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2023 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team

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2023 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer
NCAA Tournament, Quarterfinals
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches pollNo. 8
TopDrawerSoccer.comNo. 6
Record13–2–8 (5–0–5 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home stadiumDorrance Field
Seasons
← 2022
2024 →
2023 ACC women's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
No. 1 Florida State  ‍y 9 0 1   .950 22 0 1   .978
No. 16 Notre Dame  ‍‍‍y 7 1 2   .800 12 4 4   .700
No. 3 Clemson  ‍‍‍y 7 2 1   .750 18 4 4   .769
No. 8 North Carolina  ‍‍‍y 5 0 5   .750 13 2 8   .739
No. 6 Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍y 6 3 1   .650 17 6 1   .729
Wake Forest  ‍‍‍ 4 2 4   .600 10 3 5   .694
Virginia  ‍‍‍ 3 3 4   .500 8 3 6   .647
Virginia Tech  ‍‍‍ 4 6 0   .400 7 8 3   .472
Louisville  ‍‍‍ 3 5 2   .400 4 9 5   .361
Duke  ‍‍‍ 2 5 3   .350 6 7 3   .469
NC State  ‍‍‍ 2 5 3   .350 3 9 6   .333
Miami (FL)  ‍‍‍ 2 7 1   .250 3 10 4   .294
Boston College  ‍‍‍ 0 6 4   .200 3 9 6   .333
Syracuse  ‍‍‍ 0 9 1   .050 2 14 2   .167
† – Conference champion
‡ – 2023 ACC Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament
Source: The ACC
As of December 5, 2023
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll

The 2023 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. It was the 47th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by 47th year head coach Anson Dorrance and played their home games at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The Tar Heels started off the season as the 2nd ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. They would draw two of their three opening games, one against tenth-ranked Penn State and another against unranked Wisconsin. They would then play four more ranked teams during their non-conference schedule, defeating number 24 USC, number 8 Arkansas and number 10 South Carolina and drawing with number 12 Alabama. They finished their non-conference season 5–0–3 and played seven Power 5 opponents. Their ACC season started with two wins before a draw against number three Florida State. Two more wins were followed by three draws. The Tar Heels finished the season with a dominant 6–1 win against Syracuse and a disappointing draw with last-place Boston College.

The Tar Heels finished the season 13–2–8 and 5–0–5 in ACC play to finish in fourth place. As the fourth seed in the ACC Tournament, they hosted Pittsburgh in the first round and were upset 1–2 in overtime. They received an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament where they were the third-seed in the BYU Bracket. They defeated Towson in the first round, six-seed Alabama in a second-round rematch, and second-seed Texas Tech in the Round of 16. They then had to travel to Provo, Utah to face one-seed BYU in the Quarterfinals. The Tar Heels raced out to a 3–0 lead in the first twenty minutes of the match, but surrendered four goals, three in the last ten minutes to lose 3–4 to end their season.

Previous season

[edit]

The Tar Heels finished the season 20–5–1 and 8–2–0 in ACC play to finish in a tie for first place. As the first seed in the ACC Tournament, they hosted rival Duke in the semifinal after receiving a first-round bye and drew 0–0. The Tar Heels won the ensuing penalty shoot-out 7–6 to advance to the final where they lost to Florida State. They received an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament where they were the second seed in the Notre Dame Bracket. They defeated Old Dominion in the first round, seven-seed Georgia in the second round, and six-seed BYU in the Round of 16. They then had to travel to Notre Dame to face one-seed Notre Dame. The Tar Heels advanced with a 2–0 win to the College Cup, where they would face Florida State again. The Tar Heels won the rematch of the ACC Tournament Final 3–2 and advanced to the national title game against UCLA. North Carolina lost a tight match 3–2, with UCLA scoring goals in the 80th and 89th minutes to force overtime and scoring the game winner in the 107th minute.

Offseason

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Departures

[edit]
Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for Departure
Abby Allen 2 DF 5'9" Junior Austin, Texas Transferred to Texas
Ruby Grant 3 MF 5'3" Sophomore London, England Signed professional contract with Häcken[1]
Rachel Jones 10 FW/MF 5'2" Graduate Student Lawrenceville, Georgia Graduated
Lauren Wrigley 11 MF 5'3" Sophomore Newton, New Jersey Transferred to Maryland
Aleigh Gambone 16 MF/FW 5'3" Senior Clifton, Virginia Graduated
Marz Josephson 17 GK 5'7" Senior Apex, North Carolina Graduated
Libby Moore 20 MF 5'3" Senior Wilmington, North Carolina Graduated
Tori Hansen 22 DF 5'10" Senior Raleigh, North Carolina Graduated; Drafted 25th overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft
Maggie Pierce 28 MF 5'4" Senior Cary, North Carolina Graduated
Emily Murphy 35 FW 5'6" Sophomore Windsor, England Transferred to Wake Forest
Sarah Bayer 82 FW 5'4" Graduate Student Merrick, New York Graduated
Madelyn Galbus 98 FW 5'7" Freshman Wilmington, Delaware

