Tar Heels Battle Cougars In NCAA Semifinals Friday Night

Friday, December 6

San Jose, Calif.

7 p.m.

North Carolina

Washington State

Photo by: UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATION

December 2, 2019 | Women's Soccer

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UNC and Washington State meet Friday at 7 p.m. EST

By: Dave Lohse

TAR HEELS HEAD TO SAN JOSE FOR NCAA COLLEGE CUP:   After defeating ninth-ranked Southern California 3-2 last Friday night in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal round, the North Carolina women's soccer program has earned the right to advance to the NCAA Women's College Cup for the 29th time in school history.
The Tar Heels, 23-1-1 on the season and the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament champions, will play the Washington State Cougars this coming Friday at 4 p.m. PST (7 p.m. EST) in the NCAA Tournament semifinals at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif. The Cougars are 16-6-1 on the season and they advanced to the semifinals after beating Memphis, #1 seed Virginia, West Virginia and #2 seed South Carolina in previous rounds of the tournament.
The Tar Heels are the #1 seeds in the lower round quadrant of the 64-team NCAA Tournament bracket.
UNC has advanced to the NCAA semifinals with wins over Belmont 5-0, Colorado 1-0, Michigan 4-0 and Southern California 3-2.
The second NCAA semifinal game Friday at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif. Friday will feature UCLA versus Stanford in a battle of Pac 12 Conference foes. That game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PST (9:30 p.m. EST).
Both semifinal games will be televised nationally on ESPNU as will the national championship game which is slated for Sunday night at 5:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. EST). Jenn Hildreth will be the play by play announcer and Julie Foudy will handle the color commentator.

CAROLINA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Carolina is the only school in the country that has played in all 38 NCAA Tournaments. In those 38 tournaments, UNC has an all-time record of 135-14-4. That is an amazing winning percentage of 89.5 percent. Carolina has won 21 NCAA Tournaments, finished second four times and placed third on three occasions.
Friday's game will mark the 29th NCAA semifinal appearance for North Carolina all-time. UNC is 25-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament semifinal games, including a 1-0 double overtime victory over Georgetown in the NCAA semifinals in Cary, N.C.
Carolina has advanced to the NCAA championship game a total of 25 times and it has a 21-4 record in NCAA title games.
After the win over USC in the 2019 quarterfinals, UNC is a rather astounding 28-1-2 all-time in NCAA quarterfinal matches. It's only loss in a quarterfinal match came against UCLA in 2013 by a 1-0 score in double overtime at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill. The only other time UNC failed to get through a quarterfinal game was 2005 when the Tar Heels fell to Florida State 5-4 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie against the Seminoles at Fetzer Field. Last year, UNC and UCLA played to a 2-2 double overtime result in the quarterfinals before the Tar Heels prevailed 4-2 on penalty kicks to advance to the NCAA semifinals.

THREE TAR HEELS NAMED MAC HERMANN TROPHY SEMIFINALISTS TUESDAY: United Soccer Coaches and the Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) have announced the 15 women's semifinalists for the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy, based on voting by NCAA Division I women's soccer coaches. The 15 semifinalists were announced on Tuesday, November 26.
Three members of the University of North Carolina's ACC champion and NCAA quarterfinalist women's soccer team have been named semifinalists for the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy. UNC's semifinalists are junior midfielder Emily Fox of Ashburn, Va., sophomore midfielder Brianna Pinto of Durham, N.C. and junior forward Alessia Russo of Kent, England.
Other semifinalists are junior forward Amirah Ali of Rutgers, junior defender Malia Berkley of Florida State, junior midfielder Mikayla Collohan of BYU, junior forward Kirtsen Davis of Texas Tech, senior defender Grace Fisk of South Carolina, senior forward Elise Flake of BYU, senior midfielder Jessie Fleming of UCLA, sophomore defender Naomi Girma of Stanford, junior midfielder Catarina Macario of Stanford, senior defender Stasia Mallin of Memphis, junior forward Tara McKeown of Southern California and senior forward Ally Watt of Texas A&M..
The MAC Hermann Trophy, presented by World Wide Technology, is the most coveted individual honor in NCAA Division I soccer and has been awarded annually since 1967. Three finalists will be named for the award on Friday, Dec. 6 in conjunction with the Women's College Cup in San Jose, Calif. The 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy banquet will be held at the historic Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Jan. 3, 2020 to formally announce this year's winners.

