By R.L. Bynum

Carolina fell two spots to No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 women’s poll after losing Saturday night at Virginia Tech 2–1.

The Tar Heels (9–3–0, 2–2–0 ACC), were top-ranked before losing 2–1 to UCLA on Sept. 4, and the Bruins have remained No. 1 since then. Carolina lost to Virginia 3–2 on Sept. 17 and the Cavaliers (10–1–1, 3–1) remain No. 2.

The Hokies (9–2–1, 3–1–0) debuted in the poll at No. 24 after knocking off Carolina.

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The Tar Heels return home to try to rebound at 7 Thursday night against No. 13 Pittsburgh (11–1–1, moved up one slot), which shares the ACC lead with No. 3 Florida State (8–0–2) at 4–0–0. The Seminoles moved up four spots in the poll after a 1–0 win over Miami.

Duke (8–3–0, 3–1–0) fell four spots to No. 7 after losing 1–0 at home Sunday to Virginia. The other ranked ACC team is No. 17 Notre Dame (9–2–0, 2–2–0; down one spot).

Top 25

Rank	School	Previous rank	First-place votes	Poll points	Record
1	UCLA	1	8	200	11-0-0
2	Virginia	2	0	192	10-1-1
3	Florida State	7	0	181	8-0-2
4	Alabama	5	0	173	11-1-1
5	North Carolina	3	0	165	9-3-0
6	Northwestern	8	0	150	10-1-2
7	Duke	4	0	148	8-3-0
8	Southern California	20	0	133	7-1-1
9	Arkansas	12	0	128	8-2-1
10	TCU	9	0	126	7-2-3
10	Rutgers	10	0	126	11-1-1
12	Saint Louis	11	0	101	12-1-0
13	Pittsburgh	14	0	99	11-1-0
14	Stanford	NR	0	68	9-2-1
15	Portland	18	0	67	7-0-4
16	Ohio State	NR	0	62	8-2-2
17	Notre Dame	16	0	58	9-2-0
18	Georgetown	19	0	57	8-1-3
19	Tennessee	NR	0	56	7-3-1
20	Mississippi	13	0	50	9-1-2
21	Washington State	15	0	47	8-1-2
22	Pepperdine	17	0	42	7-1-2
23	Texas	NR	0	27	8-1-3
24	Virginia Tech	NR	0	21	9-2-1
25	Harvard	25	0	20	7-0-2

Also receiving votes: Michigan State (18), Xavier (17), Wisconsin (14), Washington (14), Penn State (13), Mississippi State (12), Oklahoma State (8), South Carolina (5), Brigham Young (2).

Date	Month/day	Game/score	Opponent (current rank)	Location	TV/ record
	August
7	Sunday	W, 5–0	VCU	Home	Exhibition
13	Saturday	W, 2–0	BYU	Home	Exhibition
18	Thursday	W, 3–0	Tennessee	Home	1–0–0
21	Sunday	W, 2–0	UNCW	Home	2–0–0
25	Thursday	W, 2–0	Texas	Austin, Texas	3–0–0
28	Sunday	W, 6–0	Baylor	Austin, Texas	4–0–0
	September
1	Thursday	W, 3–1	Missouri	Columbia, Mo.	5–0–0
4	Sunday	L, 2–1	No. 1 UCLA	Home	5–1–0
8	Thursday	W, 3–0	X-No. 8 Duke	Durham	6–1–0
11	Sunday	W, 2–1	Central Florida	Home	7–1–0
17	Saturday	L, 3–2	No. 11 Virginia	Home	7–2–0, 0–1–0 ACC
22	Thursday	W, 1–0	Syracuse	Syracuse, N.Y.	8–2–0, 1–1–0 ACC
25	Sunday	W, 3–0	Boston College	Home	9–2–0, 2–1–0 ACC
	October
1	Saturday	L, 2–1	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	9–3–0, 2–2–0 ACC
6	Thursday	W, 4–0	No. 19 Pittsburgh	Home	10–3–0, 3–2–0 ACC
9	Sunday	W, 2–0	N.C. State	Home	11–3–0, 4–2–0 ACC
14	Friday	W, 1–0	Wake Forest	Home	12–3–0, 5–2–0 ACC
20	Thursday	W, 2–1	No. 5 Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	13–3–0, 6–2–0 ACC
23	Sunday	W, 4–0	Miami	Coral Gables, Fla.	14–3–0, 7–2–0 ACC
27	Thursday	W, 1–0	Louisville	Louisville, Ky.	15–3–0, 8–2–0 ACC
	November		ACC tournament
3	Thursday	T, 0–0, 2 OTs (UNC advances 7–6 on PKs)	Semifinal vs. No. 8 Duke	Cary	15–3–1
6	Sunday	L, 2–1	Final vs. No. 5 Florida State	Cary	15–4–1
			NCAA tournament
12	Saturday	W, 5–0	First round: Old Dominion	Chapel Hill	16–4–1
17	Thursday	W, 3–1	Second round: Georgia	Chapel Hill	17–4–1
19	Saturday	W, 3–2	Third round: No. 15 BYU	Chapel Hill	18–4–1
26	Saturday	W, 2–0	Quarterfinals: No. 4 Notre Dame	South Bend, Ind.	19–4–1
	December		College Cup
2	Friday	W, 3–2	Semifinals: No. 5 Florida State	Cary	20–4–1
5	Monday	L, 3–2, 2 OTs	Championship: No. 1 UCLA	Cary	20–5–1

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications