UNC Closes Out Regular Season Thursday Versus Wake Forest

Thursday, October 25

Cary, N.C. (WakeMed Soccer Park)

6 p.m.

North Carolina

Wake Forest

2018 Tar Heel Senior Class

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

October 23, 2018 | Women's Soccer

Game Notes (pdf)Media Guide (pdf)Twitter Updates Watch on ACC Network Extra Live Stats

Tar Heels are 14-2-1 overall and 9-0-0 in the ACC.

By: Dave Lohse

TAR HEELS FINISH REGULAR SEASON THURSDAY VERSUS DEMON DEACONS: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team concludes its 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season with a match against Wake Forest on Thursday, October 25 at 6 p.m. The game will be played at Koka Booth Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
Both parking and admission are free.
The match will be nationally televised on ACC Network Extra with Kyle Straub on the play-by-play call.
The match against Wake Forest will be the third in three home games for the Tar Heels to conclude the regular season. UNC beat Boston College 1-0 on October 18 and Miami 2-0 on October 21 to stretch its winning streak to nine games in a row.
Senior Night will be sponsored by the UNC General Alumni Association and will feature fan giveaways (check @ncwomenssoccer on Twitter for fan giveaways on Wednesday, October 24).

TAR HEELS TO HOST ACC QUARTERFINAL MATCH SUNDAY: By winning the ACC regular season championship the North Carolina Tar Heels have earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will host the No. 8 seed in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
That quarterfinal game will be played on Sunday, October 28 at 1 p.m. at Koka Booth Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. The tournament bracket will be released on Thursday night after seven conference regular-season finales are played that night.

SCOUTING THE TEAMS: The Tar Heels are 14-2-1 overall and 9-0 in the ACC while Wake Forest is 8-7-1 overall and 4-5 in the ACC.
The Tar Heels have won nine matches in a row while the Demon Deacons are currently on a two-game winning streak. Wake Forest scored two home wins last week, beating Clemson 2-1 last Thursday and Syracuse 3-0 last Sunday.
UNC is ranked third this week by the United Soccer Coaches, second by Top Drawer Soccer and third by Soccer America. The Demon Deacons are unranked.

CAROLINA MOVES REMAINDER GAMES THIS SEASON TO CARY, N.C.: The University of North Carolina women's soccer program announced October 10 that the remainder of the Tar Heels' 2018 home women's soccer games will be played in Cary, N.C. at WakeMed Soccer Park. This includes the final regular season game, ACC Tournament quarterfinals and any home games the Tar Heels will be entitled to host in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tar Heels had played their first four home games in Chapel Hill at Finley Fields South in August but damage to the fields in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence forced the Pitt and Louisville games to be played in Cary.
Finley Fields have not improved to the extent where games could be played there in the near future so on October 10 the decision was made to move the remainder of the home games to WakeMed Soccer Park's Koka Booth Stadium, including last week's games against Boston College and Miami.

SENIOR NIGHT FOR THE TAR HEELS THURSDAY: The game against Wake Forest will be Senior Night for 10 Tar Heel senior players and undergraduate assistant coaches who will be competing in their final regular season home games as Tar Heels at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Those individuals honored in pregame ceremonies will include senior Kate Morris, UNC's undergraduate assistant coach who retired from playing after the 2017 season. The nine players honored in pregame ceremonies will include the followng.
Annie Kingman, Graduate Student Midfielder, Woodside, Calif.
Jessie Scarpa, Redshirt Senior Forward, Lakeland, Fla.
Samantha Leshnak, Senior Goalkeeper, Liberty Township, Ohio
Julia Ashley, Senior Defender, Verona, N.J.
Maggie Bill, Redshirt Senior Defender, Huntington, N.Y.
Dorian Bailey, Senior Midfielder, Mission, Kan.
Megan Joyner, Senior Midfielder, Hillsborough, N.C.
Nicole Crutchfield, Senior Midfielder, Durham, N.C.
Alex Kimball, Redshirt Senior Forward, Chapel Hill, N.C.

CAROLINA IN THE RPI: The North Carolina women's soccer team is ranked No. 2 in this week's NCAA RPI, the leading indicator of potential post-season bids and seedings. Based on this week's RPI, the Tar Heels have played against one of the nation's most difficult schedules in 2018.
UNC has played regular season games against #1 Stanford, #5 Santa Clara, #6 Florida State, #9 Texas, #19 Boston College, #27 Wake Forest, #32 Louisville, #35 Ohio State, #43 Virginia Tech, #45 Providence, #50 Clemson, #55 Notre Dame and #68 UCF. The only teams UNC has played who are not amongst the Top 75 in the RPI are Illinois, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Miami.

CAROLINA IN THE NATIONAL STATS: Carolina is ranked in the NCAA Division I national stats in the following categories.
TEAM STATS
Assists Per Game: 3rd at 2.76
Scoring Defense: 12th at 0.464
Points Per Game: 9th at 7.12
Shots Per Game: 12th at 19.06
Shots on Goal Per Game: 15th at 8.76
Total Assists: 3rd at 47
Total Points: 9th at 121
Won-Lost-Tied Percentage: 10th at 0.853

LESHNAK LEADS COUNTRY IN GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE: Senior goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak leads the nation in goals against average at 0.20 heading into the Wake Forest game. She is ranked fifth in NCAA Division I save percentage this year at .917. Leshnak splits time in the goal with freshman Claudia Dickey. Leshnak has not allowed a goal since the second minute of Carolina's game against Texas on August 22.
Her currrent goals against average and save percentage rank as the third best in a single season in UNC women's soccer history.

BINGHAM NAMED ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Carolina sophomore defender Brooke Bingham shared this week's ACC Defensive Player of the Week honor with Florida State's Natalia Kuikka. The award was announced on October 23, 2018
Bingham played all 180 minutes in a pair of ACC shutouts for the Tar Heels, one of only two UNC players to play all 90 minutes in both matches this week. She led a stout defensive effort that blanked high-scoring Boston College 1-0 on Thursday and then helped the Tar Heels limit Miami to just two shots in a 2-0 win on Sunday. With the two wins, UNC clinched its first outright ACC regular-season championship since 2010 and its 22nd championship overall (21 outright, one shared).
After wins over Boston College and Miami, senior defender Julia Ashley was named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week for the third time in 2018.

UNC BEATS MIAMI TO EARN ACC REGULAR SEASON TITLE: Goals by reserve strikers Zoe Redei and Sydney Spruill lifted the third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Miami on October 25 before an overflow crowd of 932 fans at Koka Booth Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park.
The victory was the ninth in a row for head coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels who improved to 14-2-1 on the season overall and a perfect 9-0 in ACC play. The Hurricanes fell to 5-9-3 overall and 2-6-1 in ACC play.
The win by Carolina clinches the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship for the Tar Heels with one game left to play in the campaign. UNC has notched 22 ACC regular season crowns since league play began in 1987. Twenty-one of those titles have been outright championships, the last of which came in 2010 when Carolina finished 8-2 in the league. UNC shared the regular-season crown in 2014 when both UNC and Florida State finished 9-0-1 in conference play, including a 1-1 tie between the two teams at Fetzer Field.
UNC dominated every aspect of Sunday's match against the Hurricanes. UNC outshot the Canes 36-2 overall and 19-0 in shots on goal. Carolina also had nine corner kicks to one for Miami.
Carolina outshot the Canes 13-0 in the first half with seven of the Tar Heel shots being saved by Miami goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce. UNC almost took the lead in the 16th minute of play as Alessia Russo got behind the Miami defense only to see her scoring effort clang off the right post. UNC continued to press the entire half and finally broke through on the 11th shot of the first half. UNC striker reserves Alex Kimball played a give-and-go deep in Miami's end of the field before Redei scored at the 40:20 mark for her fourth goal of the season. Redei sent a shot from the right side of the box that sailed over Tullis-Joyce, hit the left post and bounded into the back of the net for a 1-0 Tar Heel lead.
UNC went on to outshoot the Hurricanes 23-2 in the second half, averaging a shot every two minutes. The Tar Heels got separation at the 58:15 mark on Sydney Spruill's first goal of the season and the second of her career. Bridgette Andrzejewski eluded a pair of Miami defenders on the right side of the box and then sent a nifty cross through the box to Spruill who powered a shot from 12 yards out into the upper left side of the goal, making it 2-0 Tar Heels.
Claudia Dickey and Samantha Leshnak each played 45 minutes in goal for Carolina, combining on a solo shutout and not being required to make a save. Dickey's goalkeeper record improved to 6-2-1 in the process. Phallon Tullis-Joyce made 17 saves for Miami which is a new school record for the Hurricanes. The previous record was 14 saves made by Vikki Alonzo, also against UNC, on November 2, 2008.
Next up for the Tar Heels will be a match against Wake Forest at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Koka Booth Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. The game will be nationally televised on ACC Network Extra. It will be Senior Night for the Tar Heels with 11 players currently in their fourth or fifth years in the program being honored in pre-match ceremonies.
UNC has also now clinched home field advantage for the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. The Tar Heels will face the tournament's #8 seed next Sunday at 1 p.m. at Koka Booth Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in a match to be televised nationally on ACC Network Extra.

TAR HEELS DOWN EAGLES BEHIND RUSSO'S EARLY GOAL: Third-ranked North Carolina and 11th-ranked Boston College competed in what seemed like a post-season atmosphere Thursday afternoon at WakeMed Soccer Park with the Tar Heels prevailing 1-0 and in the process inching closer to clinching its first undisputed conference regular-season championship since 2010.
Alessia Russo scored off a turnover just 5:18 into the match and it held up for the game-winner in a match in which both teams threatened the add to the scoreboard up to the final whistle.
With the win, UNC has now won eight straight matches and it needs one more win the clinch the ACC regular-season championship outright. The Tar Heels are now 13-2-1 overall and 8-0-0 in the league. Boston College lost for only the second time this season and is now 13-2-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the league.
UNC's last undisputed ACC crown was 2010 when the Tar Heels finished league play 8-2. In 2014, UNC shared the conference regular-season crown with a 9-0-1 mark.
The Tar Heels scored the game-winning goal at 5:18 of the match as Alessia Russo notched her team-leading sixth goal of the season. Boston College goalkeeper Alexis Bryant mishit her goal kick and Russo ran on to the ball about 28 yards from the goal, dribbled into the box and finished craftily into the lower right corner as Bryant came out to cut down the angle.
Moments later Samantha Leshnak made a save on a shot by Sam Coffey, one of only two shots by BC that was on frame in the match despite the fact the Eagles took 12 shots overall. Both teams attacked each others' goal frames with gusto for the remainder of the half with BC taking six first half shots and North Carolina taking eight. At 17:35, Olivia Vaughn almost earned the equalizer as her shot from in the box on the left side clanged off the cross bar. Her rebound eight seconds later was blocked as UNC dodged a bullet and held on to its lead.
In the second half, the Tar Heels had seven shots on goal to six for BC. In the second half, despite being constantly peppered, Leshnak had to make only one save officially, stopping a shot by Jenna Bike just three minutes into the second half. Bryant made two second-half saves on shots by Russo and another on an attempt by Rachel Jones. Carolina was eventually able to celebrate its victory after a last gasp effort by the Eagles' Kayla Duran flew high of the goal with 21 seconds to play.
Altogether, UNC outshot the Eagles 15-12, including a margin of 5-2 in shots on goal. The Tar Heels had eight corner kicks in the match in comparison to two for the Eagles. UNC was charged with 10 fouls and Carolina just six.
Alexis Bryant played all 90 minutes in goal for BC, making four saves and allowing just the one goal. She is now 13-2-1 on the season. Samantha Leshnak improved her goalkeeper record to 8-0-0 overall, playing all 90 minutes and making two saves. She now has three solo shutouts this season.
UNC improved to 18-1 overall against Boston College and has won seven straight games in the series. This was the fifth time in those seven games that Carolina has prevailed by a 1-0 margin.