THREE TAR HEELS HEADED TO U.S. NATIONAL TRAINING CAMP IN DECEMBER: U.S. Women's National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has named a 24-player roster for an Identification Camp that will take place from Dec. 9-14 in Bradenton, Florida and will complete the year of activity for the USWNT. The 24-player roster was named on Wednesday, November 27 and it includes 10 current collegiate players. The three Tar Heels named to the roster are freshman defender Maycee Bell, junior defender Emily Fox and sophomore midfielder Brianna Pinto.
Andonovski's second training camp roster – he officially came on board on Oct. 28 – will not include any players from the USA's 2019 World Cup Team, all of whom are on a well-deserved end-of-year break. This event is being staged to evaluate younger players from the college game and those who have performed well in the National Women's Soccer League or in pro leagues abroad, with the goal of deepening the player pool and positioning players for possible future call-ups to events in 2020.

THE BASICS: North Carolina heads into Friday's game with an overall record of 23-1-1 and the Tar Heels finished the ACC regular season with a record of 9-0-1. The Tar Heels earned an automatic bid by winning the ACC Tournament.
North Carolina is ranked first this week by Top Drawer Soccer, second by the United Soccer Coaches, second by Soccer America and the Tar Heels currently stand second in the NCAA RPI.
Washington State has advanced to the NCAA semifinals as an unseeded and unranked team. The Cougars are 16-6-1 overall and they earned an at-large bid from Pac 12 Conference.

PINTO NAMED U.S. SOCCER AWARD FINALIST: U.S. Soccer has announced the nominees for the 2019 Young Female Player of the Year Award. UNC sophomore midfielder Brianna Pinto of Durham, N.C. is one of the five finalists for the award.
Voting for the candidates began November 27 and close on December 6 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Four Tar Heels have previously won the award. The list includes Lindsay Tarpley in 2002, Heather O'Reilly in 2004, Lori Chalupny in 2005 and Tobin Heath in 2009.

CAROLINA'S 23-WIN SEASON: North Carolina won its 23rd game of the 2019 season when it defeated USC 3-2 last Friday. That is the most wins in a season for a UNC team since the 2009 squad finished 23-3-1. The last UNC team to win more than 23 games was the 2008 squad which finished 25-1-2.

CAROLINA IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT: After a 2-1 championship game win over Virginia on Sunday, November 10 , the Tar Heels are now 69-6-5 overall in the history of the tournament which started in 1988. The Tar Heels have now won 22 ACC Tournament championships.
Carolina is 21-2 in ACC Tournament quarterfinal matches. North Carolina is 25-3-2 all-time in ACC Tournament semifinal matches.
The Tar Heels have reached 26 ACC Tournament finals and lost once in regulation (FSU in 2018) and fell on penalties to NC State in 1988, Virginia in 2004 and Florida State in 2016.
Carolina's title this year was its second in three years. Carolina also won in 2017 with a championship game win over Duke 1-0.

THE SERIES WITH USC: The Tar Heels are 3-1 all-time against USC. This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams in Chapel Hill.
The Tar Heels defeated USC in regular-season tournaments at Duke in 1999 and 2015 and in a regular-season tournament at Nebraska in 2002.
In the last meeting in the 2016 regular season, USC routed the Tar Heels 3-0 in Los Angeles.

TAR HEELS CLINCH ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP: With a 2-0 victory over Virginia Tech on October 27, the Tar Heels clinched their 23rd overall Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship in school history. UNC has won outright titles on 22 occasions and shared one championship.
It was the fourth regular season ACC championship of the decade for Carolina. It also won titles in 2010 and 2018 and shared the title with Florida State in 2014.
The back-to-back regular season titles are the first since UNC won eight straight regular-season championships from 2001-08.
In 33 years of ACC regular-season play, Carolina has finished first 23 times, second six times, third three times and fourth one time.