Incoming Transfers

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Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous School
Alexa Wojnovich 44 DF/MF 5'7" Graduate Student Chapel Hill, North Carolina Villanova

Recruiting class

[edit]

Source:[2]

Name Nationality Hometown Club TDS Rating
Abby Gundry
GK
United States Wake Forest, North Carolina North Carolina Courage [3]
United States West Hills, California Slammers FC HB Koge [4]
United States Chapel Hill, North Carolina North Carolina Courage [5]
Melina Rebimbas
FW
United States Warren, New Jersey PDA [6]
Evelyn Shores
DF
United States Atlanta, GA Tophat SC [7]
Ella Smith
FW
United States Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte Independence SC [8]
Olivia Thomas
FW
United States Grosse Pointe, Michigan Michigan Hawks [9]

Squad

[edit]

Roster

[edit]
As of November 29, 2023[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK United States USA Nona Reason
2 DF United States USA Evelyn Shores
3 DF United States USA Savy King
4 DF United States USA Paige Tolentino
5 FW United States USA Maddie Dahlien
6 MF United States USA Emerson Elgin
7 DF United States USA Julia Dorsey
8 FW United States USA Emily Moxley
9 FW United States USA Tori DellaPeruta
10 MF United States USA Samantha Meza
11 MF United States USA Makenna Dominguez
12 DF United States USA Sydney Cheesman
13 FW United States USA Isabel Cox
14 MF United States USA Kai Hayes
15 FW United States USA Avery Patterson
16 MF United States USA Melina Rebimbas
18 MF United States USA Bella Sember
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF United States USA Emily Colton
20 FW United States USA Olivia Thomas
21 FW United States USA Ally Sentnor
22 FW United States USA Mia Oliaro
23 MF United States USA Maci Teater
24 FW United States USA Talia DellaPeruta
25 DF United States USA Maycee Bell
26 FW United States USA Kate Faasse
30 DF United States USA Kayleigh Herr
31 MF United States USA Ella Smith
32 GK United States USA Emmie Allen
33 MF United States USA Riley Quinlan
34 DF United States USA Tessa Dellarose
39 FW United States USA Asha Means
40 GK United States USA Abby Gundry
44 DF United States USA Alexa Wojnovich

Team management

[edit]
Position Staff
Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham
Head coach Anson Dorrance
Associate head coach Damon Nahas
Assistant Coach Nathan Thackeray
Assistant Coach Alexandra Kimball
General Manager Chris Ducar
Director of Operations Tom Sander

Source:[10]

Schedule

[edit]

Source:[11][12]

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
Exhibition
August 7
1:00 p.m.
No. 2 College of Charleston W 8–1 
Dorrance Field
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
August 12
6:00 p.m.
No. 2 East Carolina W 2–0 
Dorrance Field
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Non-conference Regular season
August 17
7:00 p.m., BTN
No. 2 at No. 10 Penn State T 0–0  0–0–1
Jeffrey Field (3,102)
University Park, Pennsylvania
August 20
1:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 2 California W 3–1  1–0–1
Dorrance Field (3,792)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
August 24
4:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 3 Wisconsin T 0–0  1–0–2
Dorrance Field (3,335)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
August 27
1:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 3 No. 24 USC W 4–0  2–0–2
Dorrance Field (2,869)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
August 31
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 4 Gardner–Webb W 5–0  3–0–2
Dorrance Field (2,751)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
September 3
2:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 4 No. 8т Arkansas W 3–1  4–0–2
Dorrance Field (2,732)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
September 7
7:00 p.m., ESPNU
No. 3 at No. 10 South Carolina W 2–1  5–0–2
Stone Stadium (4,550)
Columbia, South Carolina
September 10
7:00 p.m., ESPNU
No. 3 at No. 12 Alabama T 1–1  5–0–3
Alabama Soccer Stadium (1,421)
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
ACC Regular Season
September 15
3:30 p.m., ACCNX
No. 2 Virginia Tech W 1–0  6–0–3
(1–0–0)
Dorrance Field (4,298)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
September 21
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 1 at No. 22 Virginia W 1–0  7–0–3
(2–0–0)
Klöckner Stadium (2,674)
Charlottesville, Virginia
September 24
12:00 p.m., ESPNU
No. 1 No. 3 Florida State T 3–3  7–0–4
(2–0–1)
Dorrance Field (4,079)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
September 30
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 1 at NC State
Rivalry
W 4–0  8–0–4
(3–0–1)
Dail Soccer Field (3,972)
Raleigh, North Carolina
October 5
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 1 Miami (FL) W 1–0  9–0–4
(4–0–1)
Dorrance Field (2,892)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
October 8
4:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 1 at No. 22 Duke
Rivalry
T 1–1  9–0–5
(4–0–2)
Koskinen Stadium (3,467)
Durham, North Carolina
October 13
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 3 at Wake Forest T 1–1  9–0–6
(4–0–3)
Spry Stadium (1,280)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
October 19
8:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 3 No. 12 Notre Dame T 1–1  9–0–7
(4–0–4)
Dorrance Field (2,378)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
October 22
1:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 3 Syracuse W 6–1  10–0–7
(5–0–4)
Dorrance Field (4,175)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
October 26
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 3 at Boston College T 1–1  10–0–8
(5–0–5)
Newton Campus Soccer Field (1,268)
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
ACC Tournament
October 29
8:00 p.m., ACCN
(4) No. 3 (5) No. 20 Pittsburgh
First round
L 1–2 2OT 10–1–8
Dorrance Field (1,174)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
NCAA Tournament
November 10
6:00 p.m., ESPN+
(3) No. 13 Towson
First round
W 3–1  11–1–8
Dorrance Field (1,889)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
November 17
3:30 p.m., ESPN+
(3) No. 13 (6) No. 24 Alabama
Second round
W 1–0  12–1–8
John Walker Soccer Complex (2,346)
Lubbock, Texas
November 19
2:00 p.m., ESPN+
(3) No. 13 at (2) No. 4 Texas Tech
Round of 16
W 1–0  13–1–8
John Walker Soccer Complex (2,558)
Lubbock, Texas
November 24
8:00 p.m., ESPN+
(3) No. 13 at (1) No. 6 BYU
Quarterfinals
L 3–4  13–2–8
South Field (3,487)
Provo, Utah
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Awards and honors