CAROLINA WINS AT VIRGINIA TECH FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR: Goals by Alessia Russo and Dorian Bailey powered the University of North Carolina's women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Virginia Tech October 13 at Thompson Field. The victory was the seventh in a row for Coach Anson Dorrance's team and lifted the Tar Heels to 12-2-1 on the season and 7-0 in the ACC.
Carolina remains in control of its own fate in the ACC regular-season race as the Tar Heels now finish their regular-season with three successive home games at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. UNC will play host to Boston College Thursday at 3 p.m., Miami on October 21 at 1 p.m. and Wake Forest on October 25 at 6 p.m. in Cary.
UNC emerged with its seventh successive win over Virginia Tech following wins by the Hokies in Blacksburg in 2009 and 2011. The Tar Heels are 15-2 all-time against Virginia Tech, including a 7-2 mark in games played in Blacksburg.
UNC finished with a 13-6 edges in shots in the game and the Tar Heels took five corner kicks to one for the Hokies.
The game-winning goal for the Tar Heels came at the 21:19 mark of the match as Alessia Russo finished from the top of the box into the lower right corner past Hokie goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn. It was Russo's fifth goal of the season. She was assisted on the goal by both Bridgette Andrzejewski who sent a nice pass forward to spring Russo free and by Julia Ashley who served a free kick to Andrzejewski after a foul on the Hokies.
The Tar Heels added an insurance goal at the 80:35 mark of the match off the foot of Dorian Bailey who notched her second score of the season. Bailey finished inside the box past McGlynn after taking a nifty through ball from Rachel Jones. Morgan Goff had the secondary assist on the goal.
McGlynn went the entire way in goal for Virginia Tech and made four saves while allowing two goals. Samantha Leshnak went the entire way in goal for the Tar Heels and made two saves while posting her second solo shutout of the season.
Carolina handed Virginia Tech its first loss at home all season. The Hokies are now 5-1-1 this season in Blacksburg. The Hokies are 7-5-3 overall this season and 3-4 in the ACC.

ASHLEY NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST: Twenty NCAA® men's and women's soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as finalists today for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate soccer. Among those 20 were Alex Comsia and Julia Ashley making North Carolina the only school with two finalists.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of finalists follows this release.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 men's candidates and 30 women's candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through November 18, 2018. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships later this fall.
For more information on all the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
Men's Soccer Finalists
Ryder Bell, William & Mary
Alex Comsia, North Carolina
Brad Dunwell, Wake Forest
Mark Forrest, Lehigh
DeJuan Jones, Michigan State
Daniel Krutzen, Albany
Robbie Mertz, Michigan
Callum Montgomery, UNC Charlotte
Tate Schmitt, Louisville
Andre Shinyashiki, Denver
Women's Soccer Finalists
Julia Ashley, North Carolina
Alana Cook, Stanford
Katie Glenn, Texas
Jennifer Hiddink, Air Force
CeCe Kizer, Mississippi
Hailie Mace, UCLA
Kayla McCoy, Duke
Katie Moller, North Dakota
Bianca St. Georges, West Virginia
Jessica Wollmann, Radford

UNC EARNS TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD FROM UNITED SOCCER COACHES: United Soccer Coaches announced on October 6 the Team Academic Award winners at the high school and collegiate levels to recognize exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2017-18 academic year. The University of North Carolina women's soccer team, coached by Anson Dorrance, was amongst the 484 women's programs nationwide to earn the award.
The College Team Academic Award recipients are active members of the United Soccer Coaches College Services Program with a composite grade point average of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale for all players on the roster.
A total of 773 college teams (289 men, 484 women) earned the Team Academic Award, including 191 schools who had both their men's and women's programs among the recipients. At the high school level, 309 teams (105 boys, 204 girls) were honored with the Team Academic Award, including 30 schools earning recognition for both their boys' and girls' programs.
United Soccer Coaches annually celebrates the academic achievements of high school and college soccer teams whose student-athletes collectively demonstrate a commitment to excellence in their studies over the course of a full academic year.
Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., United Soccer Coaches is the trusted and unifying voice, advocate and partner for coaches at all levels of the game. The largest community for soccer coaches in the world, we unite coaches of all levels around the love of the game and we elevate the game through advocacy, education and service. To learn more, visit UnitedSoccerCoaches.org.

CAROLINA'S BALANCED SCORING UNIT: In 17 games this season, UNC has scored 37 goals, passed for 47 assists and accounted for 121 points overall.
The 37 goals have been scored by 15 different players with Alessia Russo leading the way with six goals.
Nineteen players have accounted for the 47 assists, led by Taylor Otto's five.
The 121 points have been accounted for by 21 different players with Alessia Russo leading the way with 16 points.

SEVEN GOAL SCORERS LEAD TAR HEELS PAST ORANGE: Brianna Pinto assisted on the first two goals of the game and added an insurance goal in the 69th minute to boost the UNC lead to three goals as the third-ranked North Carolina women's soccer team defeated Syracuse 7-1 on October 7 at the SU Soccer Stadium.
Carolina improved to 11-2-1 with the victory and is now 6-0 in the ACC. Syracuse is 3-11 and 0-6 in conference play. Carolina has won six in a row with four ACC regular season contests remaining.
Altogether, Pinto finished with five points in the game as she assisted on the Tar Heels' goal in the 79th minute as well. Seven different Tar Heels scored goals – Bridgette Andrzejewski, Brianna Pinto, Morgan Goff, Julia Ashley, Jessie Scarpa, Zoe Redei and Alex Kimball. Pinto had three assists in the game and Taylor Otto added a pair of assists for Carolina.
Carolina opened the scoring at the 4:52 mark as Bridgette Andrzejewski headed home her third goal of the season off a brilliant free kick by Brianna Pinto. After a foul on the Orange, Pinto took a free kick from about 30 yards out and she put it right on the top of the head of Andrzejewski who finished across frame into the right side of the goal.
UNC doubled its lead at 24:04 on Julia Ashley's third goal of the season with Pinto again assisting. Pinto took a corner kick from the right side and sent it on a rope to Ashley who was positioned just inside the left post. Ashley headed the ball into the roof of the goal for a 2-0 Tar Heel lead.
After Meghan Root scored for Syracuse at the 27:12 mark off an assist by Kate Hostage, UNC answered with its third goal of the game. Alex Kimball finished from 10 yards out in the center of the box off assists by Rachel Dorwart and Taylor Otto with the official time of the goal being 34:07.
The Tar Heels scored three goals after the midway point of the second half to break the game wide open. UNC tallied four goals in a span of less than 16 minutes from the 69th minute to the 85th minute to turn a 3-1 lead into a 7-1 final.
At 68:54, Brianna Pinto scored off an assist by Jessie Scarpa to make it 4-1. Scarpa made a nice run into the deep right corner and fed Pinto who was on the doorstep just outside three yards for the putaway. Pinto redirected the ball into the back of the goal to make it 4-1 Tar Heels.
At 78:44, Morgan Goff tallied her first goal of the season, finishing a series of passes off a corner kick. Annie Kingman took the corner kick from the left side and found Brianna Pinto's head in the middle of the box. Pinto sent it on to Taylor Otto on the right end line. Otto sent it back into the center of the box for a nifty finish by Goff.
The Tar Heels added to their lead at 80:23 on Zoe Redei's third goal of the season, assisted by Mary Elliott McCabe. It was the second assist of the year for McCabe. McCabe beat defenders on the right side of the box and centered to Redei for the putaway.
Carolina's final goal came at 84:35 as Jessie Scarpa scored her first goal of the year, tallying on a rebound shot after Annie Kingman's initial shot off a free kick was initially saved by SU goalkeeper Jordan Harris.
UNC outshot the Orange 29-5 in the game, including an 18-1 edge in shots on goal. UNC had seven corner kicks to one for the Orange.

LATE GOAL BY OTTO SECURES WIN AT NOTRE DAME: Taylor Otto scored on a rebound at the 85:39 mark of the match to lift third-ranked North Carolina to a 2-1 victory over Notre Dame in ACC women's soccer action at Alumni Stadium on October 4.
With the win, the Tar Heels remain the only unbeaten and untied team in ACC play, improving to 10-2-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference with their fifth straight win. Notre Dame is now 6-7 overall and 2-3 in the ACC. Carolina now leads the all-time series between the two teams 18-7-3.
Since the Fighting Irish joined the league in 2013, Notre Dame had scored first in each of the previous regular-season meetings between the two teams. But Carolina ended that streak by scoring 22 seconds into the match as Alessia Russo scored her fourth goal of the season off a perfect cross from the deep left corner by Emily Fox. Rachel Jones also assisted on the goal.
After a foul on Notre Dame in the ninth minute, Brianna Pinto served a brilliant ball into the penalty area that Morgan Goff almost headed inside the right post only to see Brooke Littman make a fingertip save. It was one of two saves on the night for Littman. The other save for the Notre Dame keeper came in the 32nd minute on another header by Goff off a corner kick.
After the Tar Heels took four of the first six shots of the game, Notre Dame started finding its stride and eventually produced an equalizer at 10:30 on Karin Muya's third goal of the season, assisted by Sabrina Flores and Alexis MartelLamothe. A header by MartelLamothe found Flores who slipped the ball through to Muya who finished past UNC starting goalkeeper Claudia Dickey into the left side of the goal frame.
Notre Dame outshot the Tar Heels 7-6 in the first half and Dickey made four saves in the 45-minute period, matching her career high for saves in a game set earlier this season against Texas.
The second half was titled more in the direction of North Carolina as UNC outshot the Fighting Irish 9-3 after halftime. But of the 12 shots in the second half, only two were on frame between the two squads. In the 67th minute, Notre Dame almost scored on a header off a corner kick but the scoring effort by MartelLamothe was punched out of harm's way by UNC senior goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak, who came on in the second half and played at a high level for the Tar Heels, helping the UNC defense limit Notre Dame to only three shots after halftime.
Despite peppering the Notre Dame goal with shots in the second half, Carolina was not able to get a shot on goal until the 86th minute and it proved to be the game-winning tally. Alessia Russo's shot at the top of the box was blocked by Notre Dame's Rachel Heard. But Taylor Otto made a tremendous run to take the rebound in stride, beating the Notre Dame defender to the ball and finishing from 10 yards out at 85:39 past Littman.
Carolina successfully killed off the final four minutes of the game to emerge victorious before a crowd of 733 fans.

TAR HEELS BEAT CARDINALS IN BATTLE OF ACC UNBEATENS LAST SATURDAY: Sophomores Alessia Russo and Taylor Otto each scored a pair of goals to spark the North Carolina women's soccer team offensively as the Tar Heels defeated Louisville 5-1 Saturday afternoon, September 29 at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Heading into the game both the Cardinals and the Tar Heels were undefeated in ACC play and neither team had allowed a goal in a conference match. But all that went out the window in the early stages of the match. After Louisville scored on a counter attack in the sixth minute, the Tar Heels answered with two goals just 3:20 apart in the 16th and 20th minutes en route to scoring the final five goals of the game.
With the win, Carolina improved to 9-2-1 overall and 4-0 in the ACC. The Tar Heels are now the only unbeaten and untied team in league play as the ACC season heads into its midway point. Louisville saw its four-game winning streak come to an end and the Cardinals are now 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the league.
The five goals were the most scored by the Tar Heels in a game since September 30, 2017 when UNC beat Syracuse 7-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park. Louisville had allowed only six goals this season in its first 10 games but surrendered five goals in the first 49 minutes of Saturday's match, all in a span of less than 35 minutes.
UNC controlled play off the opening whistle with Alessia Russo sending a curling shot off the cross bar at 1:34 of the match. Just over three minutes later, the Cardinals capitalized on a Tar Heel turnover at midfield as Brooklyn Rivers gathered in a ball on the right sideline and quickly shifted fields to an open Emina Ekic ,who dribbled in on a breakaway to score from 15 yards out in the left side of the box. Ekic sent the ball into the right side of the goal past UNC starting goalkeeper Claudia Dickey.
About seven minutes later, Louisville had an enormous opportunity to go up two goals. On a scramble off a corner kick, Ekic found herself alone in the center part of the field about 20 yards out. Her strike hit the cross bar's upper right corner before bouncing off Dickey and over the end line for another corner kick.
Given the reprieve, the Tar Heels took full advantage and dominated the rest of the first half, outshooting the Cardinals 10-5 in the opening 45 minutes. In the 16th minute, UNC midfielder Taylor Otto was fouled about 26 yards away from goal in the center of the pitch. Alessia Russo stepped up and drove her direct free kick past the wall and into the lower right part of the frame off the fingertips of Louisville goalkeeper Gabrielle Kouzelos for her second goal of the year.
Less than four minutes later, UNC seized the lead for good on the niftiest goal of the day. Brooke Bingham sent a ball from the defensive end that Dorian Bailey headed toward the Cardinals' goal and into the path of Russo. The sophomore forward from England split two defenders and finished from inside the box past the Louisville keeper, going far post for her third goal of the season. It also proved to be the game-winning goal.
The Tar Heels made it 3-1 at the 28:59 mark of the match off a corner kick. Lotte Wubben-Moy's delivery went through the box to Julia Ashley who one-touched it to Taylor Otto on the end line to the right of the goal. Otto sent a low cross to Dorian Bailey who finished from in close in the center of the box for her first goal of the season.
At the 33:11 mark, Russo was taken down in the penalty box, rewarding Carolina with just its second penalty kick of the season. Taylor Otto stepped to the spot and delivered into the left side of the frame for her third goal of the campaign.
Carolina was rewarded another penalty kick with at the 48:44 mark after Bridgette Andrzejewski was fouled in the penalty box. Otto again converted, finishing with authority inside the right post to make the final margin 5-1.
The Tar Heels were able to play 26 players in the game with both Annie Kingman and Maggie Bill returning from injuries to play as reserves. In addition, Kasey Parker saw five minutes of playing time, seeing her first action after being sidelined by injuries since midway through the 2016 season.
UNC finished with a 13-8 advantages in shots on goal. That included an 8-3 advantage in shots on frame. The Tar Heels had six corner kicks to three for the Cardinals.
Kouzelos played all 90 minutes in goal for Louisville, making four saves while allowing five goals. Dickey and Samantha Leshnak each played one half for the Tar Heels. Leshnak made a pair of saves for UNC.
The win was the first ever for Carolina over Louisville. The series is now tied at 1-1-1 since the first game in the series in 2015.

