By R.L. Bynum
After breaking out of a scoring slump for one match, No. 3 North Carolina returned to its struggles but finished the Tar Heels’ first undefeated regular season since 2004.
Despite outshooting Boston College 21–3, the Tar Heels had to settle for the eighth draw of the season in a 1–1 game in Newton, Mass., on Thursday night.
Thanks to amazing goalkeeping from the Eagles’ Wiebke Willebrandt, who made nine saves, they snapped an 11-game losing skid against the Tar Heels, who led shots on goal 12–2.
North Carolina (10–0–8, 5–0–5 ACC), which beat Syracuse 6–1 on Sunday but finished the regular season with four 1–1 draws in the last five matches, next plays a first-round game in the ACC tournament on Sunday, while BC (3–9–6, 0–6–4) finishes the season with four consecutive draws.
Subscribe to read Tar Heel Tribune ad-free
Subscribe for a cleaner, smoother reading experience without the flashing banners, slow-loading elements, or those especially annoying pop‑up ads that interrupt the flow of the story. You’ll also get the first version of each story emailed to you. The only ads you’ll see are static, non-intrusive ads for UNC‑related books, and there are none currently on the site.
Carolina is the No. 4 seed and will play host to No. 5-seed Pittsburgh (13–4–1) at 8 p.m. (ACC Network), with No. 8-ranked and No. 3-seed Clemson (13–2–3) meeting No. 6-seed Wake Forest (10–2–5) in the other first-round game at 6 p.m. UNC and Pitt didn’t meet in the regular season.
With a win, UNC would advance to a semifinal game at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 2, against No. 1 ranked and No. 1-seed Florida State (14–0–1). The Clemson-Wake Forest winner plays No. 11-ranked and No. 2-seed Notre Dame (11–2–4) at 5:30, with both games airing on ACC Network.
No. 1-ranked and regular-season champion Florida State and No. 11 Notre Dame get first-round byes.
Playing 44 miles away from where she grew up in Hanson, Mass., forward Ally Sentnor kept it from being a loss with her sixth goal of the season, a left-footed shot in the 62nd minute after UNC trailed at halftime for the first time this season.
Shortly after seven UNC substitutes came into the game, Boston College took advantage of a Tar Heels turnover, and Aislin Streicek’s goal in the 32nd minute gave the Eagles a 1–0 lead. Carolina goaltender Emmie Allen ran into a BC player and bobbled the ball.
After numerous near misses, the Tar Heels trailed at halftime despite outshooting the Eagles 9–2, including a 4–1 edge in shots on goal.
UNC’s Bella Sember had three shots in a flurry during the 85th minute but couldn’t score.
Boston College got off only one second-half shot.
NOTES — Freshman forward Olivia Thomas played for the first time since Sept. 10 after missing nine games with a calf injury. … Carolina played without leading scorer Avery Patterson and its top defender Maycee Bell. … The Tar Heels lead the all-time series with BC 22–1–1.
No. 3 UNC 1, Boston College 1
ACC standings
| Team | Points | ACC | All |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 North Carolina | 21 | 7–1–0 | 14–2–0 |
| No. 9 Notre Dame | 19 | 6–1–1 | 8–1–6 |
| No. 4 Wake Forest | 19 | 6–2–1 | 13–2–1 |
| No. 19 Virginia | 16 | 5–3–1 | 9–3–3 |
| No. 12 Louisville | 15 | 4–1–3 | 10–2–3 |
| No. 5 Duke | 15 | 4–2–3 | 9–2–4 |
| No. 22 Florida State | 14 | 4–1–2 | 8–2–3 |
| Miami | 14 | 4–2–2 | 10–3–3 |
| No. 7 Stanford | 13 | 4–3–1 | 10–3–2 |
| Virginia Tech | 11 | 3–4–2 | 7–5–5 |
| Clemson | 10 | 2–3–4 | 6–4–6 |
| N.C. State | 10 | 3–5–1 | 10–5–2 |
| Boston College | 8 | 2–4–2 | 9–4–2 |
| California | 5 | 1–5–2 | 4–7–5 |
| SMU | 5 | 1–6–2 | 6–7–4 |
| Pittsburgh | 4 | 1–7–1 | 7–8–2 |
| Syracuse | 3 | 1–8–0 | 4–10–2 |
Thursday’s results
No. 2 North Carolina 2, SMU 0
No. 9 Notre Dame 2, California 1
No. 19 Virginia 3, No. 12 Louisville 0
Virginia Tech 3, Boston College 2
Miami 2, Syracuse 1
No. 22 Florida State 2, No. 5 Duke 1
No. 7 Stanford 4, N.C. State 1
Friday’s result
No. 4 Wake Forest 2, Pittsburgh 1
Sunday’s matches
Boston College at No. 12 Louisville, 1 p.m.
No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 13 Stanford, 4 p.m.
N.C. State at California, 4 p.m.
No. 22 Florida State at Miami, 4p.m., ACCN
Next Thursday’s matches
Clemson at No. 4 Wake Forest, 5 p.m.
No. 2 North Carolina at No. 12 Louisville, 6 p.m., ACCN
No. 7 Stanford at Boston College, 6 p.m.
No. 19 Virginia at No. 5 Duke, 6 p.m.
Virginia Tech at No. 22 Florida State, 6:30
Pittsburgh at SMU, 7 p.m.
California at Syracuse, 7 p.m.
Miami at No. 9 Notre Dame, 7 p.m.
ACC tournament
(Top six make the field)
Nov. 8: first round at campus sites (byes to top two seeds)
First Horizon Stadium in Cary:
Nov. 12: Semifinals, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Nov. 15: Final, noon
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent (current rankings) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ||||
| 5 | Wednesday | W, 1–0 | vs. No. 10 South Carolina | Exhib. |
| 13 | Thursday | W, 4–0 | vs. Fairfield | 1–0 |
| 16 | Sunday | W, 8–0 | vs. Quinnipiac | 2–0 |
| 20 | Thursday | W, 2–0 | at No. 20 Arkansas | 3–0 |
| 23 | Sunday | L, 3–2 | vs. No. 6 Michigan State | 3–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 3–0 | at Shelbourne FC | Friendly |
| September | ||||
| 3 | Thursday | W, 2–1 | at Arizona | 4–1 |
| 6 | Sunday | W, 1–0 | at Arizona State | 5–1 |
| 10 | Thursday | W, 3–0 | vs. California | 6–1, 1–0 ACC |
| 13 | Sunday | W, 5–0 | vs. NJIT | 7–1 |
| 17 | Thursday | W, 4–2 | vs. No. 5 Duke | 8–1, 2–0 |
| 20 | Sunday | W, 5–0 | vs. Alcorn State | 9–1 |
| 25 | Friday | W, 3–1 | at No. 19 Virginia | 10–1, 3–0 |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | W, 4–1 | vs. No. 9 Notre Dame | 11–1, 4–0 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 1–0 | at Clemson | 12–1, 5–0 |
| 18 | Sunday | L, 3–1 | at No. 4 Wake Forest | 12–2, 5–1 |
| 23 | Friday | W, 1–0 | vs. No. 13 Stanford | 13–2, 6–1 |
| 29 | Thursday | W, 2–0 | vs. SMU | 14–2, 76–1 |
| November | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at No. 12 Louisville | ACCNE |
| 8, 12, 15 | Sunday, Thur., Sun. | ACC tournament | 1st round campus sites; 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
