By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — After leading UNC to its 23rd national championship as interim coach in 2024, Damon Nahas’ first season without the interim title last year was a down year by program standards.
Even still, the Heels came seconds away from making the Elite Eight, and Nahas said that context matters when evaluating where the program stands now.
“Disappointment can be looked at in all different ways. From the outside, you can see disappointment,” Nahas said. “But where we started in the season to where we ended last year was pretty significant. Most people would like to be [four seconds away from the Elite Eight]. So as disappointing as that is, we have to take a look at those opportunities, which is what they are, and prepare for the next season.”
Without 11 players from last season, including the top three scorers, his third team, replenished with 15 newcomers, showed off its talent in No. 8 Tar Heels’ 1–0 exhibition victory Wednesday at Dorrance Field over South Carolina.
Nahas said the turnover on the roster is simply part of the job now and the landscape of college sports, and that there are no excuses.
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“We have some great young players that are here with the core that came back,” Nahas said. “You throw them out there, and you hope that they learn on the fly, and hopefully you don’t get exposed in moments when they’re struggling. But that’s the landscape of no excuses. We embrace playing the young players. So does everybody on the roster that was here last year. So we have a lot of optimism, but we’ve got to earn it on a daily basis.”
Two newcomers teamed up on the winning goal, with former Georgia graduate midfielder Summer Denigan knocking in a score in the 84th minute. She took a nice pass from freshman forward Amari Manning (below), who battled past a tackle before delivering the helper.
“Amari, you can see the talent that she has,” Nahas said. “Amari was brave to go down there. She put a defender in a difficult situation where she’s either going to go isolated one v. one and maybe create a foul, or instinctually, Summer is one of our best instinctual players in the box, and she arrived at the right time, and just a great ball to finish it off.”
The challenges get stiffer early because Manning and freshman midfielder Deus Stanislaus will miss the first three games of the season while participating in the U.S. U17 camp.
The 13–6–2 mark a year ago was the worst in program history. That was the most losses and the fewest victories since the inaugural 10–2 season in 1979.
UNC will try to rebound against a challenging schedule that includes nine ranked teams. The Tar Heels are picked fifth in the ACC, which includes the top four teams in the preseason United Soccer Coaches poll: No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Duke and No. 4 Florida State.
“Obviously, there’s no surprise that the ACC is pretty heavy in talent,” he said. “But we schedule a pretty tough non-conference. I’d say we took as tough a schedule as anyone in the country if you look at it from top to bottom.”
Now playing pro soccer are the top three scorers from last season: Olivia Thomas (13 goals, seven assists, 33 points; Denver Summit), Kate Faasse (11, 6, 28; Houston Dash) and Linda Ulmark (7, 8, 22; Houston Dash). In addition, defender Tessa Dellarose is with the Chicago Stars. Only Faasse and Dellarose had exhausted their eligibility.
The top returning scorer for UNC is sophomore midfielder/forward Bella Devey (five goals, four assists, 14 points), a Preseason All-ACC pick.
According to Top Drawer Soccer, UNC has the No. 1 freshman class and the No. 3 transfer-portal class.
Topping the group of transfers is Denigan (below), who was a Hermann Trophy semifinalist last season. In 54 starts with the Bulldogs, she collected 22 goals and 49 points, including 11 goals last season.
Nahas made clear why she was such a priority addition.
“What she does — she scores goals,” he said. “She’s got a nose for the goal. She’s got many areas that she knows she wants to improve, and I think that’s one of the reasons why she’s here as well.
“But the one thing you just can’t teach is someone’s instincts around the box, and that goal is a really good example,” Nahas said. “Her timing and arrival in that spot were perfect, where some would have made the run too early, which would have brought a defender. She was really diligent about when and when not to, and the result was just the quality serve, and then obviously just the right spot, right time. So, she brings that experience and desire in the box for us.”
The other transfers are former BYU defender Izzi Stratton and former Utah midfielder Lilliah Blum, who are both seniors.
The 11-player freshman class is led by midfielder Scottie Antonucci (No. 7 in the class), forward Sealey Strawn (No. 9), defender Cali O’Neill (No. 12) and Stanislaus (No. 16).
In the scoreless first half, UNC sophomore defender Hope Munson attacked the goal in transition, made a few late jukes and easily knocked it past the South Carolina goalie in the 16th minute but was called offside.
Devey had some of the best chances for UNC, including in the 75th minute when she got by a defender, but the South Carolina keeper made the save on a laser shot.
Nahas said the missed chances reflected a young team still finding its rhythm more than a lack of effort.
“Were some of the opportunities wasteful in decision-making? Yeah. Do I think they should have been a little more patient? Yes. But what I think is that we weren’t lacking in trying to do the right things,” he said. “I think all of them put a really good effort in, and ultimately, as we talk about all the time, performance makes a difference”
The Gamecocks had some good second-half scoring chances, and Nahas credited South Carolina for forcing his team into uncomfortable moments.
“They hurt us in transition a bunch in different moments, which was a really good challenge for us,” Nahas said. “But that was a really good exhibition game for them too, and to set them up for the season, so we appreciate them traveling here.”
Freshman Peyton Trayer was the first-half goalkeeper for UNC, with redshirt junior Washington State transfer Liya Brooks the keeper in the second half. Nahas has four goalkeepers on the roster, and he said he hasn’t made any decisions yet on who will start.
“Time will tell, right? Just giving the girls some different opportunities gives us some different pictures,” he said. “We just want to make sure that we’re getting better on a daily basis, and I’ll make that decision when we get closer to Wednesday.”
Notes
— UNC opens the season next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Dorrance Field against Fairfield.
— The United Soccer Coaches named Stratton to the Defenders MAC Hermann Trophy Watch list.
— There was a hydration break in both halves. But, unlike during the World Cup, it was actually for hydration with the heat index around 90 degrees.
— The official statistics for the match weren’t publicly released, and there was no streaming broadcast of the match.
— According to the statistics on the scoreboard, UNC had advantages of 15–6 on shots and 6–32 on corners, needing to make only two saves.
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||
| 5 | Wednesday | W, 1–0 | 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 (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 |
Photos by Jackson Gerding
