Covering Carolina athletics beyond men’s basketball and football, with dedicated reporting on women’s basketball and baseball, in addition to covering other sports that rarely draw media attention
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.
Tar Heels fans have long known how to celebrate a win, a rivalry, and pretty much anything involving the color Carolina blue. Now, for the first time, they can toast to it with something that shows their school spirit via official spirits. UNC Athletics has teamed up with North Carolina-based Cape Fear Distillery to launch the Spirit of Carolina Collection, the university’s first officially licensed line of Tar Heels-branded spirits.
After thousands of miles of travel that included a trip to Dublin and a pair of victories in Arizona, No. 9 North Carolina finally heads home. The Tar Heels closed out the road trip with stingy defense and a clutch penalty kick, escaping a match they controlled all day with a 1–0 victory Sunday over Arizona State at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
No. 9 North Carolina opened its western road swing during one of the program’s most challenging road trips in years with a hard-fought test Thursday night, escaping with a 2–1 women’s soccer win over Arizona in Tucson. The Tar Heels (4–1) were playing their first match since their 3–0 win over Shelbourne FC in Dublin on Friday, and they made the long trip Sunday from there to Arizona, with an eight-hour time difference.
DUBLIN — The North Carolina women’s soccer team headed across the Atlantic this week, and the trip carried plenty of challenges and history along with it. The Tar Heels are in Dublin to face Shelbourne FC in an international friendly on Friday at 2 p.m. ET, a day before the UNC football team takes on TCU in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. The games will be played in stadiums less than four miles apart, with the soccer match at Tolka Park and the football game at Aviva Stadium.
Memphis notched three first-half goals and held on for a 3–2 victory at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memphis to hand North Carolina its first men’s soccer loss of the season on Monday.
CHAPEL HILL — No. 7 North Carolina’s first major challenge of the season against No. 5 Michigan State presented a mixed bag, with impressive stretches and frustrating moments. UNC dominated every offensive category except goals, producing a lot of scrappy play and getting to most of the loose balls on a hot day of attrition.
For the third time in three matches, No. 7 North Carolina jumped out to an early lead and, just like the earlier two surges, the opponent never recovered.
After a pair of dominant victories to start the season, North Carolina moved up one spot in the United Soccer Coaches women’s soccer Top 25 to No. 7 and sophomore forward Bella Devey is the ACC Offensive Player of the Week. Devey notched a brace in the Tar Heels’ 4–0 opening-match victory Thursday over Fairfield and produced a hat trick in Sunday’s 8–0 thrashing of Quinnipiac. With team-leading five goals, she’s already matched her total last season and leads the team with 10 points.
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.
CHAPEL HILL — Thunder from the back line ignited No. 8 Carolina to an impressive opening-night victory. Two sophomores delivered braces and nearly hat tricks as the Tar Heels cruised to a 4–0 women’s soccer victory Thursday over Fairfield at Dorrance Field in the opener for both teams.
A full day of memorable Carolina victories, from postseason thrills and rivalry showdowns to a memorable Seth Trimble shot, will take over ACC Network on Wednesday as part of the channel’s annual school takeover programming.
Covering the Tar Heels has taken me to many cities, but last week I traded press passes for a passport. No Tar Heel Tribune stories appeared last week for a very good reason — I was on a long-overdue weeklong vacation with my wife, Jean.
Carolina set the standard in women’s sports in the last year, and no other college could match the Tar Heels, who won two national championships.
A snow day blowout, two national championship wins and seven victories against ranked teams highlight North Carolina’s annual takeover day on ACC Network. It’s a good time to load up your DVRs with memorable Tar Heels victories in the last year.