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Recipient Award Date Ref.
Maycee Bell Pre-season All-ACC Team August 10 [13]
Sam Meza
Ally Sentnor
Sam Meza Hermann Trophy Preseason Watchlist August 17 [14]
Savy King ACC Defensive Player of the Week August 22 [15]
Sam Meza August 29 [16]
Savy King September 5 [17]
Avery Patterson ACC Offensive Player of the Week September 12 [18]
Maycee Bell ACC Defensive Player of the Week September 19 [19]
Ally Sentnor ACC Offensive Player of the Week September 26 [20]
Ally Sentnor ACC Midfielder of the Year November 1 [21]
Avery Patterson All-ACC First Team
Ally Sentnor
Maycee Bell All-ACC Second Team
Savy King
Sam Meza
Savy King All-ACC Freshman Team
Evelyn Shores
Ally Sentnor United Soccer Coaches All-America Third Team December 1 [22]
Avery Patterson

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
United Soccer[23]234321 (7)1 (8)1 (8)33313Not released8
TopDrawer Soccer[24]23554322478141211666

2024 NWSL Draft

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North Carolina had six players selected in the 2024 NWSL Draft. The six players tied the NWSL record for number of selections from a single school in a draft. North Carolina also had the first and second overall picks for the second time in school history.[25][26]

Player Team Round Pick # Position
United States Ally Sentnor Utah Royals 1 1 MF
United States Savy King Bay FC 1 2 DF
United States Maycee Bell NJ/NY Gotham FC 1 14 DF
United States Sam Meza Seattle Reign FC 2 17 MF
United States Avery Patterson Houston Dash 2 19 FW
United States Julia Dorsey North Carolina Courage 3 40 DF

References

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  1. ^ "FORMER ARSENAL AND WEST HAM UNITED MIDFIELDER GRANT JOINS BK HÄCKEN". fawslfulltime.co.uk. March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  2. ^ Jones, Jody (November 14, 2022). "Women's Soccer Reveals Top-Ranked Recruiting Class". goheels.com. University of North Carolina. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  3. ^ "Abby Gundry". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "Savannah King". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  5. ^ "Mia Oliaro". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  6. ^ "Melina Rebimbas". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  7. ^ "Evelyn Shores". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  8. ^ "Ella Smith". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  9. ^ "Olivia Thomas". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "2023 Women's Soccer Roster". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  11. ^ "2023 Women's Soccer Schedule". goheels.com. University of North Carolina. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  12. ^ "Women's Soccer Unveils 2023 Schedule". goheels.com. University of North Carolina. July 7, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  13. ^ "North Carolina Named 2023 ACC Women's Soccer Preseason Favorite". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  14. ^ "2023 Women's Hermann Trophy Watch List Announced". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. August 17, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  15. ^ "ACC Announces Women's Soccer Player of Week Honors". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 22, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  16. ^ "Pitt's Schupansky, UNC's Meza Named ACC Women's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 29, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  17. ^ "Virginia's McDermott, UNC's King Named ACC Women's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  18. ^ "UNC's Patterson, Clemson's Mackiewicz Named ACC Women's Soccer Players of the Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. September 12, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  19. ^ "Duke's Lageyre, UNC's Bell Named ACC Women's Soccer Players of the Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. September 19, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  20. ^ "ACC Announces Women's Soccer Player of Week Honors". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  21. ^ "2023 All-ACC Women's Soccer Awards Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  22. ^ "2023 NCAA Division I Women's All-Americans Announced". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  23. ^ "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Women — National". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  24. ^ "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. TopDrawer Soccer. December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  25. ^ "Conference-Record 19 Players Selected in 2024 NWSL Draft, UNC's Sentnor Goes No. 1 Overall". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  26. ^ "Six Selected In 2024 NWSL Draft; Sentnor No. 1, King No. 2". goheels.com. North Carolina Athletics. January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.