By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — The threat of Hurricane Isaias in early October and the inability to reschedule No. 2 North Carolina’s women’s soccer game at No. 22 Florida State could cost the Tar Heels a chance at an ACC regular-season title and the top seed in the league tournament.
The Tar Heels (14–2, 7–1 ACC, 21 points) easily beat No. 9 Notre Dame 4–1 in Chapel Hill on Oct. 2. If UNC wins at No. 12 Louisville on Thursday and the Irish win Sunday at No. 13 Stanford and at home Thursday against Miami, both would finish the regular season with eight wins.
But the Irish (8–1–6, 6–1–1, 19 points) would have more points, 25–24, because they would have played 10 games compared to nine for UNC. Notre Dame’s 1–1 tie on Sept. 24 at No. 5 Duke would provide the one-point margin.
“When [the chance for] points are taken away from you, you don’t have a chance to fight for it,” UNC coach Damon Nahas said after the Tar Heels’ 2–0 home win Thursday over SMU.
“It’s less about the one seed. It’s more about the reward to win the regular season,” Nahas said. “There’s a trophy involved in that. There’s something that these girls aspire to win. To do it in this league, it’s an extraordinary accomplishment.”
Subscribe to read Tar Heel Tribune ad-free
Subscribe for a cleaner, smoother reading experience without the flashing banners, slow-loading elements, or those especially annoying pop‑up ads that interrupt the flow of the story. You’ll also get the first version of each story emailed to you. The only ads you’ll see are static, non-intrusive ads for UNC‑related books, and there are none currently on the site.
Carolina’s lone league loss, 3–1 on Oct. 17 at Wake Forest, is looming large.
The UNC worries become a moot point if UNC wins at Louisville and the Irish lose one of their two remaining games.
If in women’s soccer, the ACC applied football’s provision treating teams with unequal league schedules and matching conference win totals as tied, UNC would win a tiebreaker with Notre Dame. That’s not the case, though.
In football, UNC is one of five teams that play eight league games while 12 teams play nine conference games. If a team in the first group has the same number of wins as a team in the second group, the ACC will consider that a tie for purposes of determining the teams to play in the championship game.
“We know that we need maximum points to have a chance to win the league, and unfortunately, the way that the league decided to navigate that cancellation, that’s a little bit disappointing,” Nahas said. “But that’s the hand you’re dealt, and all we can do is control what we can control.”
UNC would share the regular-season title but earn the tournament’s top seed if Notre Dame splits its remaining two matches and the Tar Heels tie Louisville.
According to Amy Yakola, the ACC’s chief communications officer, under NCAA and ACC rules, the match was considered “no contest.” League policy is: “If the game is cancelled, it will be eliminated and not factored into standings.”
There is no provision to use, for example, a points-per-match system for determining the regular-season champion or tournament seeding.
Yakola said the women’s soccer coaches make up the committee that determines the policy. Asked whether coaches and the league had discussed that approach, Nahas said they had not.
“My guess is that following the season, if it’s not on the plans to be addressed, it should be,” Nahas said. “Nothing to whine about. It’s the way it is, and we’re going to just finish out our season the best way we can, and not look at any scores. And if it happens to fall our way, and we do our job, then wonderful.”
With the title race dependent partly on Notre Dame’s results, Nahas remains focused on what his team can accomplish at Louisville.
“Winning a championship is very, very difficult,” Nahas said. “So, winning one in the ACC, whether regular season or the tournament, that is an amazing accomplishment.”
Conditions worsened ahead of UNC’s scheduled Oct. 9 match at Florida State, with the storm prompting FSU to close its campus that Friday afternoon.
Yakola said that officials explored moving the match to Friday morning, but travel concerns surrounding the expected closure of Tallahassee’s airport prevented that adjustment.
Options to play Oct. 10, 11 or 12, including at a neutral site, proved infeasible because of uncertainty about the airport’s reopening and travel logistics needed to return UNC home for classes.
The schools also explored rescheduling from Oct. 22 to Oct. 25, which would require moving their matches against Stanford and Notre Dame. Both opponents were willing to consider changes but raised concerns about additional missed classes and the cost of revising travel arrangements.
Nahas’ attention, however, remains focused on preparing the Tar Heels for their final regular-season opportunity.
“If we look beyond that, no matter who you play in the ACC, but especially going to Louisville and a tough place to play with a team that has their own aspirations, our full attention is on that,” Nahas said.
