By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina’s women’s soccer team remained the unanimous No. 1 pick in the United Soccer Coaches poll, while the UNC men’s soccer team moved up five spots to No. 13.
Carolina remained the only Division I school with both soccer teams undefeated after the men’s team won Tuesday night at home 2–0 against Elon.
The women (8–0–4, 3–0–1 ACC) return home at 7 p.m. Thursday to face Miami (ESPN3) before visiting No. 22 Duke (down five spots) at 4 p.m. Sunday (ACC Network).
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No. 13 is the men’s team’s highest ranking since it was also No. 13 on Aug. 30, 2022, one week before it fell out of the poll and wasn’t ranked the rest of last season. The men (5–0–4, 1–0–3) return to league play at 7:30 Friday night against No. 18 Syracuse in a home match.
Other ACC teams in the women’s poll are No. 2 Florida State, No. 9 Clemson, No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 17 Wake Forest. Other league teams in the men’s poll are No. 6 Wake Forest, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 14 Duke, No. 18 Syracuse and No. 21 Louisville.
Both UNC teams played on the road in their only games last week. The women rolled to a 4–0 victory Saturday night over N.C. State and the men played Pittsburgh to a scoreless draw Friday.
Women’s Top 25
| Rank | School | Previous | 1st-place votes | Poll points | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | 1 | 8 | 200 | 8-0-4 |
| 2 | Florida State | 2 | 0 | 188 | 8-0-1 |
| 3 | Stanford | 3 | 0 | 184 | 10-0-1 |
| 4 | Penn State | 4 | 0 | 177 | 10-0-2 |
| 5 | UCLA | 5 | 0 | 170 | 9-1-0 |
| 6 | Arkansas | 7 | 0 | 156 | 8-2-1 |
| 7 | Texas Tech | 14 | 0 | 134 | 11-0-2 |
| 7 | Brigham Young | 6 | 0 | 134 | 10-1-2 |
| 9 | Clemson | 8 | 0 | 129 | 9-1-2 |
| 10 | Memphis | 12 | 0 | 124 | 9-1-0 |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 10 | 0 | 123 | 7-1-3 |
| 12 | Georgetown | 11 | 0 | 113 | 7-1-4 |
| 13 | South Carolina | 15 | 0 | 98 | 8-1-3 |
| 14 | Michigan | 22 | 0 | 92 | 7-2-3 |
| 15 | Southern Cal | 19 | 0 | 89 | 7-2-0 |
| 16 | Santa Clara | 18 | 0 | 82 | 8-2-2 |
| 17 | Wake Forest | 25 | 0 | 59 | 8-1-2 |
| 18 | Kentucky | NR | 0 | 56 | 7-0-4 |
| 19 | Alabama | 9 | 0 | 55 | 7-2-4 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | NR | 0 | 42 | 8-2-3 |
| 21 | Brown | NR | 0 | 41 | 6-1-2 |
| 22 | Duke | 17 | 0 | 34 | 5-3-2 |
| 23 | TCU | NR | 0 | 31 | 8-3-2 |
| 24 | Saint Louis | RV | 0 | 20 | 9-2-2 |
| 25 | Colorado | RV | 0 | 18 | 10-2-0 |
Also receiving votes: Indiana (14), Oklahoma State (13), Pittsburgh (8), Xavier (8), Georgia (3), North Texas (2), Gonzaga (2), Michigan State (1).
Men’s Top 25
| Rank | School | Previous | 1st-place votes | Poll points | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marshall | 1 | 7 | 199 | 10-0-0 |
| 2 | Central Florida | 3 | 0 | 187 | 5-1-2 |
| 3 | West Virginia | 4 | 1 | 186 | 8-0-2 |
| 4 | SMU | 2 | 0 | 177 | 7-1-1 |
| 5 | Akron | 5 | 0 | 169 | 6-0-4 |
| 6 | Wake Forest | 10 | 0 | 157 | 7-1-3 |
| 7 | Portland | 11 | 0 | 148 | 6-2-0 |
| 8 | Georgetown | 12 | 0 | 146 | 6-1-1 |
| 9 | Missouri State | 9 | 0 | 137 | 6-0-2 |
| 10 | Stanford | 6 | 0 | 133 | 5-1-3 |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 15 | 0 | 118 | 6-1-3 |
| 12 | Northwestern | 16 | 0 | 114 | 8-0-2 |
| 13 | North Carolina | 18 | 0 | 102 | 4-0-4 |
| 14 | Duke | 21 | 0 | 94 | 6-2-1 |
| 15 | Vermont | 14 | 0 | 84 | 7-1-2 |
| 16 | Hofstra | 19 | 0 | 83 | 8-1-2 |
| 17 | Seattle | 23 | 0 | 68 | 7-2-2 |
| 18 | Syracuse | 7 | 0 | 64 | 4-2-3 |
| 19 | Penn State | 25 | 0 | 49 | 6-1-3 |
| 20 | Pittsburgh | RV | 0 | 42 | 4-3-3 |
| 21 | Louisville | 8 | 0 | 23 | 7-2-1 |
| 22 | San Diego State | 17 | 0 | 19 | 6-1-2 |
| 23 | Michigan State | 13 | 0 | 18 | 5-0-4 |
| 24 | Fordham | NR | 0 | 12 | 5-1-3 |
| 25 | UIC | 20 | 0 | 10 | 7-2-1 |
| 25 | Florida International | RV | 0 | 10 | 5-2-2 |
Also receiving votes: Denver (9), Clemson (8), Oregon State (8), Washington (7), Virginia (4), Cal-Fullerton (4), Loyola Marymount (4), Oral Roberts (2), Saint Louis (2), Bryant (1), Western Michigan (1), New Hampshire (1).
Women
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||
| 5 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. South Carolina (exhibition) |
| 12 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Fairfield |
| 20 | Thursday | 6:30 | at Arkansas |
| 23 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Michigan State |
| 28 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at Shebourne FC in 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. | vs. Duke |
| 20 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Alcorn State |
| 25 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia |
| October | |||
| 2 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame |
| 9 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at Florida State |
| 15 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at Clemson |
| 18 | Sunday | 3:30 | at Wake Forest |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m. | 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 |
Men
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||
| 9 | Sunday | 7:30 | vs. Liberty (exhibition) |
| 13 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Maryland (exhibition) |
| 20 | Thursday | 7:30 | at Georgetown |
| 24 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Memphis |
| 28 | Friday | 7:30 | vs. VCU |
| September | |||
| 6 | Sunday | 7 p.m. | at California |
| 11 | Friday | 7 p.m. | vs. Stanford |
| 15 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. American |
| 19 | Saturday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson |
| 26 | Saturday | 7 p.m. | vs. Lipscomb |
| 30 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. West Florida |
| October | |||
| 3 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | at Boston College |
| 10 | Saturday | 7 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame |
| 16 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at Pittsburgh |
| 23 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at Duke |
| 27 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Wm. & Mary |
| 30 | Friday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. State |
| November | |||
| 1 | Friday | 7:30 | vs. Boston College |
| ACC tournament | First 2 rounds on campus sites | ||
| 4 | Wednesday | First round | |
| 8 | Sunday | Quarterfinals | |
| 12 | Thursday | Semifnals | Cary |
| 15 | Sunday | Final | Cary |
| NCAA tournament | First 4 rounds on campus sites | ||
| 19 | Thursday | First round | |
| 22 | Sunday | Second round | |
| 28, 29 | Third round | ||
| December | |||
| 4. 5 | Sat., Sun. | Quarterfinals | |
| 11, 14 | Fri., Mon. | Men’s College Cup | Cary |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
