By R.L. Bynum
Carolina held the No. 1 spot in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 after remaining undefeated in a week with two games against ranked teams and continues to own the ACC’s weekly awards.
The Tar Heels won 1–0 at Virginia (which went from No. 22 to unranked) and played Florida State (which moved up a spot to No. 2) to a 3–3 draw. The Tar Heels got all eight first place votes after the Seminoles got one first-place vote a week ago.
UNC is the only Division I school in the country with both soccer teams undefeated. Carolina’s men’s team, which debuted this week in the Top 25 at No. 18 is 4–0–3 overall and 1–0–2 in the ACC.
Redshirt sophomore Ally Sentnor is the league’s ACC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring two goals and assisting on another in two games last week.
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The Tar Heels have won half of the ACC weekly awards, with Avery Patterson garnering the offensive award on Sept.12, and the defensive award going to Savy King Aug. 22 and Sept. 5, Sam Meza on Aug. 29 and Maycee Bell on Sept. 19.
Carolina (6–0–5, 2–0–1 ACC) faces two consecutive unranked teams, visiting N.C. State at 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN3) before returning home to face Miami at 7 p.m. Oct. 5 (ESPN3).
Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 8 Clemson, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 17 Duke and No. 25 Wake Forest.
Top 25
| Rank | Team | Previous | 1st-place votes | Poll points | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | 1 | 8 | 200 | 7-0-4 |
| 2 | Florida State | 3 | 0 | 184 | 7-0-1 |
| 3 | Stanford | 2 | 0 | 183 | 8-0-1 |
| 4 | Penn State | 4 | 0 | 181 | 9-0-1 |
| 5 | UCLA | 5 | 0 | 161 | 7-1-0 |
| 6 | Brigham Young | 6 | 0 | 160 | 9-1-1 |
| 7 | Arkansas | 11 | 0 | 151 | 7-2-1 |
| 8 | Clemson | 8 | 0 | 145 | 8-1-2 |
| 9 | Alabama | 9 | 0 | 134 | 7-1-4 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 10 | 0 | 120 | 6-1-3 |
| 11 | Georgetown | 17 | 0 | 114 | 6-1-3 |
| 12 | Memphis | 12 | 0 | 110 | 8-1-0 |
| 13 | Princeton | 14 | 0 | 97 | 6-1-1 |
| 14 | Texas Tech | 25 | 0 | 95 | 9-0-2 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 7 | 0 | 91 | 7-1-3 |
| 16 | Indiana | NR | 0 | 72 | 9-0-2 |
| 17 | Duke | 16 | 0 | 61 | 5-3-1 |
| 18 | Santa Clara | 13 | 0 | 58 | 7-2-2 |
| 19 | Southern Cal | NR | 0 | 48 | 5-2-0 |
| 19 | Central Florida | RV | 0 | 48 | 7-2-0 |
| 21 | Texas | 14 | 0 | 42 | 7-3-1 |
| 22 | Michigan | 19 | 0 | 31 | 6-2-2 |
| 23 | Washington State | 24 | 0 | 30 | 7-2-0 |
| 24 | Xavier | RV | 0 | 23 | 8-2-1 |
| 25 | Wake Forest | NR | 0 | 16 | 7-1-2 |
Also receiving votes: Gonzaga (14), Colorado (10), Saint Louis (9), Georgia (4), Liberty (4), North Texas (2), SMU (1), Michigan State (1).
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||
| 5 | Wednesday | W, 1–0 | vs. South Carolina (exhibition) |
| 13 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Fairfield |
| 20 | Thursday | 7:30, ESPNU | at Arkansas |
| 23 | Sunday | 1 p.m., ACCN | vs. Michigan State |
| 28 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at Shebourne FC (Dublin, Ireland, exhibition) |
| September | |||
| 3 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Arizona |
| 6 | Sunday | 10 a.m. | at Arizona State |
| 10 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. California |
| 13 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. NJIT |
| 17 | Thursday | 8 p.m., ACCN | vs. Duke |
| 20 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Alcorn State |
| 25 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia |
| October | |||
| 2 | Friday | 6 p.m., ACCN | vs. Notre Dame |
| 9 | Friday | 7 p.m., ESPNU | at Florida State |
| 15 | Thursday | 8 p.m., ACCN | at Clemson |
| 18 | Sunday | 3:30, ACCN | at Wake Forest |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m., ACCN | vs. Stanford |
| 29 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. SMU |
| November | |||
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Louisville |
| 8, 12, 15 | Sunday, Thurs, Sun. | ACC tournament | Semifinals, final in Cary |
| NCAA tournament | (first four rounds at campus sites) | ||
| 20-22 | Fri.-Sun | First round | |
| 26 | Thursday | Second round | |
| 29 | Sunday | Third round | |
| December | |||
| 4, 5 | Fri., Sat. | Quarterfinals | |
| 10, 13 | Thur., Sun. | Women’s College Cup Cary |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