CONGRATULATIONS NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE: For the second successive year the North Carolina Courage, featuring a host of former University of North Carolina players, has won the championship of the National Women's Soccer League.
The Cary, N.C.-based Courage defeated Reign FC 4-0 last Sunday to win the title at Sahlen's Stadium in Cary, N.C. A year ago, the Courage defeated homestanding Portland Thorns FC 3-0 in the championship game.
Four former Tar Heel players are current members of the North Carolina Courage - starters Jessica McDonald, Crystal Dunn and Heather O'Reilly as well as reserve goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak. Former UNC assistant coach Bill Palladino is a member of the NC Courage coaching staff. McDonald and Dunn both scored last Sunday in the championship game victory over Reign FC.
McDonald, Dunn and O'Reilly were all members of the 2018 North Carolina Courage team which beat the homestanding Portland Thorns 3-0 in last year's title game.

SALUTING OUR SENIORS: North Carolina's match against Virginia Tech on October 27 marked Senior Day for six Tar Heel seniors, marking their final regular-season home game of their Tar Heel careers at Dorrance Field.
The UNC senior class includes Bridgette Andrzejewski, Morgan Goff, Ru Mucherera, Zoe Redei and Madison Schultz. Former player Kasey Parker, who retired last year due to injury and is now a team manager, was also honored.

CAROLINA SOCCER KICKS CHILDHOOD CANCER: The University of North Carolina men's and women's soccer teams joined forces in September to raise money to support the UNC Lineberger pediatric hematology/oncology clinic. The Carolina Soccer Kicks Childhood Cancer fundraising campaign culminated with the women's game vs. NC State on September 26 dedicated to pediatric cancer and a check presentation at the men's game vs. Duke on September 27.
Anyone still interested in supporting this incredible fundraising effort can visit give.classy.org/uncsoccerkickscancer to donate. Funds are still being raised. Each member of the men's and women's soccer teams had an individual fundraising page with an initial overall goal of raising more than $10,000 to support UNC Lineberger. The campaign raised $14,062 all told.
The funds raised will be used to help patients and their families with non-medical needs like parking and gas cards. They will also support the child-life specialists who work with families to provide services such as:
• Preparation and support before, during and after medical procedures
• Pain-management techniques
• Medical and recreational play
• Kid-friendly explanation of medical terminology
• Education on coping skills
• Assisting patients on returning to school
For more information, contact Elizabeth Rubio at UNC Lineberger (elizabeth_rubio@med.unc.edu) or Korie Sawyer Rich at UNC Athletics (kcsawyer@unc.edu).
Twelve current and former UNC Lineberger patients served as honorary captains for the Tar Heel team at last Thursday night's game against NCSU. Several members of the group accompanied the Tar Heel starting lineup to midfield for Thursday's pregame introductions.