ACC standings
| Team | Points | ACC | All |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 North Carolina | 21 | 7–1–0 | 14–2–0 |
| No. 9 Notre Dame | 19 | 6–1–1 | 8–1–6 |
| No. 4 Wake Forest | 16 | 5–2–1 | 12–2–1 |
| No. 19 Virginia | 16 | 5–3–1 | 9–3–3 |
| No. 12 Louisville | 15 | 4–1–3 | 10–2–3 |
| No. 5 Duke | 15 | 4–2–3 | 9–2–4 |
| No. 22 Florida State | 14 | 4–1–2 | 8–2–3 |
| Miami | 14 | 4–2–2 | 10–3–3 |
| No. 7 Stanford | 13 | 4–3–1 | 10–3–2 |
| Virginia Tech | 11 | 3–4–2 | 7–5–5 |
| Clemson | 10 | 2–3–4 | 6–4–6 |
| N.C. State | 10 | 3–5–1 | 10–5–2 |
| Boston College | 8 | 2–4–2 | 9–4–2 |
| California | 5 | 1–5–2 | 4–7–5 |
| SMU | 5 | 1–6–2 | 6–7–4 |
| Pittsburgh | 4 | 1–6–1 | 7–7–2 |
| Syracuse | 3 | 1–8–0 | 4–10–2 |
Thursday’s results
No. 2 North Carolina 2, SMU 0
No. 9 Notre Dame 2, California 1
No. 19 Virginia 3, No. 12 Louisville 0
Virginia Tech 3, Boston College 2
Miami 2, Syracuse 1
No. 22 Florida State 2, No. 5 Duke 1
No. 7 Stanford 4, N.C. State 1
Friday’s match
No. 4 Wake Forest at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s matches
Boston College at No. 12 Louisville, 1 p.m.
No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 13 Stanford, 4 p.m.
N.C. State at California, 4 p.m.
No. 22 Florida State at Miami, 4p.m., ACCN
Next Thursday’s matches
Clemson at No. 4 Wake Forest, 5 p.m.
No. 2 North Carolina at No. 12 Louisville, 6 p.m., ACCN
No. 7 Stanford at Boston College, 6 p.m.
No. 19 Virginia at No. 5 Duke, 6 p.m.
Virginia Tech at No. 22 Florida State, 6:30
Pittsburgh at SMU, 7 p.m.
California at Syracuse, 7 p.m.
Miami at No. 9 Notre Dame, 7 p.m.
ACC tournament
(Top six make the field)
Nov. 8: first round at campus sites (byes to top two seeds)
First Horizon Stadium in Cary:
Nov. 12: Semifinals, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Nov. 15: Final, noon
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent (current rankings) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ||||
| 5 | Wednesday | W, 1–0 | vs. No. 10 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. 20 Arkansas | 3–0 |
| 23 | Sunday | L, 3–2 | vs. No. 6 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. 5 Duke | 8–1, 2–0 |
| 20 | Sunday | W, 5–0 | vs. Alcorn State | 9–1 |
| 25 | Friday | W, 3–1 | at No. 19 Virginia | 10–1, 3–0 |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | W, 4–1 | vs. No. 9 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. 13 Stanford | 13–2, 6–1 |
| 29 | Thursday | W, 2–0 | vs. SMU | 14–2, 76–1 |
| November | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at No. 12 Louisville | ACCNE |
| 8, 12, 15 | Sunday, Thur., Sun. | ACC tournament | 1st round campus sites; 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
Hi RL, I understand the hypothetical scenario, but I think it is somewhat disrespectful to Notre Dame in the event that the win out. I do not mean that of you since I am just as annoyed as probably all Tar Heel fans are that the situation is what it is. That said, Florida State shows up every game against Carolina and on their home field I would not begin to claim that it was an automatic win for the Heels by any stretch if they had played (presuming that they would have is disrespectful to Florida State). Then, there\’s the Wake Forest game. There are three things to point at that were there for Carolina to address. First, Manning was not on the field. Strawn did okay, but she hadn\’t been on the field a lot with the rest of the team. Second, Trayer didn\’t start and might have done better than Johann who did her best, but she had to deal with really bad defense in front of her. Third, Coach finally gave in to the need for Stratton to be on the field, but that came after Wake had put 3 balls in the back of the net (directly or indirectly attributable to one player). To me, if us fans dwell on what might happen if Notre Dame wins out, it misses the point that Carolina could have done better against Wake, and they wouldn\’t be in the position of needing Stanford to bail them out. No disrespect to anyone who loves the Heels as much as I do for wanting the best for this group of outstanding women and their fantastic Coach, but we should all keep in mind that the Notre Dame team Carolina beat is not the team that is taking the field today and, in my opinion, will earn the league championship if they prevail in Palo Alto.
Michael Griffith ________________________________