By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — After a far-flung two-week road trip over nine time zones and thousands of miles, No. 7 North Carolina was happy to play at Dorrance Field for the first time in 18 days.
They went to Dublin, then to Arizona — with stops in Tucson and Tempe — so the Tar Heels wouldn’t have been blamed if they were exhausted after winning all three matches. But after four days in Chapel Hill to recharge, UNC eased to a 3–0 victory Thursday night over California in the ACC opener for both teams.
Coach Damon Nahas said he was proud of his team’s win, adding that it was a product of how they handled the grind of the trip and turned it into a springboard for conference play.
“Coming off a long road trip, this week was really important for us to get back in the swing of things. It was nice to be at home,” he said. “In the first ACC game, you want to establish yourself. We have a really tough schedule throughout the rest of the season, so we know that every game we don’t take for granted, and we’re prepared for it.”
UNC (6–1) got a welcome-home gift from Cal (2–3–2) with a first-half own goal. The Bears gave up more than one score for the first time this season after allowing five goals in their first six games.
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Freshman goaltender Peyton Trayer earned her second consecutive shutout for the Tar Heels but only had to make two saves in the two games, thanks to UNC’s airtight defense. Both Carolina goals actually scored came off one of a season-high 10 corners, in what Nahas called some of his team’s best services of the season.
UNC beat Shelbourne FC 3–0, Arizona 2–1 and Arizona State 1–0 on the trip, and hasn’t lost since falling 3–2 to No. 5 Michigan State in its previous home match. The Heels outshot Cal 10–2.
The travel left the Tar Heels physically worn down by the time they got back to Chapel Hill, and Nahas said the few days off mattered as much as anything the team did on the field. He described a locker room full of players who had battled illness at various points on the trip and needed time to reset, physically and mentally, before conference play began.
“I think we took full advantage of the experience that we had out there, and then obviously traveling to Ireland, that game didn’t count,” Nahas said. “Those are two tough games that we had to go play [in Arizona], and the girls stuck it out, and we learned a lot from that.”
What stuck with him, he said, wasn’t anything new he learned about the group, but a reaffirmation of what he already knew: that this team plays hard and enjoys being around each other, and that the balance struck on the trip, between soccer and simply being together, gave UNC the foundation it needed to come out sharp against Cal.
Graduate midfielder Summer Denigan (above photo), a Georgia transfer, said the trip brought the team closer together even as it wore the players down.
“I’m actually very grateful that the university gave us that opportunity,” said Denigan, sporting Carolina blue fingernails. “I think in the middle of a hard season, it was just like a fun trip. It was fun to be around each other and to be able to experience different things. And I think coming back to the States, the morale was really high. It was a hard trip physically, but we got two good wins in Arizona, and we were all really excited to come back, have a home slate, and start ACC play.”
Denigan’s hard-struck corner kick in the 10th minute deflected off the knee of UNC center back Izzi Stratton and the arm of a Cal defender, Annamarie Williams, right to sophomore midfielder Bella Devey. Devey was just in front of the goal line and deflected the ball in off her upper right leg for her team-leading seventh goal.
Denigan fired a long shot in the 32nd minute that Cal goaltender Isabella Banuelos knocked away, but the ball deflected in off Bears defender Olivia McPherson and in for an own goal.
“Anytime you just whip the ball in there, I know that anything can happen,” she said. “Either we’re going to have a slasher, or if it’s hard enough, what happened can always happen.”
It was the kind of delivery Nahas later called one of the most dangerous weapons on the field, capable of turning a hopeful ball into a goal one way or an assist the other.
On Carolina’s 10th corner of the match, Stratton (in top photo celebrating the goal) headed in freshman midfielder Amari Manning’s corner strike in the 65th minute for her first career goal.
“Just a perfect ball from Amari, and right before, Damon was like, ‘Izzy, go here,’ ” Stratton said, a senior BYU transfer. “So, I just did what he said, and then it worked.”
Stratton and the rest of the Tar Heels backline also drew praise for a defensive effort that prevented Cal from getting a shot on goal, something Stratton credited to the work of UNC’s defensive midfielders and the unit as a whole rather than any single player.
Freshman midfielder Scottie Antonucci, who wore a brace on her right knee after straining it in Sunday’s 1–0 win over Arizona State, did not play against Cal and is likely out for a couple of weeks.
“Obviously, not having Scottie is a big loss. She’s been wonderful all year, and right now her health is most important,” Nahas said. “She’s in good spirits because the result was not the worst-case scenario, but ultimately losing her is a difficult one.”
With Antonucci sidelined, Nahas moved Devey from forward to a deeper midfield role and started freshman Deus Stanislaus up top, a decision he said came down to matchups and Devey’s versatility.
Nahas pointed to Devey’s relentless pressing ability and her willingness to play wherever the team needs her, whether that’s higher up the field or in a deeper pocket where she can find more freedom, as reasons the switch made sense against Cal.
“Devey’s the best pressing player in the country, in my opinion,” Nahas said. “She has the capacity to read the game and really make players think, whether that’s from a deeper spot or a higher spot.”
Notes
— Carolina plays a non-conference home game at 1 p.m. Sunday against NJIT (3–3–1), which won 3–0 at LIU on Thursday. Through seven games, the Highlanders, who were 7–5–6 last season, have scored eight goals. They are No. 273 in the Massey Ratings.
— UNC’s previous season high for corners was nine against Arkansas and Michigan State.
— Carolina is still without Sealey Strawn, Hope Munson and Aven Alvarez, who are playing for the United States at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland. The Americans are 0–1–1 entering the final group-play match at 9 a.m. ET Saturday with New Zealand (FS1). The USA advances with a win and is eliminated with a loss or a draw.
— Alvarez started both matches, a 2–1 Sunday loss to Italy and a 2–2 Wednesday draw against Japan, playing all 180 minutes. Strawn has played 51 minutes in the two matches and had a goal against Italy wiped out because of an offside. Munson played six minutes against Japan after sitting out the Italy game.
— Cal midfielder Campbell Caroll is the sister of Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll, the 2023 NL Rookie of the Year.
— UNC remained unbeaten in 13 meetings with Cal, with the Bears’ best effort coming in a 1–1 two-overtime draw in Durham on Sept. 4, 2015. The Tar Heels have outscored Cal 36–8 collectively in the all-time meetings, with Thursday’s match the seventh shutout. In the Massey ratings, UNC is No. 4 and Cal, picked to finish 10th in the ACC, is No. 99.
No. 7 UNC 3, Cal 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 | W, 2–0 | at 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 | 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. 10 Virginia | |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ACCN |
| 9 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 18 Florida State | ESPNU |
| 15 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at No. 24 Clemson | ACCN |
| 18 | Sunday | 3:30 | at No. 3 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 courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