DORRANCE FIELD DEDICATION SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED SEPTEMBER 29: The University of North Carolina named the field in its new soccer and lacrosse stadium for Anson Dorrance, the 22-time national championship-winning head coach of the UNC women's soccer program. The field, which will be known as Dorrance Field, was officially dedicated on Sunday, Sept. 29, prior to Carolina's game against Notre Dame.
"It's truly something special to see my family's name enshrined as part of this beautiful new facility," said Dorrance. "This honor is a tribute not only to myself and my loved ones but also all the women and men who played for me over the past 42 years. It honors my staff as well and all those who have contributed to both of our soccer programs being world-class, national champion entities. I am humbled by this tribute, especially so coming from my beloved alma mater. To see this unique, one-of-a-kind stadium come to fruition is so heartwarming as it sets up the future for generations to come for four of our university's national championship sports."
"From the team's inception, Anson has built a true dynasty for women's soccer at Carolina," said interim chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz. "Not only is he a world-renowned coach, he is a lifelong mentor and role model to our student athletes who cares deeply for both their academic and athletic success. Anson is a Tar Heel legend who inspires us every day with his wisdom, determination and generous spirit."
Now in his 43rd year of service to the UNC soccer programs, Dorrance debuted as the Carolina men's soccer coach in 1977 and added duties as head coach and founder of the women's program in 1979. A 1974 graduate of UNC and a three-time All-ACC player under Dr. Marvin Allen, Dorrance won 172 games in 12 years as the head men's coach before moving solely to the women's program in 1989.
Since naming Dorrance the women's head coach in 1979, Carolina has an 870-75-41 record and advanced to the College Cup on 29 occasions. UNC's 21 NCAA crowns are more than any other women's NCAA Division I sports program in history and, with the 1981 AIAW national title, the 22 overall national championships are more than any single sports program in ACC history, men's or women's.
Nineteen different Tar Heels have won national player of the year honors under Dorrance's direction, a list that includes some of the greatest players ever to play the game. He is a seven-time national coach of the year, an 11-time ACC coach of the year and a member of numerous halls of fame, including the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
In addition to his dominance at the collegiate level, Dorrance has had fantastic success on the international stage. After taking the role as head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team just a year into its existence in 1986, Dorrance quickly built the team into one of the best in the world. That work culminated five years later as a United States team with nine of its 18 players coming from UNC beat Norway 2-1 to capture the inaugural Women's World Cup title. In total, an incredible 59 former Tar Heels have earned international caps with the U.S. Women's National Team.
The dedication of Dorrance Field marks the third such honor for an active Carolina head coach in the last 15 months. Last July, men's basketball coach Roy Williams, who has led the Tar Heels to three national titles, was honored by having the court in the Dean Smith Center bear his name. Last September, seven-time NCAA champion head field hockey coach Karen Shelton had her name added to the program's new facility.
"Anson is the architect of one of the greatest sports dynasties in history, and his team values of character development, academic growth and athletic success have created phenomenal leaders who continue to share those ideals all over the world," UNC director of athletics Bubba Cunningham said. "His career is an inspiration to everyone at Carolina and motivates all of us to continue striving for greatness. This honor is richly deserved and we are proud that his name will forever be synonymous with Carolina soccer."

BELL & DORRANCE WIN MAJOR ACC AWARDS; SIX NAMED TO ALL-ACC TEAMS: Six members of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season champion University of North Carolina women's soccer team have been named to the All-ACC teams announced November 7 by the league office.
Three Tar Heels were named first-team All-ACC, two were chosen second-team All-ACC, one was tapped as third-team All-ACC and two Tar Heels were chosen for the ACC All-Freshman Team.
North Carolina head coach Anson Dorrance was selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year for the 12th time in his career. He has won the award in 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2018 and 2019.
Freshman defender Maycee Bell of Wichita, Kan., was selected as the ACC Freshman of the Year, the third time in the last four years and fourth time in the last six years the freshman of the year has been a Tar Heel. Recent winners include midfielder Megan Buckingham in 2014, midfielder Bridgette Andrzejewski in 2016 and forward Alessia Russo in 2017.
This year's All-ACC first-team selections include junior forward Alessia Russo of Kent, England, junior defender Emily Fox of Ashburn, Va., and sophomore midfielder Brianna Pinto of Durham, N.C. Russo was tapped as first-team All-ACC for the third straight year while both Fox and Pinto made the first team for a second successive season. Fox was an All-ACC third-teamer as a freshman in 2017.
A pair of Tar Heel defenders – freshman Maycee Bell of Wichita, Kan., and junior Lotte Wubben-Moy of London, England, were named to the All-ACC second team. That was the first All-ACC honors of their careers. Junior midfielder Tyler Otto was named third-team All-ACC. The Apex, N.C., native was a third-team selection in 2017 and a first-team honoree in 2018.
Carolina's ACC All-Freshman honorees include defender Maycee Bell and forward Isabel Cox of Greensboro, N.C.

