By R.L. Bynum
After one week as an unranked team for the first time in program history, North Carolina is back in the NFCA Top 20 poll this week.
The Tar Heels (5–4, 2–1 ACC) are No. 12 in the poll released Tuesday morning. UNC was No. 11 two weeks ago, but was unranked last week after being No. 11 the week before because the poll requires teams to have at least a .500 record.
Carolina swept a pair of games in the Bay Area last weekend, knocking off Stanford 8–1 on Friday and California 4–0 on Sunday in the season debuts of fifth-year stars Ryleigh Heck, Sietske Brüning and Dani Mendez. The Bears (5–3, 0–2) fell two spots in the poll to No. 20.
The Tar Heels play the third of five consecutive road games at 3 p.m. Friday (ACC Network Extra) at Louisville (7–3, 2–0), which fell four spots to No. 16 after losing last weekend in the Bay Area to California 3–2 in overtime on Friday and 1–0 to UC Davis on Sunday.
Other ACC teams in the poll are league-leading No. 3 Duke (7–2, 3–0; up two spots), No. 5 Wake Forest (6–3, 1–1; down two spots), No. 9 Syracuse (6–2, 1–1; up two spots) and No. 11 Virginia (5–3, 1–2; down two spots).
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NFHCA Top 20
| Rank | School | Record | Poll points | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwestern —X | 10–0 | 220 | 1 | ― |
| 2 | Maryland | 9–0 | 209 | 2 | ― |
| 3 | Duke | 7–2 | 186 | 5 | ▲2 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 10–0 | 186 | 4 | ▲1 |
| 5 | Wake Forest | 6–3 | 173 | 3 | ▼2 |
| 6 | Iowa | 9–1 | 169 | 5 | ▼1 |
| 7 | UConn | 7–1 | 155 | 7 | ― |
| 8 | Harvard | 6–1 | 139 | 10 | ▲2 |
| 9 | Syracuse | 6–2 | 123 | 11 | ▲2 |
| 10 | Princeton | 4–3 | 117 | 8 | ▼2 |
| 11 | Virginia | 5–3 | 113 | 9 | ▼2 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 5–4 | 102 | ― | ― |
| 13 | Indiana | 6–3 | 89 | 18 | ▲5 |
| 14 | Miami | 6–3 | 69 | 16 | ▲2 |
| 15 | Michigan | 5–3 | 57 | 13 | ▼2 |
| 16 | Louisville | 7–3 | 52 | 12 | ▼4 |
| 17 | Liberty | 5–4 | 43 | 14 | ▼3 |
| 18 | Monmouth | 7–1 | 34 | 19 | ▲1 |
| 19 | Lafayette | 8–1 | 23 | ― | ― |
| 20 | California | 5–3 | 18 | 17 | ▼3 |
X — All 11 first-place votes
ACC standings
| League | Overall | |
|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Duke | 3–0 | 7–2 |
| No. 16 Louisville | 2–0 | 7–3 |
| No. 12 North Carolina | 2–1 | 5–4 |
| No. 9 Syracuse | 1–1 | 6–2 |
| No. 5 Wake Forest | 1–1 | 6–3 |
| No. 11 Virginia | 1–2 | 5–3 |
| Stanford | 0–1 | 7–2 |
| California | 0–2 | 5–3 |
| Boston College | 0–2 | 3–6 |
Friday’s results
No. 12 North Carolina 8, Stanford 1
No. 3 Duke 3, No. 5 Wake Forest 2
No. 16 Louisville 3, No. 17 California 2
No. 9 Syracuse 3, No. 11 Virginia 0
Sunday’s results
No. 12 North Carolina 4, No. 20 California 0
No. 5 Wake Forest 4, No. 9 Syracuse 2
No. 3 Duke 1, Boston College 0
UC Davis 1, No. 16 Louisville 0
Friday’s games
No. 12 North Carolina at No. 16 Louisville, 3 p.m.
No. 9 Syracuse at No. 3 Duke, 3 p.m.
Stanford at No. 9 Virginia, 5 p.m.
No. 5 Wake Forest at Boston College, 5 p.m.
No. 20 California at VCU, 6 p.m.
Sunday’s games
No. 20 California at No. 11 Virginia, noon
Stanford at No. 16 Louisville, noon
Saint Joseph’s at No. 3 Duke, noon
Northeastern at Boston College, 3 p.m.
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranking) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Winston-Salem | |||
| 28 | Friday | L, 2–1, OT | No. 15 Michigan | 0–1 |
| 30 | Sunday | L, 3–2, OT | No. 6 Iowa | 0–2 |
| September | ||||
| 4 | Friday | W, 7–0 | Penn | 1–2 |
| 6 | Sunday | W, 1–0, OT (3–2 shootout) | No. 10 Princeton | 2–2 |
| 11 | Friday | L, 5–4, OT | Old Dominion | 2–3 |
| 13 | Sunday | W, 2–1 | at Richmond | 3–3 |
| 20 | Sunday | L, 2–1 | vs. No. 11 Virginia | 3–4, 0–1 ACC |
| 25 | Friday | W, 8–1 | at Stanford | 4–4, 1–1 |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 4–0 | at No. 20 California | 5–4, 2–1 |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | 3 p.m. | at No. 16 Louisville | ACCNE |
| 9 | Friday | 3 p.m. | at Saint Joseph’s | ESPN+ |
| 11 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 17 Liberty | ESPN+ |
| 16 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. Boston College | ACCNE |
| 18 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. No. 9 Syracuse | ACCN |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 5 Wake Forest | ACCNE |
| 25 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at Appalachian State | |
| 30 | Friday | 6 p.m. | at No. 3 Duke | ACCN |
| November | ACC tournament | |||
| 3–6 | Tue.–Fri | At Karen Shelton Stadium | ACCN | |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 13 | Friday | TBA | First round Campus sites | |
| 15 | Sunday | TBA | Second round Campus sites | |
| 20 | Friday | TBA | National semifinals Louisville | |
| 23 | Sunday | TBA | Championship Louisville |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
