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North Carolina has four top-10 teams with the latest polls. Coach Erin Matson’s two-time reigning NCAA champion field hockey team leads the way. The Tar Heels (4–0), who play No. 15 Syracuse (4–1) in their home opener at 5 p.m. Friday (ESPN3), remain No. 2 in the NFHCA Top 25.
CHAPEL HILL — With scoring chances hard to come by, No. 10 North Carolina ground out a gritty victory over Wake Forest, and the young Tar Heels showed growth in Thursday’s ACC opener. Both coaches drew yellow cards during the Tar Heels’ physical 1–0 victory at Dorrance Field on a night that the referees let the teams play.
DURHAM — Duke made women’s soccer history on Thursday night, but there were plenty of positive ways for No. 2 Carolina to look at the first road loss to the Blue Devils in program history. The unranked Blue Devils scored a breakaway last-minute goal before halftime after some quirky bounces near midfield. It was enough to earn a 1–0 victory at Koskinen Stadium for their first home win over their rivals in 21 tries.
North Carolina’s women stayed at No. 5 in the new United Soccer Coaches Top 25, while the Tar Heels’ men’s team fell 11 spots.
CHAPEL HILL — Battling a goalie playing as hot as the steamy August conditions at Dorrance Field, it was tough for No. 5 North Carolina to find much satisfaction in a game the Tar Heels dominated. Junior midfielder Tessa Dellarose broke through and changed that when she fired in a shot in the 75th minute as UNC won 2–0 on a Sunday afternoon when the Heels dominated shots 24–3. Graduate UNC goaltender Clare Gagne only had to make one save, but it was massive.
CHAPEL HILL — Plenty was different at Dorrance Field on Thursday. But plenty looked familiar, like a rising star taking over the match and a Hall of Fame coach yelling at the players. It was the first home match in program history without the facility’s namesake as the head coach but the result was like most home openers over the years.
North Carolina moved up three spots to No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 women’s poll released Tuesday after kicking off the season with two victories in Colorado.
Junior Kate Faasse came to the late rescue of the No. 8 North Carolina women’s soccer team. With the Tar Heels trailing by a goal, she scored two goals in the last three minutes as they rallied for a 3–2 victory over Colorado on a steamy Sunday afternoon in Boulder, Colo.
Watching Anson Dorrance hold court during a postgame press conference on the field named after him was often as entertaining as watching his Carolina women’s soccer team play.
Both North Carolina soccer teams are in the top 10 of their respective United Soccer Coaches Top 25 preseason polls that the ACC tops and dominates.
North Carolina’s two football coordinators have the top two base salaries of any employee on the UNC campus, according to the UNC Salary Information Database. The database, updated on June 30, shows that Carolina’s defensive coordinator Geoff Collins (top photo) and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey are the only employees on the Chapel Hill campus earning a base salary of more than $1 million.
Set your DVRs! It will be all Tar Heels victories on ACC Network on Friday topped by the thrilling victory over Northwestern in the NCAA field hockey championship game and RJ Davis’ Smith Center-record 42 points in a men’s basketball victory over Miami.
Carolina honored the best athletes and performances of the last year at the annual Rammys on Monday night. The top male and female athletes were no surprise, as All-American guard R.J. Davis and four-time NCAA championship diver Aranza Vazquez took home the top honors.
As part of its coverage of the West Regionals in Los Angeles, WFMY, the CBS affiliate in the Triad, did a story on R.L. Bynum and Tar Heel Tribune.
The ACC men’s basketball tournament will be in North Carolina for five consecutive seasons starting in 2025, the longest run since the event was held in the state from 1990 to 2000, with the women’s tournament going to Charlotte in 2027.
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