2019 VICTORY SUMMARIES

CAROLINA EDGES TROJANS TO ADVANCE TO NCAA COLLEGE CUP:    Maycee Bell's goal with 21:55 to play in the second half proved to be the game winner as the second-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team downed ninth-ranked Southern California 3-2 Friday evening and in the process earned UNC's 29th appearance in the NCAA College Cup in the 38-year history of the tournament. Carolina improved to 23-1-1 on the campaign and will play Washington State next Friday in the NCAA semifinals at 7 p.m. EST at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif. The Cougars advanced to the NCAA semifinals by defeating South Carolina 1-0 in overtime Friday in Columbia, S.C. in another NCAA quarterfinal game.
It was a rollercoaster of emotions for both teams Friday night before a crowd of 2,655 fans at Dorrance Field. UNC conceded a goal at home for the first time in Dorrance Field history as Carolina had issued clean sheets towards its opponent in the first 12 home games of the season. Carolina gave up a goal in the opening 17 minutes, rallied to score twice, but saw USC even the match in the 62nd minute. Eventually Bell's goal at 68:05 unknotted the affair and sent Carolina to another NCAA semifinal.
USC, making its third ever appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals, ended its 2019 campaign with a record of 17-5-1.
The Tar Heels outshot the Trojans 22-15, including a 12-4 margin in the first half. The second half proved to be more of an end-to-end wild affair with the Trojans recording 11 shots in the final 45 minutes and the Tar Heels 10. UNC ended with a 8-3 edge in corner kicks.   Both teams ended with seven shots on goal.
Claudia Dickey went all 90 minutes in goal for Carolina, making five saves, one short of her career high of six set earlier this season against Florida State. Kaylie Collins went all 90 minutes in goal for USC, making three saves and allowing three goals.
The Trojans opened the scoring Friday night on a counter attack goal by Penelope Hocking at 16:52 of the match. It was Hocking's 18th goal of the season. Jalen Woodward served a ball forward from the midfield to Tara McKeown who threaded a ball perfectly through the Tar Heel back line to the foot of Hocking who finished from 15 yards out in the left side of the penalty area.
Carolina equaled the match at 38:45 on a goal by junior midfielder Emily Fox, her second career tally. Fox pounced on a ball in the midfield and evaded five USC players on her run into the box, finishing inside the right post past Collins from about 15 yards out.
The Tar Heels scored a spectacular goal to take the lead at 54:48 as Brianna Pinto scored her 11th goal of the season on a header right on the doorstep. Taylor Otto set up the scoring sequence with a brilliant service from the right side that found the head of Bridgette Andrzejewski inside the box just beyond the far post. Andrzejewski headed the ball to the center of the box for the in-close put away by Pinto. The goal put Carolina up 2-1. Otto earned her second assist of the season on the play while Andrzejewski added her eighth assist.
Carolina's lead was short-lived however as USC showed its resiliency, scoring at 61:28 to deadlock the game at 2-2. Penelope Hocking took a shot at the top of the box that Dickey parried off the cross bar. The ball fell to Woodward who redirected it to the goal mouth where Natalie Jacobs finished from close range to even things at two apiece. It was Jacobs' fourth goal of the season.
The Tar Heels would retake the lead for good at 68:05 on Bell's third goal of the season. Carolina earned a free kick on a foul by USC about 30 yards from goal. The English international came up big as she has all season, delivering a ball expertly to the head of Bell who slashed behind the USC line and headed it deftly into the lower left corner of the frame for the eventual game-winning tally.
The Tar Heels and the WSU Cougars will meet in the NCAA semifinals at Avaya Stadium next Friday at 7 p.m. EST on ESPNU. The second semifinal game will pit UCLA against Stanford at 9:30 p.m. EST, also on ESPNU. The national championship game will be played on Sunday, December 8 in San Jose on ESPNU at 8:30 p.m. EST.

GAME NOTES
• Carolina improved to 135-14-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels are now 28-1-2 all-time in NCAA quarterfinal games.
• This will mark UNC's 29th appearance in the NCAA College Cup since the first tournament was played in 1982.
• Claudia Dickey's five saves were the second highest total of her career, behind the six she had against Florida State on October 24, 2019.
• Brianna Pinto scored her 11th goal of the season and she now leads Carolina in points with 28.
• Bridgette Andrzejewski ran her season total for assists to eight and Lotte Wubben-Moy recorded her seventh assist of the campaign.
• UNC improved to 4-1 all-time against the Trojans.
• UNC's meeting with Washington State will mark the second time the two teams have played in history. Carolina won 4-0 on August 29, 2003 in Seattle, Wash., in the previous meeting.

