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’s women’s soccer team remained the unanimous No. 1 pick in the United Soccer Coaches poll, while the UNC men’s soccer team moved up five spots to No. 13. Carolina remained the only Division I school with both soccer teams undefeated heading into the men’s team’s game at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN3) against Elon.
Maintaining rivalries already was a challenge for Carolina when the ACC expanded to 15 schools, and it’s only going to get worse for the 2024–25 school year when the league adds Stanford, Cal and SMU. UNC women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance was a vocal opponent of the latest expansion and what it meant for his program in terms of travel and scheduling.
RALEIGH — After an intense and frustrating draw with Florida State, a letdown against a bad N.C. State women’s soccer team wouldn’t have been a surprise. Top-ranked North Carolina made sure there would be none of that, jumping out to an early lead and rolling to a 4–0 victory Saturday night over the one-win Wolfpack before a record crowd of 3,972 at Dail Soccer Field.
North Carolina’s big 2–1 victory over Duke on Sunday got the attention of the men’s college soccer world. After not even getting votes in the previous United Soccer Coaches Top 25, the Tar Heels debuted in the poll at No. 18.
Carolina held the No. 1 spot in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 after remaining undefeated in a week with two games against ranked teams and continues to own the ACC’s weekly awards. The Tar Heels won 1–0 at Virginia (which went from No. 22 to unranked) and played Florida State (which moved up a spot to No. 2) to a 3–3 draw. The Tar Heels got all eight first place votes after the Seminoles got one first-place vote a week ago.
CHAPEL HILL — Many of the positives were outlined for the North Carolina women’s soccer team Sunday afternoon. Quite a bit was accomplished when the top-ranked Tar Heels tangled with third-ranked Florida State. So the outcome just didn’t seem right.
In North Carolina’s first game as the nation’s No. 1 women’s soccer team, the undefeated Tar Heels showed why with terrific defense against their fifth ranked opponent in 10 games. Junior forward Ally Sentnor gave UNC the only goal it would need in a 1–0 victory over No. 22 Virginia on Thursday night at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.
North Carolina is back atop the women’s college soccer world. For the first time in over a year, the Tar Heels are No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll released Tuesday afternoon. In addition, UNC is No. 1 in the first RPI list of the season and has played two teams in the top five.
You may be able to play North Carolina to a draw in soccer, but beating the Tar Heels has been another matter so far this season. UNC is one of three schools in the country that are undefeated in men’s soccer and women’s soccer, with a combined record of 8–0–6.
CHAPEL HILL — Nobody can beat North Carolina’s soccer teams, at least so far this season. UNC’s men’s team continued its longest unbeaten run to start a season in eight years, playing No. 10 Notre Dame to a 1–1 draw Friday at Dorrance Field after the women’s team beat Virginia Tech to remain unbeaten.
CHAPEL HILL — The pitch shifted dramatically in the second half, thanks to a formation shakeup. After No. 2 North Carolina got outshot in a half for the first time all season, the undefeated Tar Heels took control in the second half to avenge a loss last season with a 1–0 victory Friday over Virginia Tech at Dorrance Field in the ACC opener for both teams.
Undefeated Carolina returned to its preseason United Soccer Coaches women’s soccer Top 25 position at No. 2 after winning a road game against one ranked SEC team and tying another in a big week for senior forward Avery Patterson.
No. 3 Carolina and No. 12 Alabama waged a physical battle that didn’t include many good scoring chances, and the Crimson Tide’s press got the best of the Tar Heels for much of the night. The Tide drew 12 fouls and three yellow cards, making it tough for UNC as the teams played to a 1–1 draw Sunday night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
A pair of top-10 SEC teams haven’t been able to overcome the No. 3 North Carolina women’s soccer team. Five days after the Tar Heels were the better Carolina on the football field, they proved the same on the soccer pitch. Four days after a two-goal win over No. 7 Arkansas in Chapel Hill, the undefeated Tar Heels won 2–1 in Columbia, S.C., on Thursday night to give No. 10 South Carolina its first loss.
You’re likely frustrated if you are a Spectrum cable customer who can’t make it to Kenan Stadium for Saturday’s 5:15 UNC home football opener against Appalachian State. ACC Network, one of the 26 channels currently off Spectrum’s menu because of a carriage dispute between Charter Communications and Disney, will televise the game.
