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The No. 2 North Carolina women’s soccer team rolled to an 8–1 victory over College of Charleston in the first of two preseason exhibition games. Redshirt sophomore forward Ally Sentnor and freshman forward Olivia Thomas each notched two goals at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill on a steamy day as the Tar Heels outshot Charleston 36–9.
North Carolina, seconds away from winning its 23rd national championship in December, is No. 2 in the preseason United Soccer Coaches’ women’s Top 25 released Tuesday and faces the toughest schedule in the country.
If you enjoy watching Carolina win a national championship, beat Duke and N.C. State, Armando Bacot make history and Drake Maye work his magic, set your DVR for Carolina takeover day Saturday on the ACC Network. Each conference school has one takeover day as the network replays the biggest victories aired on ESPN channels during the last school year during “ACC Network School Takeover.” It began Saturday with Wake Forest and ends July 15 with Boston College.
Hubert Davis has made a point to hire a coaching staff of Carolina alums, figuring there are many advantages, particularly on the recruiting trail. Who better to convince an athlete to play and study at UNC than a coach who did just that? With recent hirings, more head coaches on campus will have that advantage.
With Coach Brian Kalbas’ Carolina women’s tennis team winning the NCAA title on Saturday, here is a look at the University of National Champions by the numbers.
The Carolina women’s soccer program has produced some of the best players in the United States, so why not form a United States team made up mostly of former Tar Heels? That will happen June 1–4 at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary for a 32-team, seven-on-seven $1 million winner-take-all event called The Soccer Tournament, put on by TBT Enterprises, the same company that has run The Basketball Tournament annually in the summer since 2014.
Two individual national champions — wrestler Austin O’Connor and diver Aranza Vazquez — earned Athlete of the Year honors at the Rammy Awards on Monday night at Memorial Hall. The awards program recognizes excellence in Carolina athletics over the previous year. Women’s basketball center Malu Tshitenge of women’s basketball and football defensive lineman Kaimon Rucker were the hosts for the event, which was back at Memorial Hall for the first time since 2019.
By R.L. Bynum CARY — Sixteen seconds away from ending a 10-year national championship drought, it was heartbreak for North … More
CARY — Of all the scenarios Anson Dorrance might have anticipated, he probably never thought he would have to sweat out a three-goal lead against Florida State. That’s exactly what the North Carolina coach experienced over the final 15 minutes before his No. 2-seed and No. 2-ranked Tar Heels held on for a 3–2 victory Friday night over the No. 1-seed and No. 5-ranked Seminoles in NCAA women’s soccer semifinals.
North Carolina was surprised when the NCAA women’s soccer selection committee gave the No. 4-ranked Notre Dame a No. 1 seed and the No. 2-ranked Tar Heels a No. 2 seed. That meant that their quarterfinals meeting was in South Bend, Ind. But UNC proved that the seeding was flawed Saturday night by ousting the Irish 2–0 in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals to earn a record 31st trip to the College Cup and end their 12-game unbeaten streak.
CHAPEL HILL — No. 15 Brigham Young held off No. 2 North Carolina’s offensive firepower for one half, but the Cougars withered against the Tar Heels’ constant pressure early in the second half. Junior midfielder Avery Patterson assisted freshman forward Maddie Dahlien on two decisive second-half goals during that dominant stretch. The Tar Heels fired the first 10 second-half shots in the 13 minutes after halftime, then held on for a 3–2 victory Saturday in the third round of the NCAA women’s soccer tournament.
HAPEL HILL — Many Carolina players wore gloves on a night in the mid-30s, but the gloves were off when it came to throwing down the Tar Heels’ new, more aggressive approach. Redshirt freshman forward Ally Sentnor, scoring twice for the second consecutive NCAA tournament game, was the main catalyst as No. 2-ranked UNC coasted to a 3–1 victory Thursday over No. 7-seed and unranked Georgia in the second round at Dorrance Field.
CARY — Carolina has the women’s soccer tradition, but Florida State again showed that it continues to be the team to beat for now. The No. 5-ranked and No. 2-seed Seminoles rallied from a goal down early to beat the No. 2-ranked and No. 1-seed Tar Heels 2–1 Sunday for their third consecutive ACC tournament title before 3,876 fans.
CHAPEL HILL — From the start of the season, Coach Anson Dorrance said he had one of his deepest teams — except for his group of defenders. And that group keeps getting smaller. After losing for the season star center back Macee Bell in the season opener and then Kayleigh Herr, her replacement, shortly afterward, the Tar Heels persevered with defenders such as Julia Dorsey routinely playing all 90 minutes.
North Carolina jumped three spots to No. 2 in the latest United Soccer Coaches women’s soccer Top 25 poll after a pair of shutout ACC victories last week. The Tar Heels (11–3, 4–2 ACC), who defeated Pittsburgh 4–0 on Thursday and N.C. State 2–0 on Sunday, are tied at No. 2 with Alabama (13–1–1).
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