RUSSO NAMED ACC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AFTER WIN OVER CARDS: North Carolina sophomore forward Alessia Russo has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, and Virginia Tech junior goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn is this week's ACC Defensive Player of the Week. The awards were announced Tuesday by the ACC Office in Greensboro.
In a battle of ACC unbeatens, Russo was the difference as North Carolina scored five unanswered goals to beat Louisville 5-1, ending the Cardinals' four-game winning streak. After Louisville took the lead on a breakaway goal in the sixth minute, Russo tied the game in the 16th minute on a 28-yard direct free kick. Just 3:20 later, she split two defenders perfectly and scored on a fast break to give the Tar Heels the lead for good in the 20th minute. Later in the first half, Russo dribbled deep into the box and was taken down by the Louisville defense. Taylor Otto scored on the ensuing penalty kick, giving the Tar Heels a 4-1 lead that would never be challenged.

CAROLINA GRABS KEY ACC ROAD WIN OVER CLEMSON: The fifth-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team remained unbeaten in the Atlantic Coast Conference as it defeated Clemson 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Historic Riggs Field before a crowd of 571. Both teams had gone into the match undefeated in the ACC and the Tar Heels prevailed on a first half goal by Rachel Jones to improve to 8-2-1 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. Clemson fell to 7-4 overall and 2-1 in league play.
As Sunday closed, UNC, Louisville and Boston College remained the only undefeated teams in ACC play and the Tar Heels have upcoming home games with both of those teams.
Both teams' defenses were at their best in what has annually become a close-knit game. In the last six meetings between the two teams, UNC has five one-goal wins and the other match ended in a 1-1 tie in a regular season meeting at Clemson.
The only goal of the game came at 24:59 when Rachel Jones took the ball away from a Tiger defender, dribbled into the box and expertly finished into the right side of the frame from 15 yards out past Clemson goalkeeper Sandy MacIver. It was Jones' second goal of the season and her second game-winning tally. She also scored in the first half of UNC's 1-0 win at Florida State nine days ago.
Claudia Dickey had made a key save early in the half for the Tar Heels at 8:23 of the match to keep the game deadlocked. Off a long throw in by Sam Staab that found the head of Dani Antieau just yards away from the goal Dickey smothered Antieau's header, keeping it from going over the line by just inches. Clemson's other best chance came in the 51st minutes when a shot by Mariana Speckmaier was deflected by a Tar Heel defender before going off the left post.
UNC finished with an 11-6 edge in total shots and a 3-2 margin in shots on goal. UNC had five corner kicks in the game, compared to one for the Tigers.
MacIver played the whole way in goal for Clemson, making two saves. Dickey played the first half for Carolina in goal and Samantha Leshnak played the second half. Each made one save.
With the win, the Tar Heels improved their all-time record against the Tigers to 32-1-1.
The Tar Heels will be back in action on Saturday, September 29 at 12:30 p.m. against the University of Louisville Cardinals at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The game will be televised nationally on ACC Network Extra.

CONGRATULATIONS NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE: The entire state of North Carolina celebrated the victory by the North Carolina Courage in the 2018 National Women's Soccer League championship game on September 22. The Courage defeated the homestanding Portland Thorns 3-0 in the championship game.
Four members of the Courage are Carolina alumnae - Heather O'Reilly, Class of 2007, Merritt Mathias, Class of 2012, Jessica McDonald, Class of 2011, and Crystal Dunn, Class of 2014.
McDonald was named the Most Valuable Player of the NWSL championship game after scoring two goals in the 3-0 victory over Portland.

NWSL BEST XI HONOREES: Three former University of North Carolina players were named to the Best XI squads for 2018 as named by the National Women's Soccer League.
Portland Thorns FC midfielder Tobin Heath and North Carolina Courage forward Crystal Dunn were both named to the first team while North Carolina Courage defender Merritt Mathias was named to the second team.

THREE TAR HEEL ALUMNAE PLAY FOR U.S. IN CONCACAF CHAMPIONSHIPS: U.S. Women's National Team head coach Jill Ellis named 20 players to the roster for the 2018 Concacaf Women's Championship that was contested from October 4-17 at three venues across the United States, including WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. This group included three alumnae from the University of North Carolina's famed program - goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, Class of 2010, defender Crystal Dunn, Class of 2014, and forward Tobin Heath, Class of 2010.
The 2018 Concacaf Women's Championship featured eight countries divided into two groups of four with each group's top two finishers advancing from round robin play to the semifinals. The two finalists and the winner of the third-place match will qualify directly to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. The fourth-place finisher will earn a spot in a two-game playoff against Argentina, which finished third in South America qualifying, for a final berth to the tournament. The U.S. won the 2018 CONCACAF championship with a win over Canada in the final game.
Harris is one of two goalkeepers named to the 20-person squad. She played on NCAA championship teams at Carolina in 2006, 2008 and 2009. Harris plays for the Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League and has 17 caps with the U.S. National Team.
Dunn plays for North Carolina Courage of the NWSL and has 69 caps with the U.S. National Team, while scoring 23 goals for her country. Dunn was the consensus National Player of the Year at Carolina on the team that won the 2012 NCAA championship.
Heath, who plays for the NWSL's Portland Thorns, has 138 caps with the U.S. National Team and has scored 21 goals for her nation in her career. She played on NCAA championship teams at UNC in 2006, 2008 and 2009.
The USA opens its qualifying tournament on October 4 against Mexico at 7:30 p.m. ET, faces Panama on October 7 at 5 p.m. ET and then finishes the group stage against Trinidad and Tobago on October 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET. All the USA's Group A matches will be played in Cary, N.C. at Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, home of the NWSL regular season champion North Carolina Courage.

TAR HEELS DOWN PITT 3-0 TO IMPROVE TO 2-0 IN ACC: The fifth-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team scored a pair of goals in the opening 22 minutes of the game and went on to roll past the Pittsburgh Panthers 3-0 Thursday night before a crowd of 310 fans at WakeMed Soccer Park.
The game was moved to Cary after the Tar Heels' 2018 home at Finley Fields South was under significant flood water early in the week in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.
Sophomore striker Alessia Russo scored her first goal of the season, a game-winner, and also added an assist in the Tar Heel triumph as Carolina improved to 7-2-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC. Sophomore defender Emily Fox and senior midfielder Dorian Bailey each had two assists in the victory and junior forward Bridgette Andrzejewski and freshman midfielder Brianna Pinto each scored goals for the Tar Heels.
UNC finished with a 24-1 edge in shots against the Panthers, who fell to 4-4-1 overall and 0-2 in the ACC. UNC had all three corner kicks in the game. Both teams played two goalkeepers. Claudia Dickey made her first career start for the Tar Heels, making one save, and Samantha Leshnak played the second half, combining with Dickey on the shutout. Twelve of UNC's 24 shots were on frame. Amaia Pena played the first half in goal for Pitt and made four saves while allowing two goals. Katherine Robinson played the second half for the Panthers and made five saves while allowing Carolina's third goal.
The Tar Heels opened the scoring at the 16:36 mark of the game as Russo tallied her first goal of the season. Dorian Bailey sent a ball from the end line on the left side of the pitch into the middle of the box where the English youth international player tapped in the cross from close range to put Carolina ahead.
It took the Tar Heels just a little over five minutes to double their lead. The goal came on a header by Bridgette Andrzejewski, her second tally of the season, at the 21:53 mark. Bailey again served the primary assist from the left side of the pitch after taking a brilliant through ball from Emily Fox.
UNC went on to outshoot the Panthers by a 12-1 margin in the first half but Pena made a couple of key stops to keep the Tar Heels from extending their lead. In the 52nd minute of the game, the Tar Heels got the insurance goal they needed for separation. Brianna Pinto tallied her third goal of the season at 51:50 with a finish from the top of the 18-yard penalty box after a series of nifty passes set her up. Both Fox and Russo were credited with assists on the goal.
Carolina kept firing away at the Panthers' goal, but five second-half saves by Robinson kept the final score at 3-0.
Altogether, UNC head coach Anson Dorrance played a deep bench and had 22 players overall on the pitch. Twenty-one of the 22 Tar Heels who played in the game logged 18 or more minutes.
Carolina will next be in action on Sunday with a 1 p.m. game at Clemson at Historic Riggs Field. It will be a battle to remain atop the ACC standings as both the Tar Heels and the Tigers go into the game at 2-0 in the ACC. The Tigers will be playing their third straight conference home game after springing a 1-0 double overtime upset on fourth-ranked Virginia Thursday night. In their previous game the Tigers had beaten Miami 2-1 in overtime. Sunday's game will be televised nationally on ACC Network Extra.
UNC improved to 4-0 all-time against Pittsburgh with the win on Thursday. Three of Carolina's all-time wins against the Panthers have come via shutout.

FIRST CAREER GOAL BY JONES SPARKS TAR HEELS PAST #2 FSU: Freshman forward Rachel Jones scored her first career goal in the 29th minute of play and that was just enough to lift the sixth-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team past second-ranked Florida State Friday night before a crowd of 3,146 fans at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
After dropping games at Santa Clara and Stanford last weekend, UNC broke a two-match losing streak and improved to 6-2-1 overall and 1-0 in the ACC. Florida State, which trailed for the first time all season, fell to 7-1-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC. The Tar Heels return to action Thursday against Pittsburgh at 4 p.m. at Finley Fields South in their ACC home opener. The match will be nationally televised on ACC Network Extra.
Carolina has now won its last three meetings against the Seminoles, including 1-0 regular-season wins in each of the past two seasons in Tallahassee.
UNC outshot the Seminoles 12-8 and held the Seminoles without a shot on goal. UNC had just three shots on goal in the game as just three of the 20 shots combined between the two teams were on frame.
The only goal of the game came at 28:24 when sophomore midfielder Taylor Otto send a ball from the Tar Heels' defensive end on to the foot of sophomore striker Alessia Russo. The English youth national team player dribbled down the middle of the pitch and found Rachel Jones on the left side of the penalty area and the freshman from Georgia finished from 15 yards out into the lower right corner of the goal.
Florida State's best chance to score in the game came in the sixth minute off a corner kick. Anna Patten got herself free at the near post but her header went wide from short range. In the 19th minute, a nifty passing combination got the Tar Heels into the penalty area against FSU goalkeeper Brooke Bollinger but Bridgette Andrzejewski's volley went wide right of the goal.
The Tar Heels had the next three shots of the game and broke through at 28:24 with the goal by Jones. FSU then had the last four shots of the first half but the first three were not on frame and the last was blocked.
In the second half, the Tar Heel defense clamped down, limiting the Seminoles to just two shots, neither on goal. The Seminoles had a shot a minute into the second half and then took their final shot in the 75th minute.
UNC pressed to get an insurance goal, outshooting FSU 8-2 in the final 45 minutes. Alessia Russo forced a save by Bollinger in the 56th minute and Morgan Goff's header off a corner kick was saved by Bollinger at the 68:46 mark.
UNC has now won its last three meetings between the two teams and it is now 4-0-1 in its last five meetings against Florida State. That follows a seven-game span in which Florida State went 6-0-1 against the Tar Heels from 2011 through 2015. Carolina is now 28-8-4 all-time against the Seminoles. FSU has the most wins by any team against Carolina, earning eight wins. UNC has lost just 72 matches since the varsity program started in 1979.

