2023 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team

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.

2023 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer
NCAA Tournament, Quarterfinals
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches poll	No. 8
TopDrawerSoccer.com	No. 6
Record	13–2–8 (5–0–5 ACC)
Head coach	Anson Dorrance (47th season)
Assistant coaches	Damon Nahas (8th season) Nathan Thackeray (2nd season) Alexandra Kimball (1st season)
Home stadium	Dorrance Field
Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

2023 ACC women's soccer standings

v t e	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 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

Main article: 2022 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team

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

Departures

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

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

Source:^[2]

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

Squad

Roster

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   USA Nona Reason 2 DF   USA Evelyn Shores 3 DF   USA Savy King 4 DF   USA Paige Tolentino 5 FW   USA Maddie Dahlien 6 MF   USA Emerson Elgin 7 DF   USA Julia Dorsey 8 FW   USA Emily Moxley 9 FW   USA Tori Dellaperuta 10 MF   USA Sam Meza 11 MF   USA Makenna Dominguez 12 DF   USA Sydney Cheesman 13 FW   USA Isabel Cox 14 MF   USA Kai Hayes 15 FW   USA Avery Patterson 16 MF   USA Melina Rebimbas 18 MF   USA Bella Sember

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF   USA Emily Colton 20 FW   USA Olivia Thomas 21 FW   USA Ally Sentnor 22 FW   USA Mia Oliaro 23 MF   USA Maci Teater 24 FW   USA Talia Dellaperuta 25 DF   USA Maycee Bell 26 FW   USA Kate Faasse 30 DF   USA Kayleigh Herr 31 MF   USA Ella Smith 32 GK   USA Emmie Allen 33 MF   USA Riley Quinlan 34 DF   USA Tessa Dellarose 39 FW   USA Asha Means 40 GK   USA Abby Gundry 44 DF   USA Alexa Wojnovich

Team management

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

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

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

See also: 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
United Soccer^[23]	2	3	4	3	2	1 (7)	1 (8)	1 (8)	3	3	3	13	Not released				8
TopDrawer Soccer^[24]	2	3	5	5	4	3	2	2	4	7	8	14	12	11	6	6	6

2024 NWSL Draft

Main article: 2024 NWSL Draft

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

References

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. "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.