By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — The focal point for No. 8 North Carolina is clear, at least through two matches.
As the striker in the 3–2–4–1 formation, sophomore Bella Devey has already equaled her goal total from last season. She followed up a brace in the opener with a hat trick in the first 14½ minutes of the Tar Heels’ dominant 8–0 victory Sunday over Quinnipiac.
The amazing display of offense and defense came on a steamy afternoon in a match that included a 70-minute weather delay in the second half.
“That formation just works really well for our team,” said Devey, who recorded the first UNC hat trick since Ruby Grant and Brianna Pinto in 2021 against Tennessee. “Getting the wingers in, like Hope [Munson] and [Lilliah Blum] isolated outside, they’re serving in balls, and I’m able to finish them. But it’s all credit to my teammates. They’re all working hard for me, and I’m just there to finish it.”
UNC (2–0), which beat Fairfield 4–0 in its opener Thursday, has scored the most goals through two games in 17 seasons since the 2009 national champions scored 11. Eight is the most goals in a game since an 8–0 NCAA tournament first-round victory over USC Upstate in 2024. Carolina won the shot battle 25–2 and outshot its first two opponents 49–5.
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Nahas credited the formation and his forwards’ willingness to embrace new roles for UNC’s early offensive surge.
“We lost 80-plus percent of our goal scoring from last year,” Nahas said. “You’ve got to have players that have the want to see others score, the want to be able to provide opportunity for others, and the confidence and the want to score, and Hope and Bella are two really good examples. We are not going to be able to be at the level we want unless we have players like them that are going to help facilitate these opportunities and have the courage to make or miss.”
Asked what’s working for Devey specifically in the 3–2–4–1, Nahas turned it into a compliment for his player’s versatility.
“When you have players that are selfless, I know I need them closer to goal, I know I need them to be able to create, and sometimes it’s a perfect situation where they can,” Nahas said. “Confidence is important. They need to feel the net because it just builds a level of confidence, and they are becoming goal scorers, not just shooters.”
Nahas also credited the defense for setting up the attack, even as the goals piled up at the other end. “Our goals happen from back to front,” he said. “It’s a full team effort to do it, and they don’t always get the credit, the ones in the back.”
Devey, who started all 21 games last season, is as hot as the triple-digit heat index at Dorrance Field before the delay. She spearheaded a stretch of four goals in 5½ minutes. Graduate midfielder Summer Dennigan tallied a brace and two assists.
“Last year I was playing more like a defensive position,” Devey said. “So now that I’m in front of the goal and I’m playing the nine, I’m just trying to find my footing there.”
Munson, a sophomore back at midfield on the line behind Devey, followed up her brace in the opener with a goal and two assists.
Devey took a pass from Munson, and with Bobcats keeper Olivia Jarvis charging for the ball in front of the goal, Devey easily slipped it by her for the first goal in the 10th minute.
Only 2½ minutes passed before Devey scored two goals in 50 seconds. Munson took a pass from Denigan as both navigated through defenders and fired in a goal. She notched an unassisted goal in the 15th minute.
“We just needed to learn how to calm down and find our tempo in the game, so that honestly helped both of us a lot,” Munson said of her and Devey. “I just think my teammates make it so easy for me. They find me the ball, and Bella makes amazing runs, perfect. They all just set me up for success, and that honestly just makes everything so much easier for me.”
Nahas substituted heavily for the rest of the first half, with eight players coming off the bench. That included senior goaltender Abby Gundry, who didn’t play in the opener but relieved starter Peyton Trayer in the 38th minute. Neither saw any shots.
Junior keeper Hannah Johann relieved Gundry in the 55th minute, just after Munson assisted on senior midfielder Lilliah Blum’s goal.
Jarvis saved a Denigan penalty kick in the 67th minute, but Denigan fired in the rebound for the goal. Denigan scored an unassisted goal again just over three minutes later.
A few minutes after the game resumed, redshirt junior Liya Brooks took over at goal in the 76th minute, seven minutes before junior forward Logan Tongberg lofted in a shot into the goal.
Nahas praised the balanced scoring across his roster.
“This is really their time. I’m really proud of the girls,” Nahas said. “So many positive strides from Fairfield to now, and we’re going to highlight those. A lot of goal scorers, a lot of first-time goal scorers in Summer and Lil and Logan [Tongberg], and for me a goal is a goal, and when you have that opportunity, you should celebrate it.”
Nahas pointed to the discipline his team showed compared with the opener.
“The difference between Fairfield and here was that it was our first game, so I think their excitement backfired on us a little bit in some of our execution,” he said. “The girls were a lot more disciplined. There weren’t a lot of missed passes today. Our positioning was better, and obviously execution and decision-making were better. Defensively, everybody put the effort in. Counter-pressing was really, really good compared to the last game.”
Notes
— UNC plays its first road match of the season Thursday against No. 10 Arkansas at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU). The Razorbacks, who were 10–5–4 last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, lost their opener Wednesday at home to Baylor 4–1 and played Loyola Maryland to a 1–1 draw on the road on Sunday night.
— The match was delayed by storm threats for 70 minutes in the 71st minute, but only light rain fell. Play resumed after each team warmed up for 15 minutes.
— It’s the most Carolina goals in its first two games of a season since 2009, when the Heels beat UCLA 7–2 and UCF 4–0. The last time the Tar Heels opened with more goals than that in their first two games was 2000, with a 4–1 win over Richmond and a 9–2 victory over Texas.
— This was the first meeting between UNC and Quinnipiac (0–1–1), which had a goal in the 70th minute wiped out because of an offside call.
— Carolina had possession of the ball 67% of the match.
— For the second consecutive game, freshmen Amari Manning and Deus Stanislaus were away from the team because they are at the U-17 United States camp as the team prepares for the U-17 FIFA World Cup this fall. They don’t return until Thursday, so they will both miss the Arkansas match.
— It was UNC’s sixth consecutive home victory and 15th in the last 16 matches.
— Former Carolina starts Kate Faasse, Linda Ulmark and Avery Patterson were at the game, and Sunday evening played for their NWSL Houston Dash team in Cary against the North Carolina Courage.
No. 8 UNC 8, Quinnipiac 0
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent (current rankings) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ||||
| 5 | Wednesday | W, 1–0 | vs. South Carolina | Exhib. |
| 13 | Thursday | W, 4–0 | vs. Fairfield | 1–0 |
| 16 | Sunday | W, 8–0 | vs. Quinnipiac | 2–0 |
| 20 | Thursday | 7:30 ET | at No. 10 Arkansas | ESPNU |
| 23 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. No. 7 Michigan State | ACCN |
| 28 | Friday | 2 p.m. ET | at Shebourne FC (Dublin, Ireland, exhibition) | |
| September | ||||
| 3 | Thursday | 10 p.m. ET | at Arizona | ESPN+ |
| 6 | Sunday | 1 p.m. ET | at Arizona State | ESPN+ |
| 10 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. California | |
| 13 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. NJIT | |
| 17 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. No. 3 Duke | ACCN |
| 20 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Alcorn State | |
| 25 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 11 Virginia | |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 2 Notre Dame | ACCN |
| 9 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 4 Florida State | ESPNU |
| 15 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at No. 25 Clemson | ACCN |
| 18 | Sunday | 3:30 | at Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 1 Stanford | ACCN |
| 29 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. SMU | |
| November | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Louisville | |
| 8, 12, 15 | Sunday, Thur., 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 (top photo Bella Devey, left, and Summer Denigan)