JONES & OTTO NAMED ACC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Following a 1-0 win at No. 2 Florida State, North Carolina freshman forward Rachel Jones has been named this week's Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, while her teammate, redshirt sophomore midfielder Taylor Otto is this week's ACC Defensive Player of the Week.
Jones scored her first career goal in her first career start to lead No. 6 North Carolina to a 1-0 upset at No. 2 Florida State, handing the Seminoles their first loss of the season. Jones broke through the Florida State back line to finish from 15 yards out at the 28:24 mark to lift the Tar Heels to their third successive win over the Seminoles and their second straight 1-0 regular-season win in Tallahassee in the past two years.
Jones was also named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week on Monday, September 17.
Otto, starting just her second game at the holding midfielder position, led a stellar defensive effort in Carolina's upset win at No. 2 Florida State. The UNC defense held Florida State to just eight shots overall, including only two in second half, zero shots on goal in the match and only three corner kicks. Otto also assisted on Rachel Jones' game-winning goal in the 29th minute of the game.

RESERVES POWER TAR HEELS PAST MARQUETTE AT DUKE NIKE CLASSIC: The third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team notched three goals in a span of 9:34 late in the first half Sunday, September 2, going on to post a clean sheet in a 4-0 victory over Marquette at the Duke Nike Classic at Koskinen Stadium.
Junior striker Zoe Redei recorded a brace in a span of just over eight minutes, matching her goal total for the 2017 season in the process. Senior defender Julia Ashley had a goal and an assist in the match and junior forward Madison Schultz recorded her second goal of the season as the Tar Heels got three of their four goals off the bench.
UNC's defense ended with its third successive clean sheet and Carolina has not allowed a goal since the 1:10 mark of the match against Texas on August 22. UNC has not been scored on in the past 378 minutes and 50 seconds.
Carolina had struggled with finishing in its previous three games – a 1-1 tie with Texas and 1-0 wins over UCF and Providence. But Sunday against the Golden Eagles, a flurry late in the first half saw the Tar Heels light up the scoreboard.
After Carolina made six substitutions at a water break at the 25:16 mark, UNC scored just 13 seconds later off the foot of Redei, who had missed the first four games of the season with a leg injury before playing 10 minutes in Thursday's win over Providence. Julia Ashley launched a pass from midfield to Redei who pushed it out wide to the right side to Bridgette Andrzejewski. The junior forward from Maryland returned the ball to Redei, whose run left her wide open in the middle of the penalty box for a one touch into the lower left side of the goal.
It did not take long before Redei found the back of the net again. Ashley again initiated the play with a pass to Sydney Spruill at the top of the 18-yard box. Spruill outfought two Golden Eagle players for the play and sent the ball to a wide open Redei in the right side of the box. Redei finished almost identically to her previous goal and at 33:35, UNC had doubles its lead to 2-0.
It took less than a minute and a half for Carolina to add to that lead. After a foul on the Golden Eagles, sophomore defender Lotte Wubben-Moy delivered a long serve from 40 yards out perfectly to the head of Ashley who finished for her second goal in four days at the 35:03 mark. Ashley has now doubled her career goal total in the past two games (she had two goals in 2017) while Wubben-Moy earned her first career point with the assist on Ashley's goal.
Carolina finished off the scoring at 71:20 as junior striker Madison Schultz notched her second goal of the year. Ru Mucherera initiated the play with a throw in from the left side. Morgan Goff held off her defender with her back to the goal and tapped the ball to Schultz who finished from the left side just inside the 18-yard box into the right side of the goal after finding space to free herself up.
The Tar Heels outshot the Golden Eagles 26-4, including a 12-0 edge in shots on goal. Maddy Henry of Marquette made all eight saves in the game, playing the first 81:58 for the Golden Eagles in goal.
UNC head coach Anson Dorrance played 27 players in the game with all of them seeing at least 10 minutes of action. Senior Megan Joyner, junior Abby Staker and sophomores Miah Araba and Natalie Chandler all saw their first game action of the 2018 season.

TAR HEELS OUTLAST FRIARS 1-0 ON ASHLEY'S GOAL: Senior defender Julia Ashley scored the second game-winning goal of her career to lift the third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Providence College Thursday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium in a game played as part of the 2018 Duke Nike Classic.
The Tar Heels outshot the Friars 19-8 in the match and had a 12-1 edge in corner kicks but they had trouble finishing their chances against a Providence team that had not allowed a goal in its first three matches.
The only goal of the game came at the 39:43 mark of the match. Sophomore forward Alessia Russo, playing in her first game of the year after returning to the team from the FIFA U20 World Cup in France where she was playing for the English side that won the bronze medal, set up the goal by striking a shot from distance. Providence goalkeeper Shelby Hogan knocked down Russo's post but was unable to corral it at the right post. Ashley, UNC's fourth-year starting right back, took off on a dead sprint from the top of the box, pounced on the ball and finished inside the right post for her third career goal. It was her second game-winning goal. She also had one against Virginia Tech last year.
The game was played in 93 degree temperatures and UNC head coach Anson Dorrance played 23 players to keep the Tar Heels fresh. Every one of those 23 players competed for at least 10 minutes and 18 players were on the pitch for at least 22 minutes.
UNC played two goalkeepers. Samantha Leshnak played the opening 45 minutes and was credited with the win. She made Carolina's only save of the game as just one of seven Providence shots were on frame. Claudia Dickey played the second half for Carolina. Shelby Hogan played the whole way for Providence, making six saves.
Carolina led in shots on goal 8-1.

ASHLEY NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: University of North Carolina senior Julia Ashley has been named the National Player of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer. The period covered Ashley's appearances in games from August 27, 2018 through September 2, 2018.
This marked Ashley's second appearance this year on the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week. The senior defender from Verona, N.J., also appeared on the team that was named on August 20, 2018.
In wins over Providence 1-0 and Marquette 4-0 last week, Ashley led a defense that allowed only 11 shots combined in the two games and just one corner kick. UNC has shut out its last three opponents and has not allowed a goal in almost 379 minutes.
Ashley scored the game-winning goal in the win over Providence, the second game-winning tally of her career. She also had the game-winner as a junior against Virginia Tech. Against Marquette she assisted on Zoe Redei's second goal of the game and then scored a goal of her own in the 36th minute.
Her two goals in four days equaled her career total from her first three years combined.

TAR HEELS BOUNCE BACK INTO WIN COLUMN AGAINST UCF: After playing 21st-ranked Texas to a 1-1 tie on August 22, coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels returned to the win column against the UCF Knights on Sunday, August 26.
In a statistically even game, Taylor Otto's first half goal proved to be the difference as fourth-ranked North Carolina defeated 23rd-ranked UCF 1-0 in women's soccer action at Finley Fields South before a crowd of 844 sun-drenched fans Sunday afternoon.
The match finished off four home games in 10 days for the Tar Heels, all against teams coached by UNC alumnae. The Knights are coached by Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, UNC Class of 1999. The Knights played in tough luck over the weekend in Chapel Hill, falling to Texas 2-1 in overtime Friday and 1-0 to the Tar Heels Sunday.
Carolina improved to 3-0-1 on the season while the Knights go back to Orlando 0-2. It was 366 days ago in Orlando that UCF defeated the Tar Heels 2-1 in double overtime in Orlando. In the process, Roberts Sahaydak became the first UNC alumna coach to defeat Tar Heel head coach Anson Dorrance in a head-to-head matchup.
In last year's match, UNC outshot the Knights but lost. The script was flipped on Sunday as the Knights outshot the Tar Heels 17-16, including 12-10 in the first half. UNC finished with a 7-6 edge in corner kicks.
The only goal of the game came at 15:08 as sophomore forward Taylor Otto scored for the second straight game. She also scored in last Wednesday's game against Texas, earning the Tar Heels a 1-1 tie in the game with the Longhorns after Carolina had fallen behind in the second minute of the game.
Otto scored her goal Sunday as she tapped in a rebound in the 16th minute after an initial shot by freshman midfielder Rachael Dorwart was blocked.
UCF took 17 shots in the game, including eight by Stefanie Sanders and six by Dina Orschmann. UNC's 16 shots were distributed amongst nine players with Dorwart and Bridgette Andrzejewski each taking four shots.
Both teams struggled with keeping their shots on frame. UNC placed seven of its 16 shots on goal while just six of 17 UCF shot efforts were on frame. Nevertheless, UNC improved its on frame percentage from last Wednesday when just six of 20 shots against Texas were on goal.
Samantha Leshnak played the first half in goal for the Tar Heels and made five saves while freshman Claudia Dickey played the second half and made one save. Leshnak's five saves were one short of her career high of six set against Duke in the 2017 season opener, a 2-1 overtime win for UNC. She also had five saves in a 1-0 loss at Penn State last season. Vera Varis played all 90 minutes in goal for the Knights, making five saves.

GREEN & BUCKINGHAM COMPETE FOR U.S. U23 NATIONAL TEAM: Two former outstanding University of North Carolina women's soccer players - Summer Green and Megan Buckingham - were amongst the 23 players competing with the United States Women's U-23 Team at the Nordic Tournament in Norway in late August and early September. The tournament is taking place after the start of the college season but during the FIFA window, the USA is taking a team with 22 pros -- 12 NWSL and 10 European-based players -- and one collegian.
Under-23 Women's Nordic Tournament Schedule:
Aug. 29 in Sarpsborg: USA vs. Sweden
Aug. 31 in Fredrikstad: USA vs. England
Sept. 3 in Sarpsborg: USA vs. Norway
"For the first time in the history of our U-23 women's national team, we will be taking a roster consisting almost entirely of professional players," said U.S. head coach B.J. Snow. "This is an exciting step in the evolution of this team but more importantly provides us a great indicator as to where women's soccer is heading in our country."
Buckingham, who graduated from Carolina last December, played at Carolina from 2014-17. She was the ACC Freshman of the Year in 2014. She plays defense for Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjaroar, Iceland. Summer Green played at Carolina from 2012-15 after enrolling at Carolina at age 16 in the fall of 2012. She is a veteran of multiple youth national teams. She played on Carolina's 2012 NCAA Championship team and now is on the roster of the NWSL Red Stars.

TAR HEELS DOWN BUCKEYES FOR DORRANCE'S 1,000TH OVERALL COLLEGIATE VICTORY: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team scored a workmanlike 2-0 victory over the 23rd-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on August 19, 2018 before a crowd of 732 fans at Finley Fields South.
With the win, which improved the 2018 Tar Heels to 2-0, Carolina rewarded head coach Anson Dorrance with his 1,000th overall collegiate coaching win. Dorrance coached the Tar Heel men's team to 172 wins over 12 seasons from 1977 through 1988. Sunday's win over Ohio State, which fell to 0-2, gave him 828 collegiate women's wins. Dorrance founded the Tar Heel program in 1979 and is now in his 40th season as its head coach.
North Carolina (ranked #3 by Top Drawer Soccer, #4 by Soccer America, #6 by United Soccer Coaches) opened its season with a pair of wins over teams coached by Tar Heel alumnae. On Thursday, UNC defeated Illinois 3-1, coached by 1983 UNC alumna Janet Rayfield, the first-ever scholarship women's soccer player at Carolina. On Sunday, UNC beat Ohio State which is coached by 1992 alumna Lori Walker-Hock, now in her 22nd season in Columbus. Walker-Hock won three national championships at Carolina and Rayfield won two.
On Sunday, UNC scored late in the first half on the first career goal by freshman midfielder Brianna Pinto and then added a second-half tally by junior forward Bridgette Andrzejewski while posting a clean sheet and turning in a suffocating effort on the defensive end.
UNC ended with a 23-4 edge in shots, including a 12-3 margin in shots on goal. The shot margin in the second half was a startling 16-0. UNC took all seven corner kicks in the game. Carolina split goalkeeping duties with Samantha Leshnak going the first 45 minutes and making three saves. Claudia Dickey played the second half and did not face a shot. Devon Kerr went the whole way in goal for Ohio State, making eight saves. Ohio State defenders also made a pair of saves on shots that would otherwise have been UNC goals.
In the 37th minute, UNC freshman Rachel Jones got behind the Ohio State defense and was dribbling in on goal before being tripped up and fouled just outside the penalty area. Freshman midfielder Brianna Pinto stepped up and bent a shot from 20 yards out into the upper right corner of the goal for her first career goal. Pinto, whose father Hassan was recruited to play at Carolina while Dorrance was the men's coach and whose mother played softball at UNC, had rejoined the Tar Heels last Wednesday after playing with the U.S. U20 National Team at the FIFA World Cup in France.
Carolina added an insurance goal in the 58th minute on a brilliant header inside the right post by Bridgette Andrzejewski. Emily Fox, who also played with Pinto in France at the U20 World Cup for the U.S., helped set up the goal. Fox started at left back for Carolina Sunday and early in the second half she controlled the ball on the end line before centering it to redshirt sophomore forward Taylor Otto in the middle of the box. The center forward redirected the ball to the far post and Andrzejewski was there for the nifty put away. She became the fifth different Tar Heel to score in two games for UNC.
The two goals would be all UNC needed on the afternoon as Dorrance played a deep bench with 21 players seeing action and 20 team memebrs playing at least 22 minutes.

