By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — When Anson Dorrance knows his Carolina women’s soccer team is one of the best in the country, he has a history of putting together a schedule that challenges his players.
He took that to extremes 31 years ago for a team that included Mia Hamm and Christine Lilly, stacking four games in four days on the West Coast. That 1992 team — which went undefeated and won the NCAA title — won at UCSB 5–1, at previously unbeaten No. 4 Portland 6–1, against St. Mary’s 6–0 in Palo Alto, Calif., and at No. 2 Stanford 5–0 on successive days.
Dorrance hasn’t laid out a schedule with a week that’s as physically demanding for his reigning national runner-up team, ranked No. 2 in the preseason United Soccer Coaches poll. But there will be plenty of non-conference tests — many on the road — in addition to the unrelenting grind of an ACC season with five league teams ranked in the top six and two others also ranked.
UNC’s schedule, which Chris Henderson of wosoindependent.com ranked the toughest in the country, starts at 7 p.m. Thursday at No. 10 Penn State (Big Ten Network), the reigning Big Ten champion. It’s the Tar Heels’ first trip to University Park, Pa., since losing 1–0 on Sept. 7, 2017.
No. 2 North Carolina at No. 10 Penn State
7 p.m. Thursday | Big Ten Network
“We’re excited about where we are, excited about the caliber of schedule we’re playing,” Dorrance said. “We play some of the best teams in the country. Penn State has a great program.”
The Nittany Lions are the first of seven top-ten opponents. Outside of the ACC, UNC (20–5–1 last season), faces No. 8 Arkansas at home on Sept. 3, visits No. 12 South Carolina on Sept. 7 and is at No. 7 Alabama on Sept. 10.
Thirteen of the 18 teams on UNC’s schedule made last season’s NCAA tournament.
“We’re going to challenge our kids because we have some talent,” Dorrance said. “Hopefully, by the ACC tournament, we’re going to be in a position to challenge for postseason honors in both the ACC and the national tournament, so we’re excited about where we are.”
Dorrance says the training sessions associate head coach Damon Nahas runs have been impressive and prepared the team for the tests ahead.
Last season’s team came 16 seconds away from winning a national championship despite major injuries because it was deep. This team, coming off a pair of easy exhibition victories against overmatched competition, has no major injuries and has a roster that’s probably deeper than a year ago.
“We have another bite of the apple,” Dorrance said. “That’s the best thing about sports — get knocked down, there’s always next year. So, this is next year. We’re looking forward to it.”
The team’s mantra for this season is “Chasing 23 in ‘23” as the players see the program’s 23rd national championship.
UNC returns nine of 11 starters, with returnees accounting for 85.7% of the assists, 74.7% of the points, 84.6% of the shots and 81.7% of the shots on goal last season.
“It gives me chills thinking about how many people we’re returning this year and how many pieces are coming back from injury,” said senior Avery Patterson (below photo), who led the team last season with 13 goals, eight assists and 34 points. “There are so many pieces that are slowly starting to fit into place. We have so many people returning, but we also have added so much more that it’s going to be entertaining for anyone who watches.”
Redshirt senior Maycee Bell, one of the best defenders in the country, is back after she tore her left meniscus in a season-ending injury in last year’s opener. Bell is a Preseason All-ACC pick, along with senior midfielder Sam Meza, who battled injuries last season.
Joining those returnees is a seven-player freshman class that Top Drawer Soccer ranks the best in the country.
Carolina will begin the season playing four midfielders.
“We have so many quality midfielders, you’ve got to figure out a way to play a lot of them,” Dorrance said of the setup. “We get to have a lot of these elite players on the field. That’s a system that’s sort of catering to who we are.”
There’s plenty of quick, talented scorers, with Patterson, Preseason All-ACC picks Ally Sentnor (10 goals, 22 points) and Meza leading the way. Bell anchors a talented group of defenders.
“We’ve got talent in every line, and we’re gonna play a system that I think highlights our strengths and hides our weaknesses,” Dorrance said.
Penn State, which won the NCAA title in the last of its five Women’s College Cup appearances in 2015, got hot at the right time last season. After going 5–3–2 in Big Ten regular-season play, the Nittany Lions won the league’s tournament, advancing to the final 16 in the NCAA tournament to finish 15–5–3.
In the offseason, the Nittany Lions added Quinnipiac transfer forward Rebecca Cooke, who led the country last season with 22 goals.
| Date | Month/day | Time/score | Event/opponent (current rank) | Location | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||||
| 7 | Monday | W, 8–1 | College of Charleston | Home | Exhibition |
| 12 | Saturday | W, 2–0 | East Carolina | Home | Exhibition |
| 17 | Thursday | T, 0–0 | No. 5 Penn State | University Park, Pa. | 0–0–1 |
| 20 | Sunday | W, 3–1 | Cal | Home | 1–0–1 |
| 24 | Thursday | T, 0–0 | No. 12 Wisconsin | Home | 1–0–2 |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 4–0 | No. 22 USC | Home | 2–0–2 |
| 31 | Thursday | W, 5–0 | Gardner-Webb | Home | 3–0–2 |
| September | |||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 3–1 | No. 10 Arkansas | Home | 4–0–2 |
| 7 | Thursday | W, 2–1 | No. 16 South Carolina | Columbia, S.C. | 5–0–2 |
| 10 | Sunday | T, 1–1 | No. 24 Alabama | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | 5–0–3 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 1–0 | Virginia Tech | Home | 6–0–3, 1–0 ACC |
| 21 | Thursday | W, 1–0 | Virginia | Charlottesville, Va. | 7–0–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 24 | Sunday | T, 3–3 | No. 1 Florida State | Home | 7–0–4, 2–0–1 ACC |
| 30 | Saturday | W, 4–0 | N.C. State | Raleigh | 8–0–4, 3–0–1 ACC |
| October | |||||
| 5 | Thursday | W, 1–0 | Miami | Home | 9–0–4, 4–0–1 ACC |
| 8 | Sunday | T, 1–1 | No. 25 Duke | Durham | 9–0–5, 4–0–2 ACC |
| 13 | Friday | T, 1–1 | No. 25 Wake Forest | Winston-Salem | 9–0–6, 4–0–3 ACC |
| 19 | Thursday | T, 1–1 | No. 9 Notre Dame | Home | 9–0–7, 4–0–4 ACC |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 6–1 | Syracuse | Home | 10–0–7, 5–0–4 ACC |
| 26 | Thursday | T, 1–1 | Boston College | Newton, Mass. | 10–0–8, 5–0–5 ACC |
| ACC tournament | |||||
| 29 | Sunday | L, 2–1 (2 OTs) | No. 11 Pittsburgh | Chapel Hill | 10–1–8 |
| November | NCAA tournament Link to bracket | ||||
| 10 | Friday | W, 3–1 | First round: Towson | Chapel Hill | 11–1–8 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 1–0 | Second round: No. 24 Alabama | Lubbock, Texas | 12–1–8 |
| 19 | Sunday | W, 1–0 | Third round: No. 4 Texas Tech | Lubbock, Texas | 13–1–8 |
| 24 | Friday | L, 4–3 | Quarterfinals: No. 6 Brigham Young | Provo, Utah | 13–2–8 |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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