By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina jumped three spots to No. 2 in the latest United Soccer Coaches women’s soccer Top 25 poll after a pair of dominant shutout ACC victories last week.
The Tar Heels (11–3, 4–2 ACC), who defeated Pittsburgh 4–0 on Thursday and N.C. State 2–0 on Sunday, are tied at No. 2 with Alabama (13–1–1).
UCLA (13–0), which beat Carolina 2–1 on Sept. 4, remains No. 1. UNC is the only team in the top 10 with three losses.
Taking an even-bigger jump was Notre Dame (11–2, 4–2), which went from No. 16 to No. 6 after beating Virginia (10–2–2, 3–2–1) 1–0 and Florida State (9–1–2, 5–1) 4–0. The Cavaliers, who tied Syracuse 2–2 Sunday, sunk from No. 2 to No. 13, and the Seminoles fell from No. 3 to No. 4.
Other ACC teams falling in the poll were Duke (10–3, 5–1), which fell from No. 7 to No. 12 despite beating Wake Forest 2–1 and Pittsburgh 1–0, and the Panthers (11–3, 4–2), which sunk from No. 13 to No. 21 after their losses at UNC and Duke.
Florida State and Duke are tied for first place in the ACC with 15 points, with UNC, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh tied for third with 12 points. The Tar Heels beat Duke 3–0 in Durham on Sept. 8, but that was a non-conference game that didn’t count in the standings.
It’s senior night for the Tar Heels on Friday at 7 as they face Wake Forest in the final regular-season home game (ACC Network Extra/ESPN3).
Top 25
| Rank | School | Previous | 1st-place votes | Poll points | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 1 | 8 | 200 | 13-0-0 |
| T2 | North Carolina | 5 | 0 | 187 | 11-3-0 |
| T2 | Alabama | 4 | 0 | 187 | 13-1-1 |
| 4 | Florida State | 3 | 0 | 167 | 9-1-2 |
| 5 | Northwestern | 6 | 0 | 158 | 11-1-2 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 17 | 0 | 157 | 11-2-0 |
| 7 | Arkansas | 9 | 0 | 143 | 10-2-1 |
| 8 | Rutgers | 10 | 0 | 132 | 12-1-1 |
| 9 | Stanford | 14 | 0 | 130 | 11-2-1 |
| T-10 | TCU | 10 | 0 | 117 | 8-2-4 |
| T-10 | Saint Louis | 12 | 0 | 117 | 13-1-0 |
| 12 | Duke | 7 | 0 | 116 | 10-3-0 |
| 13 | Virginia | 2 | 0 | 97 | 10-2-2 |
| 14 | Portland | 15 | 0 | 89 | 9-0-4 |
| 15 | Michigan State | NR | 0 | 83 | 11-1-3 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 19 | 0 | 75 | 9-3-1 |
| 17 | Georgetown | 18 | 0 | 72 | 9-1-4 |
| 18 | Southern Cal | 8 | 0 | 53 | 8-2-1 |
| 19 | California | NR | 0 | 49 | 8-3-3 |
| 20 | Ohio State | 16 | 0 | 42 | 8-2-3 |
| 21 | Pittsburgh | 13 | 0 | 36 | 11-3-0 |
| T-22 | Texas | 23 | 0 | 34 | 10-1-3 |
| T-22 | Xavier | NR | 0 | 34 | 11-2-2 |
| 24 | South Carolina | NR | 0 | 31 | 9-2-3 |
| 25 | Penn State | NR | 0 | 17 | 8-3-2 |
Also receiving votes: BYU (13), Mississippi State (13), UCF (12), Clemson (12), Harvard (9), Oklahoma State (9), Wisconsin (5) and Washington State (4).
Photo of Maddie Dahlien courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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