indicate she did...Tying a freshman record with 24 goals while adding 17 assists...a single season record 65 points that still stands today. UConn with The Tietjen Twins, Margaret and Jennifer, plus Chrissy McCann, led the Huskies to a 21-2-2 season...A tough 1-0 loss in the Big East Final to Rival and National Power Notre Dame...Before a run to the National Quarter-Finals, losing to Santa Clara as they avenged the loss to UConn in the 1997 Semi's...Where Monroe scored 5 goals and added 2 assists in the postseason...Soccer America National Freshman of the Year...NSCAA First Team All American and All Big East...The Soccer version of Maya Moore before Maya came to UConn ??
in 1999, obviously a marked women on the pitch, still a strong 15g/36 point season as the Huskies went 17-8 and again would get to the College Cup Quarterfinals where again, Santa Clara would be the road block to the Semi's...4g and an assist in the postseason as Monroe was named a third team NSCAA All American along with her All Big East and All New England accolades...In the 3rd round win over BC, Monroe joined the 100 point club at UConn with the Huskies' 2nd goal of the game...
The 1999 and 2000 Teams featured another future All American in Alexa Borisjuk to compliment Monroe as a goal scorer along with Jen Carlson. The 2000 Team went 17-7-2 and again lost to Notre Dame in the Big East Finals. Monroe a goal and assist in the semi's against Syracuse as the offensive numbers again declined...just 6 goals and 4 assists as this time in the national quarterfinals, the Huskies were derailed by powerhouse North Carolina...This season, Monroe a second team NSCAA All American...In three seasons on the Storrs Campus, Mary Frances Monroe racked up 45 goals (T6) and 27 assists..good for 117 points which is 7th on the All Time UConn Scoring List...only if she stayed...
A few articles indicate Monroe didn't feel she was growing as a player and needed a change, deciding to transfer. It came down to North Carolina and UCLA...She chose UCLA due to a connection with Future USWNT Coach Jill Ellis...and in a 20-3 2001 for the Bruins, Mary Frances Monroe scored 12 goals and had 6 assists...6 game winners while taking 106 shots and again not only an All PAC 10 selection...but another NSCAA All American Team selection....
Philadelphia of the WUSA took Mary Frances Monroe as the 13th overall pick in round #2...Her best years scoring came as a member of the New England Mutiny of United Women's Soccer based in Ludlow, MA...She also spent a two year stint 2000-2001) on the U.S. National Team Roster...Following her pro career, Monroe was the Head Coach at U-Albany from 2006-12 before a four year stint at the University of Miami (FL). Today per her twitter page, she's a Coach with ABC Sportscamps where she has held camps...
A four time All American at Two Different stops...Storrs and Westwood....But in three years as Huskies, the impressive numbers make her a UConn Legend