400TH HOME GAME: The North Carolina Tar Heels played their 400th home game in school history on Wednesday, August 22 when they took on the Texas Longhorns at Finley Fields South.
Carolina has lost only three home games since the start of the 2015 campaign, falling against Duke in 2015, NC State in 2016 and Princeton in 2017. Always remarkable at home, the Tar Heels have righted the ship in home matches over the past four seasons after losing 13 games at home over a five-year span from 2010-14.

HEELS OPEN WITH WIN OVER ILLINOIS: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team rallied with three goals in the second half to defeat the Illinois Fighting Illini on August 16 by a 3-1 score at Finley Field South.
The game was the season opener for both teams and featured a classic coaching matchup between UNC's Anson Dorrance and Illinois' Janet Rayfield. Dorrance is currently in his 42nd year of coaching service at Carolina and the win over the Illini on Thursday was the 999th of his distinguished career. Dorrance won 172 games while coaching the UNC men's team from 1977-88 for 12 seasons. He has now won 827 games as the Tar Heel women's head coach with a program he founded in 1979. Rayfield, in her 17th season at Illinois, was Carolina's first women's soccer scholarship recipient, playing four years as a Tar Heel from 1979-82 and winning a pair of national championships. Even to this day, 36 years after leaving campus, Rayfield ranks second in career goals as a Tar Heel behind only Mia Hamm while standing third in career points.
UNC, ranked sixth by the United Soccer Coaches, fourth by Soccer America and third by Top Drawer Soccer, played a deep lineup Thursday and it eventually paid fruit as Carolina rallied for the win, outscoring the Illini 3-0 in the second half and outshooting Illinois 12-1 after halftime.
Carolina came out of the gate on fire, pressuring the Illinois goal with gusto from the start. Jaelyn Cunningham, who had six saves on the day for Illinois, made a sprawling save on a shot by Alex Kimball at the seven-minute mark. On the ensuing corner kick, freshman Rachael Dorwart hit the cross bar. At 14:38, Tar Heel forward Sydney Spruill hit the cross bar again as UNC took the first seven shots of the game.
It was Illinois that scored first, however, against the run of play at the 18:55 mark. Illinois midfielder Hope Breslin thread a perfect through ball past a pair of Tar Heel defenders and forward Kelly Maday ran on to it to score from the top of the 18-yard box. UNC goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak was able to get a hand on the shot but was unable to keep the ball from reaching the back of the net.
Carolina had an excellent shot at tying the game in the 31st minute, again off a corner kick by Annie Kingman. Taylor Otto had a shot in the box that was cleared away by the Illini defense, keeping the Tar Heels off the scoreboard in the first half.
The second half would be a different story, however, as a shot by Illinois' Makena Silber 31 seconds into the period would be the last shot attempt of the game for the U of I.
In the 51st minute, Carolina earned the equalizer as sophomore defender Brooke Bingham scored her first career goal on a header off a corner kick by graduate student Annie Kingman. Dorrance then subbed in five players in the 62nd minute and just six plus minutes later three of them combined on the game-winning goal.
UNC almost took the lead in the 67th minute off a Julia Ashley corner kick. Ru Mucherera's header was cleared off the line at the very last instant by a defender and on the redirect Cunningham stopped a shot from close range by UNC's Mary Elliott McCabe.
Just over two minutes later, a trio of Tar Heel substitutes combined on the game-winner. Taylor Otto fed Mary Elliott McCabe who touched the ball on to senior Nicole Crutchield. The ball was sent on to junior Madison Schultz who one-touched a volley into the lower left corner from inside the penalty area. The goal came at 68:41 of the match.
Carolina added an insurance goal at 73:28 of the match. Senior defender Julia Ashley sent a cross from the right sideline that found the head of freshman Rachael Dorwart for a putaway into the lower left side on a single bounce.
Carolina finished with an edge of 21-3 in total shots and 11-1 in shots on goal. The Tar Heels had nine corner kicks to three for Illinois.

ASHLEY NAMED ACC DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: North Carolina senior defender Julia Ashley and Virginia Tech junior goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn shared ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors on August 21, 2018 while Louisville freshman forward Maisie Whitsett was named this week's Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week.
Ashley led a stout Tar Heel defense on the opening weekend of the season as North Carolina downed Illinois, 3-1 and No. 23 Ohio State 2-0 to capture North Carolina head coach Anson Dorrance's 1,000th career victory. In the two games combined the UNC defense limited their opponents to just seven total shots, including just four on goal, and three corner kick opportunities.
Ashley was also named to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week on August 21 and again on August 28.

WELCOMING ALUMNAE COACHES TO CHAPEL HILL: North Carolina's first four home games were played against teams coached by Tar Heel alumnae who played for coach Anson Dorrance at Carolina.
Illinois is coached by Janet Rayfield, UNC Class of 1983. She is currently in her 17th season as the head coach of the Fighting Illini. Rayfield lettered on the first four UNC teams, winning national championships in 1981 and 1982. To this day, Rayfield ranks third in career points at Carolina with 223 and second in career goals in UNC history with 93.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are coached by Lori Walker-Hock, who is now in her 22nd season as the head coach in Columbus. Walker lettered at Carolina from 1989-91, winning NCAA titles each of those seasons. Walker ranks second in career save percentage at UNC at .902 and she is fifth in career goals against average at 0.42.
UNC hosted Texas on Wednesday, August 22 and UCF on Sunday, August 26. The Longhorns are coach by Angela Kelly, UNC Class of 1995. Kelly was a first-team All-America midfielder at Carolina in 1994 and she played on four NCAA championship teams as a Tar Heel, losing only one game in her career. Kelly is in her seventh season as the head coach at Texas.
UCF is coached by Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak who is now in her sixth season as the head coach of the Knights. Roberts played at Carolina from 1995-98, winning national championships in 1996 and 1997. She was a first-team All-America in 1996 and 1998. She won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games and she was also a member of the U.S. team which won the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.

TAR HEELS RANKED SIXTH IN PRESEASON USC COACHES POLL: North Carolina began the 2018 season ranked sixth in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches, third in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer and fourth in the nation by Soccer America.
Carolina has seven regular season matches scheduled against teams in the USC (formerly National Soccer Coaches Association of America) preseason poll. That includes a match at Stanford, the defending NCAA champion and recipient of 34 of the 35 first-place votes in the poll. The other first-place vote went to 2017 NCAA runner-up UCLA.
Preseason United Soccer Coaches Women's Poll - August 7, 2018
Team, Poll Points, Previous Rank, 2017 W-L-T
1. Stanford, 874, 1, 22-1-0
2. UCLA, 832, 2, 18-3-2
3. Duke, 791, 3, 23-2-0
4. Penn State, 718, 5, 15-5-4
5. South Carolina, 704, 4, 19-2-1
6. North Carolina, 683, 8, 17-3-2
7. Florida, 662, 6, 17-7-0
8. Virginia, 600, 9, 13-6-4
9. West Virginia, 579, 10, 16-4-3
10. Florida State, 546, 15, 13-7-1
11. Texas A&M, 503, 12, 18-2-2
12. USC, 484, 13, 15-3-2
13. Princeton, 473, 7, 16-3-1
14. Notre Dame, 343, 18, 10-7-5
15. Baylor, 334, 11, 15-6-3
16. UCF, 292, 17, 13-2-3
17. Texas, 279, 14, 14-4-3
18. Pepperdine, 237, 16, 15-3-3
19. Santa Clara, 212, 20, 15-7-1
20. NC State, 204, 21, 15-5-2
21. Washington State, 167, 19, 10-8-4
22. Georgetown, 155, 24, 15-3-4
23. Ohio State, 146, 23, 15-5-1
24. Rutgers, 134, 22, 13-2-6
25. Tennessee, 130, 25, 15-4-2
Italicized teams are 2018 regular season opponents.
Soccer America Preseason Women's Poll, August 16, 2018 (2017 records in parentheses)
1. Stanford (24-1-0)
2. UCLA (19-3-3)
3. Penn State (15-5-4)
4. North Carolina (17-3-2)
5. Florida (17-5-1)
6. Florida State (13-7-1)
7. Virginia (13-6-4)
8. West Virginia (16-4-3)
9. USC (15-4-1)
10. Duke (23-3-0)
11. Princeton (16-3-1)
12. Baylor (15-6-3)
13. Texas A&M (12-8-2)
14. South Carolina (21-2-1)
15. Georgetown (14-3-4)
16. California (13-6-1)
17. Santa Clara (15-7-1)
18. N.C. State (14-5-2)
19. Tennessee (11-9-1)
20. UCF (16-2-3)
21. Notre Dame (10-7-5)
22. Pepperdine (15-3-3)
23. Texas (14-4-3)
24. Washington State (10-8-4)
25. Oklahoma State (16-4-3)
On August 21, the first regular season polls appeared with UNC ranked #4 by United Soccer Coaches, #4 by Soccer America and #3 by Top Drawer Soccer.
On August 28, Carolina moved up to #3 in the United Soccer Coaches poll while remaining #3 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll and dropping to sixth in the Soccer America poll after the tie against Texas.
On September 4, UNC moved up to #2 in the United Soccer Coaches poll as well as the Top Drawer soccer ranking. The Tar Heels also moved up one spot in the Soccer America poll to fifth.
After dropping two games on the West Coast, UNC fell in all three national polls on September 11.
After nine straight wins to open the ACC season, UNC is currently ranked #3 by United Soccer Coaches, #3 by Soccer America and #2 by Top Drawer Soccer.

TWO TAR HEELS NAMED TO MAC HERMANN WATCH LIST: United Soccer Coaches and the Missouri Athletic Club has announced the 45 NCAA Division I women's soccer players named to the 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, presented by World Wide Technology.
The University of North Carolina has two representatives on the women's 45-member watch list. The Tar Heel duo is senior defender Julia Ashley of Verona, N.J., who is now in her fourth year as a starter at right back for the Tar Heels, and sophomore forward Alessia Russo of Kent, England, who was the 2017 ACC Freshman of the Year and Most Valuable Player of the 2017 ACC Tournament.
The MAC Hermann Trophy, presented by World Wide Technology, is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female players of the year. This year's winners will be announced Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.
The MAC Hermann Trophy Watch Lists are compiled by members of the United Soccer Coaches Men's and Women's NCAA Division I All-America Committees. Fifteen semifinalists will be named for both the men's and women's MAC Hermann Trophy near the end of the college season based on voting by NCAA Division I coaches and from those candidates, three finalists will ultimately be placed on the ballot for the coveted award.

TAR HEELS FAVORED TO WIN 2018 ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP: Defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion North Carolina is the preseason favorite to win another conference title in a vote of the league's 14 head coaches. The ACC Office in Greensboro released the preseason poll on August 6.
The 21-time ACC champion Tar Heels received four first-place votes and 183 points, followed by Florida State (five first-place votes, 174 points), Virginia (two first-place votes, 173 points) and Duke (three first-place votes, 151 points). Duke won last year's regular season championship at 10-0 while North Carolina finished second at 8-0-2. The second-seeded Tar Heels defeated the top-seeded Blue Devils 1-0 in the 2017 ACC Tournament championship game in Charleston, S.C.
In the 2018 preseason balloting, NC State placed fifth in the voting, followed by Clemson, Notre Dame, Wake Forest and Louisville. Boston College placed 10th followed by Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Miami and Pitt.
North Carolina sophomore forward Alessia Russo was named to the 2018 preseason All-ACC women's soccer team. She was first-team All-ACC last year as well as the co-Freshman of the Year in the conference and the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 ACC women's soccer tournament.
2018 Preseason All-ACC Women's Soccer Team
Samantha Coffey, So., M, Boston College
Sam Staab, Sr., D, Clemson
Kayla McCoy, Sr., F, Duke
Ella Stevens, Jr., M, Duke
Deyna Castellanos, Jr., F, Florida State
Natalia Kuikka, Sr., D., Florida State
Emina Ekic, So., M, Louisville
Alessia Russo, So., F, North Carolina
Tziarra King, Jr., F, NC State
Taryn Torres, So., M, Virginia
Mandy McGlynn, Jr., GK, Virginia Tech
Preseason ACC Coaches Poll
North Carolina (183, 4 first place votes)
Florida State (174, 5 first place votes)
Virginia (173, 2 first-place votes)
Duke (151, 3 first-place votes)
NC State (144)
Clemson (120)
Notre Dame (111)
Wake Forest (104)
Louisville (75)
Boston College (72)
Virginia Tech (66)
Syracuse (40)
Miami (34)
Pitt (23)
ACC women's soccer teams will kick off the 2018 season on Thursday, Aug. 16. The top eight teams in the final league standings will advance to the ACC Championship, which will get underway with quarterfinal matches at campus sites on Sunday, Oct. 28. The semifinals and final are scheduled for Nov. 2 and Nov. 4 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

TRIO OF TAR HEELS COMPETE IN FIFA U20 WORLD CUP: A total of three current University of North Carolina women's soccer players competed at the 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup held Aug. 5-24 in the Brittany region of northwestern France.
Sophomore midfielder Emily Fox and freshman midfielder Brianna Pinto represnted the U.S. team at the competition. The American side went 1-1-1 in group play and did not advance to the quarterfinal round. Fox and Pinto flew home from France and rejoined their teammates for practice on Wednesday, August 15.
Sophomore forward Alessia Russo competed for the British side which won its group. England defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the quarterfinal round on Monday, August 20. After falling to Japan in the semifinals, the English will defeated France in penalty kicks for the bronze medal.
Fox also played on the U.S. U20 Team two years ago in 2016 when she was a high school senior. That squad which also included current UNC players Jessie Scarpa, a redshirt senior forward, and Taylor Otto, a redshirt sophomore forward.

RECORD NUMBER OF TAR HEELS NAMED TO ACC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL: For the third year in a row and the fifth time in the past six years, a record number of Tar Heels earned spots on the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll for the 2017-18 school year. North Carolina placed 391 student-athletes, an all-time high, on the ACC's 62nd-annual honor roll. It's the sixth year in a row that more than 300 Tar Heel student-athletes have earned the recognition.
The ACC Honor Roll is comprised of student-athletes who participated in a varsity-level sport and registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year. UNC's record total marked an improvement of six over last year, when the Tar Heels had an all-time high of 385 students honored. The number of UNC students honored for 2017-18 is roughly half of Carolina's total number of student-athletes and is an improvement of more than 100 student-athletes over the past decade.
Tar Heel women's soccer players included on the 2017-18 ACC Academic Honor Roll included freshman Miah Araba, junior Dorian Bailey, senior Megan Buckingham, sophomore Natalie Chandler, senior Cannon Clough, junior Nicole Crutchfield, freshman Emily Fox, sophomore Morgan Goff, junior Megan Joyner, senior Annie Kingman, junior Kate Morris, freshman Tayor Otto, sophomore Zoe Redei, senior Frances Reuland, junior Jessie Scarpa, freshman Laura Sparling, sophomore Abby Staker, senior Maya Worth and freshman Lotte Wubben-Moy.

TAR HEEL ALUMNA PARLOW CHOSEN FOR NATIONAL SOCCER HALL OF FAME: The U.S. Soccer National Hall of Fame announced May 31 that Cindy Parlow, UNC Class of 1999, has been selected for induction in the Hall's 2018 class. She was formally inducted into the class on Saturday, October 20.
Parlow played at Carolina from 1995-98. She was a three-time National Player of the Year selection, two-time NCAA champion and two-time College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America during her career. She played on the U.S. National Team for nine years, retiring in 2004 after winning the 1999 World Cup championship and 1996 and 2004 Olympic gold medals. Since 2005 she has been a successful coach on the collegiate, professional and club level with stops all across the United States
After starting for four years at forward for the Tar Heels from 1995-98, the midfielder was a key player on the U.S. Women's National Team during a remarkable stretch of years in which the program was establishing itself as a one of the best in the world. She was the youngest member of the Olympic gold medal-winning team in 1996 and also played at the 2000 Summer Games when the U.S. won a silver medal. Most notably though, she was a part of the team that would win the 1999 FIFA World Cup and scored two goals in that historic tournament, including the first in a 2-0 semifinal victory against Brazil in front of 73,123 fans at the old Stanford Stadium.
Parlow served as the head coach of the Portland Thorns in 2013. She led the Thorns to the inaugural National Women's Soccer League title that year after serving as an assistant coach at Carolina from 2006-12.
When she wrapped up her international career in 2004, Parlow had played for the USA 158 times. Prior to that, she scored 68 goals for the Tar Heels which she led to back-to-back national championships in 1996 and 1997 and won the Herrmann Trophy as the nation's top player in 1997 and 1998. She was also named the 1998 U.S. Soccer Young Female of the Year.
Parlow had a decorated history with the U.S. Women's National Team. She retired as the squad's fifth all-time leading scorer during an era in which she helped the U.S. women win the World Cup in 1999 and claim third place in 2003. Her 158 caps and 75 goals also earned her two Olympic gold medals and a silver medal and, to this day, she remains the youngest soccer player, male or female, to win an Olympic gold medal and a World Cup.
Parlow also served on the coaching staff for the U.S. U-14 & U-15 Girls' National Teams from 2010-2013.

FOURTEEN TAR HEELS ON NWSL OPENING DAY ROSTERS IN 2018: The National Women's Soccer League, the premier professional league for women's soccer in the United States, opened its fifth season of operation with games in late March 2018. The University of North Carolina's women's soccer program was well represented as 14 former Tar Heels were on opening day rosters for the league this year. UNC was also represented by 14 players on opening day rosters in 2017. Sixteen players were on opening day rosters in 2016. A 15th Tar Heel joined the league later in the 2018 when 2007 Tar Heel alumna Heather O'Reilly became a member of the Carolina Courage of the NWSL after playing in England for two years.
Coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heel program continues to be one of the best pipelines for players to earn roster spots in the league. Listed below are the 14 alumni playing in the league as of opening day 2018. The year associated with their names indicates the final year they played for the Tar Heel program.
CHICAGO RED STARS - Summer Green, Forward, 2015
HOUSTON DASH - Amber Brooks, Defender, 2012; Kealia Ohai, Forward, 2013
NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE - Crystal Dunn, Forward, 2013; Jessica McDonald, Forward, 2009; Heather O'Reilly, Midfield, 2006 (joined in midseason)
ORLANDO PRIDE - Ashlyn Harris, Goalkeeper, 2009
PORTLAND THORNS FC - Meghan Klingenberg, Defender, 2010; Tobin Heath, Midfielder, 2009; Meg Morris, Forward, 2013
SEATTLE REIGN FC - Yael Averbuch, Defender, 2008; Allie Long, Midfielder, 2008
UTAH ROYALS FC - Brooke Elby, Defender, 2014; Alexa Newfield, Midfielder, 2015; Katie Bowen, Forward, 2015

TRIO OF TAR HEELS NAMED ALL-ACC ACADEMIC FOR 2017-18: Three North Carolina women's soccer players were named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team, announced February 1 by the league. Tar Heels named to the squad, which recognizes combined academic and athletic performance, were senior Megan Buckingham and juniors Julia Ashley and Dorian Bailey.
Buckingham, from Novi, Mich., graduated in December with a major in media and journalism. She was named to the All-ACC Academic Team for the second year in a row.
Ashley is from Verona, N.J., and Bailey is from Mission, Kan. Both are majoring in exercise and sport science.
To be considered for the All-ACC Academic teams, conference student-athletes must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average for the fall semester, as well as a cumulative 3.0 over the course of their college careers.

THREE TAR HEEL PLAYERS CHOSEN IN 2018 NWSL DRAFT: January 18, 2018 was the annual draft day for the National Women's Soccer League and it was good news for a trio of Tar Heel seniors who had filed for the draft.
All three Tar Heels were chosen between the 24th and 32nd selections in the draft amongst the overall picks.
Midfielder Megan Buckingham was chosen in the third round of the draft by the Chicago Red Stars, the closest franchise to her Novi, Michigan home. Buckingham was the 24th pick overall.
Midfielder Abby Elinsky was selected in the third round of the draft by the Houston Dash of the NWSL. She was the 30th pick overall in the draft. Elinsky, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, played three years at Carolina after transferring from Illinois.
Midfielder Joanna Boyles was also picked in the draft. A fifth-year senior at Carolina in 2017, Boyles missed the 2016 season with an ACL tear but came back to have a tremendous senior year in 2017. Boyles was chosen by the Boston Breakers in the fourth round as the 32nd pick overall.
The 2018 NWSL season begins in March. Three of the four Tar Heels who registered for the draft were selected by NWSL teams.

DORRANCE INDUCTED INTO USC HALL OF FAME: North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance and former U.S. men's national team coach Bruce Arena, two of the country's most successful soccer coaches, became the newest members of the United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame on January 19, 2018. Both individuals were inducted as the Class of 2018 during the annual Awards Banquet at the United Soccer Coaches Convention inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia.
Dorrance had recently completed his 41st season of overall coaching at the University of North Carolina. He has led the Tar Heels' women's soccer program to 22 national championships, becoming the first coach in NCAA history to win 20 titles in a single sport. In addition to 172 wins as the UNC men's soccer coach for 12 seasons from 1977-88, Dorrance has amassed 826 wins – the most by any coach in college soccer history – in 39 seasons since founding the women's soccer program at his alma mater in 1979. U.S. Soccer hired Dorrance to simultaneously lead the United States Women's National Team from 1986-1994 and under Dorrance's direction, the U.S. won the first FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991.
Altogether, Dorrance has coached Tar Heel teams to 998 wins beginning in September 1977 when he started coaching the men's squad through the end of the 2017 women's campaign. From 1986-88, he simultaneously coached the women's team at Carolina, the men's team at Carolina and the U.S. Women's National Team for three years.
A member of United Soccer Coaches since 1975, Dorrance is a six-time national Coach of the Year honoree on the women's side and a one-time honoree on the men's side. He has received numerous other accolades from the United Soccer Coaches: 1992 Honorary All-American, 2001 Mike Berticelli Excellence in Coaching Education Award, 2006 Women's Soccer Award of Excellence, 2006 Bill Jeffrey College Long-Term Service Award and the 2010 Honor Award. In addition, Dorrance was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2008 and received the prestigious Werner Fricker Builder Award from U.S. Soccer in 2017.
The United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame was established in 1991 to honor achievement in coaching, work on behalf of the association and lifetime contributions to the game of soccer. Each year, up to three inductees are elected into the association's Hall of Fame based on selections made through balloting of the Hall of Fame Committee. Click here for list of United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame members.

UNC ALL-TIME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: In 2018, North Carolina will be seeking an NCAA Tournament bid for the 37th straight year. The Tar Heels are the only team in the country to have earned an NCAA Tournament in each of the 36 years years the NCAA has sponsored a championship in women's soccer through the 2017 campaign
North Carolina is 127-13-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament games in its 36 appearances in the championship. In the previous 36 years, UNC has won 21 NCAA championships, lost in the championship game three times and lost in the semifinals three times. That's 27 trips to the College Cup in 36 years of tournament play.
UNC has lost outright just 13 times in NCAA Tournament games, including once in the quarterfinals, five times in the third round and once in the second round. On two occasions, UNC failed to advance on penalty kicks - against Florida State in the 2005 quarterfinals and against UCF in the 2011 third round.

TAR HEELS DOWN DUKE TO WIN 2017 ACC CHAMPIONSHIP: Carolina comes into the 2018 season as the defending Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament champion.
The University of North Carolina women's soccer team (ranked #4, seeded #2) defeated top-seeded and second-ranked Duke Sunday afternoon, November 5 to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Soccer Championship at MUSC Health Stadium in Charleston, S.C. Zoe Redei's goal on a rebound in the first minute of the second half was the difference as the Tar Heels prevailed by a score of 1-0 over their arch rivals. That was the same score by which the Tar Heels had beaten NC State Friday night in the semifinals on Alessia Russo's second-half unassisted goal.
With the victory, the Tar Heels earned their first ACC championship since 2009 and their 21st ACC Tournament title overall since the first event in 1988. The Tar Heels also won the ACC title in 1987 when it was contested in a round robin format. The tournament title also earned Carolina the automatic bid to the NCAA championship from the ACC.
Carolina outshot the Blue Devils 11-10 in the game and had a 3-0 edge in corner kicks. UNC had five shots on goal in the game and Duke had just two. E.J. Proctor made four saves for the Blue Devils and allowed the only goal of the game while Samantha Leshnak had two saves for Carolina. Leshnak recorded her 11th solo shutout of the season in 19 games with nine of those shutouts coming against ACC teams.
Alessio Russo was named the tournament MVP after scoring the game-winning goal against NC State in the semifinals and assisting on the game-winning goal in the championship match.
The complete All-Tournament Team is as follows:
Veronica Latsko, Virginia
Tziarra King, NC State
EJ Proctor, Duke
Ella Stevens, Duke
Schuyler DeBree, Duke
Kayla McCoy, Duke
Julia Ashley, North Carolina
Joanna Boyles, North Carolina
Dorian Bailey, North Carolina
Abby Elinsky, North Carolina
Alessia Russo, North Carolina – MVP
The only goal of the game came in the first minute of the second half. Alessia Russo had a shot in box on the left side that was deflected by a Duke defender. The ball fell directly into the path of Zoe Redei who took a couple of dribbles and then blasted a shot from 10 yards out into the top shelf of the goal for the eventual winning score. It was Redei's second goal of the season, both in the last seven days and both on rebounds.
Carolina had two tremendous chances to score in the opening 16 minutes of the game but were denied on both occasions by reaction saves by Proctor. Julia Ashley's header off a free kick by Joanna Boyles at 3:24 was deflected off the right post for a corner kick. Redei had a close-in header in the box saved by Proctor in the 16th minute. Duke placed only two shots on goal, both saved by Leshnak. The Tar Heel junior keeper saved a shot from distance by Ella Stevens in the 72nd minute while Leshnak denied Karlie Paschall from close range in the 86th minute, the best Blue Devil chance of the game.
North Carolina heads into the NCAA Tournament with a record of 15-2-2. Duke is 19-2-0 on the season. The only losses for the Blue Devils this year came against North Carolina. The Tar Heels beat Duke 2-1 on August 18 in the season opener between the two teams. The loss in the ACC Tournament snapped a school-record 19-game winning streak for the nationally second-ranked Blue Devils (19-2).

UNC IN ACC TOURNAMENT: Carolina will once again be seeking a berth in the 2018 ACC Tournament as the season progresses. UNC has qualified for a spot in every tournament dating back to the first event in 1988. The top eight teams in the 2018 regular season standings will earn spots in this coming year's tournament.
After winning the 2017 ACC Tournament, North Carolina is 64-5-5 all-time in the ACC Tournament dating to the first tournament in 1988. North Carolina has an all-time winning percentage of 89.9 percent in ACC Tournament games.
The championship last year was the 21st in ACC Tournament play for Carolina in the 30-year history of the tournament. Florida State has won five ACC titles, Virginia has won two and Wake Forest and NC State have won one each.

CONGRATS TO TIFF: As North Carolina begins to start its 2018 season with four successive games against teams coached by Tar Heel alumnae, a shout out is in order for Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak who last season became the first Tar Heel to defeat her mentor Anson Dorrance in a head-to-head encounter.
North Carolina lost for only the 68th time in its 39-year women's soccer history on Friday, August 25 when UCF came from behind to defeat the Tar Heels 2-1 in double overtime at Orlando, Fla.
Roberts was an All-America midfielder at Carolina, playing for the Tar Heels from 1995-98 and winning NCAA titles in 1996 and 1997. She graduated from Carolina in the Class of 1999.

CONSISTENCY, STATISTICAL ANOMALY OR JUST VERY GOOD?: North Carolina enters Thursday's match against Wake Forest with an all-time winning percentage of .904 dating back to the program's first year in 1979.
The fact is that UNC's program under the direction of head coach Anson Dorrance has been remarkably consistent in his 40 years as head coach regardless of where or when the Tar Heels took the pitch.
Under Dorrance, UNC has won 90.4 percent of its games overall, 87.1 percent of its ACC regular-season games, 89.9 percent of its ACC Tournament games, 89.9 percent of its NCAA Tournament games, 91.2 percent of its home games and 89.7 percent of its road and neutral site games.

TAR HEELS ELECT TEAM CAPTAINS: The North Carolina women's soccer team has elected three players as team captains for the 2018 campaign. The captains are graduate student and midfielder Annie Kingman of Woodside, Calif., senior defender Julia Ashley of Verona, N.J. and redshirt sophomore forward Taylor Otto of Apex, N.C.

TV SCHEDULE FOR UNC WOMEN'S SOCCER IN 2018 ANNOUNCED: The list of 2018 University of North Carolina women's soccer games to be televised and webcast in affiliation with the Atlantic Coast Conference was announced on August 15.
Additions to the TV list could come from other networks at a future date and game times on the designated dates are currently tentative.
Here's a rundown of UNC women's soccer television/webcasting dates so far. ACC & NCAA Tournament games are pending if the Tar Heels earn tourney invites and advance round by round.
Seventeen of Carolina's 18 regular season games are currently scheduled to be televised.
ACC Network Extra Games (with live streaming on ESPN3 and WatchESPN)
August 16, Illinois at UNC, 5 p.m.
August 19, Ohio State at UNC, 4 p.m.
August 22, Texas at UNC, 5 p.m.
August 26, UCF at UNC, 2 p.m.
August 30, UNC vs. Providence at Durham, N.C., 4:30 p.m.
September 2, UNC vs. Marquette at Durham, N.C., 12 p.m.
September 14, UNC at Florida State, 7 p.m.
September 20, Pittsburgh at UNC, 4 p.m.
September 23, UNC at Clemson, 1 p.m.
September 29, Louisville at UNC, 12:30 p.m.
October 4, UNC at Notre Dame, 7 p.m.
October 7, UNC at Syracuse, 1 p.m.
October 13, UNC at Virginia Tech, 7 p.m.
October 18, Boston College at UNC, 3 p.m.
October 21, Miami at UNC, 1 p.m.
October 25, Wake Forest at UNC, 3 p.m.
Pac 12 Network Game
September 9, UNC at Stanford, 5:30 p.m.

TAR HEELS ANNOUNCE FIVE NEWCOMERS FOR 2018 SQUAD: The University of North Carolina signed five prospective student-athletes to National Letters-Of-Intent for the Tar Heel women's soccer program on February 21, 2018. Tar Heel head coach, beginning his 40th year as UNC women's soccer coach this fall, announced the signings.
Claudia Dickey – Goalkeeper – Charlotte, N.C. – Charlotte Latin School
Rachael Dorwart – Midfielder – Mechanicsburg, Pa. – Cumberland Valley High School
Rachel Jones – Forward – Lawrenceville, Ga. – Collins Hill High School
Mary Elliott McCabe – Forward – Charlotte, N.C. – Charlotte Latin School
Brianna Pinto – Midfielder – Durham, N.C. – Charles E. Jordan High School
In the Top Drawer Soccer Girls IMG Academy Class of 2018 rankings, Pinto is the No. 3-ranked recruit, Dorwart is the No. 8-ranked recruit, Jones is the No. 9-ranked recruit, Dickey is the No. 24-ranked recruit and McCabe is the No. 124-ranked recruit.
Top Drawer Soccer ranks the Tar Heels' 2018 recruiting class as the nation's third best, even with just five student-athletes in the class. USC has the No. 1-ranked recruiting class and Stanford has the No, 2-rated class.
Dickey is the daughter of Alex and Christa Dickey. She will be a two-sport athlete at Carolina, also playing basketball. Dickey was a member of the U18 and U20 National Women's Soccer Teams in 2016 and 2017. As a junior, she was an All-America and All-State soccer player at Charlotte Latin and the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Player of the Year. She also made All-State in soccer as a sophomore when she was a second-team All-America selection. She was named the Greater Charlotte Goalkeeper of the Year three straight years from 2015-17. She was also named All-State in soccer as a freshman in 2015. In her career at Charlotte Latin, she has played 3,276 minutes in goal, allowing just 16 goals and making 260 saves. Her career goals against average was .391.
Dorwart, the daughter of Chuck and Shannon Dorwart, graduated early from Cumberland Valley High School and enrolled at Carolina in January 2018. She played four years of high school soccer, but was limited to 50 games played as an attacking center midfielder due to national team commitments and injuries but nevertheless scored 76 goals and 36 assists in those 50 games. She set a school record with 47 goals as a sophomore. Dorwart was named an NSCAA high school All-America as a sophomore and junior and a three-year All-State selection. She was the 2016 Pennsylvania State Gatorade Player of the Year. She has been a member of the U.S. National Teams at the U14, U15, U17, U18 and U19 levels. She played her club soccer for Penn Fusion Soccer Academy.
Jones is the daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth Jones. She will graduate this spring from Collins Hill High School. Jones has been on U.S. youth national teams for four years and is currently a member of the U18 women's national team. As a junior in 2017, she was named Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year, Atlanta Journal Constitution Player of the Year and a USAA All-America. She was also 2017 NSCAA high school state player of the year and the 2017 Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Year. She broke Collins Hill's single season scoring record with 41 goals in 2017.
McCabe is the daughter of Elliott and Jennifer McCabe. She will graduate from Charlotte Latin School this spring where she has led her high school soccer team to 3A NCISAA state titles her freshman through junior seasons. She has played club soccer for Charlotte Soccer Academy on the ECNL level since age 13. At Charlotte Latin, she earned All-State, All-Region and All-Conference honors her freshman through junior years. With Charlotte Soccer Academy, she has been a team captain since the U16 level and led the team in scoring for each of the past four years. Through her junior year at Charlotte Latin, she has 185 career points on 74 goals and 37 assists, leading a team which has gone 54-3-8 in points three times and goals three times as well.
Pinto is a dynamic midfielder and the daughter of a pair of Tar Heel alumni and former student-athletes. Her father, Hassan, played soccer at Carolina, and her mother, Meleata, was a softball player. Both of her brothers play soccer, including Hassan, who starts at right back for Elon. She played her freshman year at Jordan High School and since has concentrated on her club and national team commitments. She was a member of CASL ECNL from 2014-17 and NTH Tophat Development Academy beginning in 2018. She has been a U14, U17, U19, U20 and U23 national team member already in her young career. She is the youngest player in the modern era to make a tournament roster for the senior women's national team at the March 2017 She Believes Cup. She competed for the 2016 US U20 CONCACAF and 2018 US U20 CONCACAF teams which qualified for the World Cups in both of those years. She was the 2015 Gatorade High School Player of the Year in N.C. as a freshman when she scored 24 goals and added eight assists for Jordan. She is ranked as the #1 midfielder in the Class of 2018 by Top Drawer Soccer.

DORRANCE EARNS 800TH WIN: On Sunday, October 9, 2016, the University of North Carolina women's soccer program achieved a pair of monumental milestones in program history - the program's 800th victory in its 900th game.
The North Carolina women's soccer program began as a varsity team in the 1979 season. The Tar Heels played the program's 900th game on October 9, 2016 when Carolina rallied past Wake Forest 2-1 at Fetzer Field.
In the process, head coach Anson Dorrance earned his 800th career victory as the head coach of the Tar Heels as the symmetry lined up perfectly.

FOLLOW CAROLINA WOMEN'S SOCCER ON TWITTER: Fans are able to follow Carolina women's soccer through Twitter updates at both @ncwomenssoccer (athletic communications office account) and @uncwomenssoccer (players and staff account). Fans can check during the week, in-game and post-game for live news, videos and links to all your favorite Carolina soccer news. Carolina's Twitter sites have now combined to total an amazing 40,500 followers, the most in college women's soccer. @uncwomenssoccer has over 23,000 followers while @ncwomenssoccer has over 17,500 followers.

JUST FOUR TIMES SINCE 1986: Carolina's 3-0 setback at USC on September 11, 2016 marked only the fourth loss for the Tar Heels by a margin of more than one goal since the 1985 season.
Carolina has played exactly 803 games since the end of the 1985 season, losing by more than one goal just four times.
That streak traces back to the opening game of the 1986 season against George Mason, a 3-3 tie.
After losing to George Mason 2-0 in the 1985 NCAA Tournament championship game, the Tar Heels went 25 years without losing a game by more than one goal before that streak ended in 2010.
Since 1986, UNC has only lost four games by more than one goal. Two of those four losses have come against Virginia. The Tar Heels fell to Notre Dame 4-1 on November 20, 2010, lost to Virginia 2-0 on October 20, 2013, was upended by Virginia 2-0 on November 7, 2014 and lost to USC 3-0 on September 11, 2016.

DID YOU KNOW...: North Carolina would have to lose its next 778 games in a row for head coach Anson Dorrance to have a .500 coaching winning percentage in his career at the helm of the Tar Heels.
UNC enters this Thursday's game against Wake Forest with an all-time record of 840-72-39. Dorrance has coached the Tar Heels in all 951 of their games.

THE ALL-TIME RECORD: UNC heads into its match against Wake Forest with a record of 840-72-39 overall, a winning percentage of .904. The Tar Heels have an all-time winning percentage of .899 in NCAA Tournament games, almost the exact same winning percentage in the most important games it plays every year.

AVERAGE RECORD PER YEAR: UNC's average record per year in its 40 years of soccer is 21.15 wins per year, 1.77 losses per year and 1.0 ties per year.

SHUTOUTS ARE INFREQUENT: UNC's 1-0 loss against Santa Clara on September 7, 2018 was only the 55th time the Tar Heels have been shut out in their history. Altogether, UNC has played 951 matches since 1979.
The Tar Heels have been blanked on the scoreboard in only 5.5 percent of the games they have played in during their history. Carolina has suffered 41 shutout losses in its history. The Tar Heels have also played 14 scoreless ties in their history history.
Only five times in UNC history have the Tar Heels been shutout in back-to-back games in the same season.
That happened against Portland and Florida in 2012, against Notre Dame and Florida State in 2013, against UCLA and Pepperdine in 2014, against Florida State and Duke in 2015 and against USC and NC State in 2016.

