By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina matched its season-high ranking in the Top 25 women’s soccer poll, moving up two spots to No. 7 after a pair of victories last week in Arizona.
The Tar Heels (5-1) defeated Arizona 2-1 on Thursday and Arizona State 1-0 on Sunday. They are one of seven ACC teams in the United Soccer Coaches poll and one of five ranked in the top 10.
After a lengthy road trip that also included a 3-0 friendly victory over Shelbourne FC in Dublin on Aug. 29, UNC returns home Thursday for its ACC opener against California (2-2-3). The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
The Bears are unbeaten in their past three matches after defeating Columbia 2-1 at home Sunday.
Graduate midfielder Summer Denigan leads UNC with 15 points and is tied with sophomore forward Bella Devey for the team lead with six goals. Freshman goalkeeper Peyton Trayer (5-1) has a 67.7% save percentage, a 0.75 goals-against average and two shutouts.
Stanford (6-0-1), which received seven of eight first-place votes, remained No. 1. Vanderbilt (7-0) moved up two spots to No. 2.
Other ACC teams in the poll are Wake Forest (7-0) and Duke (5-0-1), tied at No. 3; No. 10 Virginia (4-0-2); No. 18 Florida State (4-1-1) and No. 24 Clemson (4-1-2).
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Top 25
| Rank | School | Previous | 1st-place votes | Poll points | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford | 1 | 7 | 199 | 6-0-1 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 3 | 1 | 183 | 7-0-0 |
| 3 | Wake Forest | 5 | 0 | 180 | 7-0-0 |
| 3 | Duke | 2 | 0 | 180 | 5-0-1 |
| 5 | Michigan State | 4 | 0 | 176 | 4-0-2 |
| 6 | Ohio State | 8 | 0 | 158 | 4-0-1 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 9 | 0 | 149 | 5-1-0 |
| 8 | Tennessee | 10 | 0 | 137 | 5-0-1 |
| 8 | West Virginia | 7 | 0 | 137 | 5-0-0 |
| 10 | Virginia | 12 | 0 | 120 | 4-0-2 |
| 11 | Alabama | 6 | 0 | 119 | 7-1-0 |
| 12 | Washington | 11 | 0 | 116 | 5-0-1 |
| 13 | BYU | 14 | 0 | 102 | 4-1-1 |
| 14 | Wisconsin | 16 | 0 | 99 | 4-1-1 |
| 15 | Texas State | 17 | 0 | 80 | 6-0-1 |
| 16 | UCLA | 18 | 0 | 76 | 3-2-1 |
| 17 | Baylor | 22 | 0 | 65 | 5-1-0 |
| 18 | Florida State | 15 | 0 | 54 | 4-1-1 |
| 19 | Colorado | 24 | 0 | 53 | 5-1-1 |
| 19 | Texas | NR | 0 | 53 | 5-1-1 |
| 19 | South Carolina | 20 | 0 | 53 | 6-1-0 |
| 22 | TCU | 19 | 0 | 32 | 3-2-1 |
| 23 | Florida | 21 | 0 | 27 | 4-2-1 |
| 24 | Clemson | RV | 0 | 16 | 4-1-2 |
| 25 | Iowa | RV | 0 | 13 | 5-1-1 |
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent (current rankings) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ||||
| 5 | Wednesday | W, 1–0 | vs. No. 11 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. 23 Arkansas | 3–0 |
| 23 | Sunday | L, 3–2 | vs. No. 5 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. 6 Duke | 8–1, 2–0 |
| 20 | Sunday | W, 5–0 | vs. Alcorn State | 9–1 |
| 25 | Friday | W, 3–1 | at No. 21 Virginia | 10–1, 3–0 |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | W, 4–1 | vs. No. 17 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. 7 Stanford | 13–2, 6–1 |
| 29 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCNE |
| November | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at No. 13 Louisville | ACCNE |
| 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 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