17 ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAS SINCE 2005: On November 26, 2013, UNC junior defender Caitlin Ball of Chapel Hill, N.C. was chosen as a first-team Academic All-America by Capital One and the College Sports Information Directors of America.
UNC has had 17 selections for the Capital One Academic All-America first, second and third teams since 2005.
Carolina also had seven women's soccer players named Academic All-Americas from 1983-2001, giving the program 24 selections since the Academic All-America program began in 1983. Academic All-Americas were chosen for women's soccer in an at-large pool from 1983-2004. In 2005, a specific women's soccer academic All-America Team was selected by Capital One and CoSIDA.
Following is a summary of the 24 selections since 1983.
•1983 - Lauren Gregg, third team.
•1985 - Beth Huber, second team.
•1993 - Shelley Finger, second team.
•1994 - Shelley Finger, first team.
•1998 - Cindy Parlow, first team.
•2000 - Lindsay Stoecker, second team.
•2001 - Kristin DePlatchett, first team.
•2005 - Heather O'Reilly, second team; Lindsay Tarpley, third team.
•2006 - Heather O'Reilly, first team (Academic All-America of the Year); Anna Rodenbough, second team; Yael Averbuch, third team.
•2007 - Yael Averbuch, second team; Anna Rodenbough, second team.
•2008 - Kristi Eveland, first team; Yael Averbuch, first team (Academic All-America of the Year); Anna Rodenbough, second team.
•2009 - Kristi Eveland, first team; Whitney Engen, second team; Ashlyn Harris, second team.
•2011 - Adelaide Gay, first team; Amber Brooks, second team.
•2012 - Amber Brooks, first team.
•2013 - Caitlin Ball, first team.

O'REILLY JUST SECOND TAR HEEL EVER INDUCTED IN CoSIDA ACADEMIC AMERICA HALL OF FAME: Four distinguished professionals, all standout collegiate scholar-athletes, were inducted as the newest members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® Hall of Fame. This year's class of inductees includes University of North Carolina women's soccer standout Heather O'Reilly (2003-06) who led Carolina to a pair of NCAA championships and was the CoSIDA Women's Soccer Academic All-America of the Year in her senior season in 2006.
Created in 1988, the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame recognizes former Academic All-Americas who received a college degree at least 10 years ago, have achieved lifetime success in their professional careers, and are committed to philanthropic causes.
This year's 2017 inductees into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame were:
• Heather O'Reilly, University of North Carolina women's soccer standout who helped UNC earn two NCAA titles and went on to international success with the U.S. National Team, winning three Olympic gold medals and a FIFA world championship;
• Dr. Stacey Johnson, a two-time national champion and four-time All-America fencer at San Jose State University and a 1980 U.S. Olympian;
• Rachel Price Bell, PhD, an All-America volleyball standout at the University of North Alabama who was twice selected as the top female student-athlete in the Gulf South Conference;
• Stephanie White, Purdue University women's basketball standout and the 1999 national Player of the Year when she led the Boilermakers to the 1999 NCAA championship who went on to star in the WNBA before turning to coaching professionally and at the collegiate level.
The four new inductees joined the prestigious 142-members Academic All-America® Hall of Fame this June. They were inducted into the Academic All-America® Hall of Fame at CoSIDA's annual convention in Orlando, Fla. on Sunday, June 11th during the organization's annual Hall of Fame Ceremony at the World Center Marriott. The CoSIDA convention was held in conjunction with the annual National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and Affiliates Convention for a fifth straight year.
O'Reilly became the second UNC student-athlete to be inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame, joining Tar Heel swimmer Sue Walsh, Class of 1984, who was inducted in 2002.
"In our 2017 Academic All-America Hall of Fame class, we recognize four women who made major contributions to their respective collegiate sports and who continue to make significant impact in their professional careers," said Andy Seeley, UCF Assistant Athletic Director for Communications and current CoSIDA president. "As undergraduates, they excelled at the highest levels in their respective sports while also being committed to obtaining extraordinary academic success."
The June 11th Hall of Fame induction ceremony featured ESPN's Rece Davis as emcee and legendary broadcaster Dick Enberg, the ambassador of the Academic All-America® program, as special guest and presenter. At that time, the 2016 Dick Enberg Award recipient, former Ole Miss chancellor Dr. Robert Khayat, was also recognized.
"We are so pleased to announce this year's Academic All-America Hall of Fame class. For so many of us involved with CoSIDA, this annual induction celebration has truly become a special evening honoring amazing individuals with wonderful and heartfelt stories of great accomplishment as both students, athletes and citizens within their communities," noted Bernie Cafarelli, American Athletic Conference Associate Commissioner for Communications/External Affairs and chair of the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame committee.
"Their stories have a lasting impact on those who attend the event each year. On behalf of the Academic All-America committee, we are proud to welcome another distinguished group into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame."
The biographical information on this year's Academic All-America® Hall of Fame induction class is listed below.
Heather O'Reilly – University of North Carolina, '07, Soccer
A 2015 World Cup champion as a midfielder for the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team. Three-time USA Olympic gold medalist (2004, 2008, 20012). Three-time World Cup medalist. Two-time NCAA national champion while starring for the University of North Carolina soccer program.
That is the illustrious resume of O'Reilly, who began her international soccer career at the early age of 17 in 2002. That year, Heather earned her first cap with the United States Women's National Team (WSWNT). In 2004, during her sophomore year at North Carolina, her soccer dreams became a reality when she was named the youngest member of the 2004 Olympic Team.
O'Reilly was an education major at UNC, where she played forward for the Tar Heels from 2003 through 2006. She appeared in 97 matches, scoring 59 goals and assisting on 49 others. She helped leAd the powerhouse UNC squad to national championships in 2003 and 2006. In her final three seasons, she was an All-America first-team selection, following her consensus national freshman of the year honor in 2003. A two-time Academic All-America in 2005 (second team) and 2006 (first team), O'Reilly was awarded a distinctive NCAA Today's Top VIII Award following her senior year. In 2006, O'Reilly's No. 20 jersey was retired by the UNC program,
O'Reilly is one of the world's most capped soccer stars with over 200 international appearances to her name. She is also the eighth most capped player in USWNT history.
In September of 2016, O'Reilly announced her retirement from the Women's National Team after 15 years, and retired on September 15 after a friendly match against Thailand, held in Columbus, Ohio.
She signed with the Arsenal Ladies Football Club in London on January 18th, 2017. O'Reilly previously played professionally for FC Kansas City and Boston Breakers of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Sky Blue FC of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS).

TAR HEELS IN THE ACC: Parity arrived in the Atlantic Coast Conference many years ago and yet the Tar Heels have lost only 26 ACC regular-season games since league play began in 1987.
The Tar Heels are 208-26-11 all-time in ACC regular-season matches. The Tar Heels earned their 200th all-time ACC regular season victory on September 14 when they won at Florida State 1-0.
UNC has averaged just 0.8 ACC regular-season losses a year in the 32 years of league play.
In the middle of the 2015 season, the Tar Heels had a three-match ACC regular-season losing streak, the first time that has happened in history.
Prior to that streak, UNC had fallen in back-to-back ACC games just four times in history.
The four occasions were September 18, 2013 home versus Notre Dame (0-1) and September 21, 2013 at Florida State (0-1); October 23, 2011 at Virginia Tech (0-1) and October 27, 2011 at Maryland (1-2 in overtime); October 22, 2009 at Florida State (2-3 in two overtimes) and October 25, 2009 at Miami (0-1); October 17, 2000 at Florida State (2-3 in double overtime) and October 27, 2000 at Wake Forest (0-1).
Remarkably, in four of the past nine seasons, UNC had a losing record in ACC play at one point in the campaign. The Tar Heels started the 2010 season 0-1 in the ACC, the 2012 season 1-2-1 in the ACC, the 2013 season 1-2 in the ACC and the 2016 season 0-1 in the ACC. The only other time in history when UNC had a losing record in ACC regular-season play in its history was 2002 when the Tar Heels lost their season opener to NC State.

A RARE HOME LOSS FOR CAROLINA: Carolina's 2-1 loss against Princceton at WakeMed Soccer Park on November 19, 2018 was just the 28th home loss in Carolina history and just the third home loss in the last three seasons combined (2015-17). Carolina went 8-1 at home in 2015 and was 10-1 at home in 2016 after ending with a 1-0 win over Clemson on November 20, 2016. Carolina was 6-1-2 at home in 2017.

IN THE ACC REGULAR SEASON: In its last 51 ACC regular season games, UNC is 41-5-5, a winning percentage of 85.3 percent.
The Tar Heels had a 17-game ACC unbeaten streak ended at Louisville on October 8, 2015 that had stretched from late in the 2013 season.
The Tar Heels won their last three ACC games of the 2013 season, went 9-0-1 in 2014 and finished 7-3 in the conference in 2015. UNC was 6-2-2 in the league the following year and finished 8-0-2 in 2017.
Prior to falling at Louisville in 2015, Carolina's last ACC regular season loss had come on October 20, 2013 when Virginia beat the Tar Heels 2-0 at Fetzer Field.
Carolina's three ACC regular season losses in 2015, however, were not a first. UNC fell three times in ACC play in 2000, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In three of those five seasons UNC ended up winning the NCAA championship (2000, 2009, 2012).
Nevertheless, 41 wins, just five losses and five ties in UNC's last 51 regular season ACC games is a remarkable accomplishment given the parity in the league at this point.

RALLYING FROM A TWO-GOAL DEFICIT: North Carolina rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to defeat Notre Dame on September 20, 2014 in South Bend, Ind.
The Tar Heels came back from a two-goal deficit to win for the first time since September 1, 2006 when UNC trailed Connecticut 2-0 at halftime but rallied to win 3-2 in regulation at New Haven, Conn.
Carolina has played 951 matches in its history. There have been only 24 games in that time in which the Tar Heels have ever trailed by more than a single goal in a game. That's 2.5 percent of the matches Carolina has played in history.
The Notre Dame comeback marked the fifth time UNC has rallied from two goals down to win. The Tar Heels have accomplished the feat against Santa Clara in 1993, Duke in 1999, NC State in 2003, Connecticut in 2006 and Notre Dame in 2014.

TAR HEELS IN ACC OPENERS: North Carolina lost to NC State 1-0 in its ACC opener for the 2016 season on September 16, 2016. It was only the fourth loss in an ACC opener for the Tar Heels in their history.
Carolina won its 2017 ACC opener 1-0 at Florida State and again won its 2018 ACC opener against Florida State with another 1-0 win in Tallahassee. The Tar Heels are 26-4-1 overall in conference openers after winning at Florida State on September 14.
Carolina's losses in ACC openers came at home against NC State 1-0 on September 16, 2016, at Maryland 2-1 on September 13, 2012, against Boston College in Chapel Hill 3-2 on September 23, 2010 and at NC State 2-1 on September 10, 2002. UNC also tied its ACC opener at NC State 1-1 on September 20, 1988.

TAR HEELS IN THE CAROLINA NIKE CLASSIC: On the opening weekend of the 2018 season, Carolina swept a pair of games in the Carolina Nike Classic as the Tar Heels beat Illinois 3-1 and Ohio State 2-0.
UNC has now hosted a version of the Carolina Nike Classic, under the current name or the names of other title sponsors, since the initial event in 1980 a total of 27 times.
Carolina has a 49-3-2 record in its early season tournaments at home. The only losses were to Penn State in 1999, Notre Dame in 2008 and Stanford in 2014 with ties against Stanford in 2010 and Florida in 2012.
Carolina played a single game to open the 2017 weekend against Duke in Cary, N.C. but it was not part of a formal Nike Classic.

CAROLINA IN SEASON OPENERS: Carolina has a record of 33-5-2 all-time in season openers after beating Illinois 3-1 in overtime on August 16. The only losses were in 1983 vs. Connecticut (road), 2006 vs.Texas A&M (road), 2007 vs. South Carolina (home), 2012 vs. Portland (road) and 2014 vs. Stanford (home) and there were ties in 1985 vs. George Mason (home) and 2002 vs. Nebraska (road).

UNC IN HOME OPENERS: North Carolina has a record of 35-2-3 in home openers all-time after beating Illinois 3-1 on August 16.
The only losses came to South Carolina 1-0 in 2007 and to Stanford 1-0 in overtime in 2014 and the ties were against George Mason in 1985, against Stanford in 2010 and against Florida in 2012.