TAR HEELS DOWN MICHIGAN TO ADVANCE TO NCAA QUARTERFINALS:    Isabel Cox had the first two-goal game of her career and Alessia Russo and Emily Fox each recorded a pair of assists as the second-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team defeated 19th-ranked Michigan 4-0 on November 24 in the NCAA Tournament third round before 3,672 fans at Dorrance Field.
With the victory, Carolina improved to 22-1-1 on the season and has advanced to its 31st NCAA Tournament quarterfinal in the 38-year history of the championship. Carolina is 27-1-2 in its previous 30 NCAA quarterfinal appearances. Michigan saw its season end with a record of 17-6-1.
UNC will host an NCAA quarterfinal game Friday versus Southern California at 6 p.m. at Dorrance Field.
The Tar Heels opened the scoring against the Wolverines in just the sixth minute of play as Isabel Cox scored her fourth goal of the season off assists by Alessia Russo and Emily Fox. A through ball by Fox launched a counter attack and Russo served a brilliant ball to Cox in stride for a right-footed finish from inside the box about 16 yards out. The goal came at 5:56 of the game.
Carolina added to its lead at 35:07 on the sixth goal of the season by defender Lotte Wubben-Moy. After striker Madison Schultz was taken down in the penalty box, Wubben-Moy sent the penalty kick attempt to the left side of the frame but goalkeeper Hillary Beall was there to parry it away. The rebound went to Wubben-Moy who trapped it with her right foot and sent the ensuing shot into the right side of the frame with her left foot. That goal gave the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead at intermission. It was Wubben-Moy's sixth goal of the season.
UNC again struck in the early stages of the second half as Cox scored her second goal of the game and fifth of the season. Brianna Pinto won a ball in the midfield, volleying it on to Russo who headed her pass directly into the path of Cox who motored into the left side of the box, slotting her shot to the far post for a 3-0 lead at 50:01.
Carolina finished the scoring at 66:24 on Zoe Redei's fourth goal of the season. Fox earned her second assist of the day, sending a ball to Alexis Strickland on the right wing. Strickland's cross expertly found the head of Redei in the right side of the penalty area and her header from in close went past Beall inside the near post.
Carolina outshot the Wolverines 19-7 in the game. Beall went all 90 minutes for Michigan in goal, making eight saves and allowing four goals. Claudia Dickey went all 90 minutes for UNC, making four saves.
GAME NOTES
• Isabel Cox had the first multi-goal game of her freshman season.
• Alessia Russo had the first multi-assist game of her career.
• Emily Fox now has 11 assists on the season which leads Carolina and is three more than Lois Joel's eight.
• Carolina has now shutout 19 opponents in 24 matches this season and has not allowed a goal this season at Dorrance Field in 12 home games.
• The Tar Heels are now 134-14-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Carolina reached the final eight with the win for a 31st time.
• The meeting between UNC and Michigan was the first in program history.

TAR HEELS OUTLAST COLORADO IN NCAA SECOND ROUND: Alessia Russo's goal in the 48th minute was the difference as the second-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team defeated Colorado 1-0 Friday night in the NCAA Tournament second round. A Dorrance Field record crowd of 4,235 was on hand to watch the Tar Heels move on to the third round where they will face Michigan at 1 p.m. Sunday in Chapel Hill.
Russo's goal was her 12th of the season and the sixth goal in the last four games as she has caught fire in the postseason for Carolina. UNC is now 21-1-1 on the campaign while the Buffaloes finished their season at 12-8-2. The shutout was UNC's 18th this season in 23 games.
The script was familiar for the two squads as they have met each other three times in the NCAA second round since 2014. The Tar Heels have won each of those matches 1-0, including an overtime win in 2014 and a 1-0 victory on a Bridgette Andrzejewski goal in 2017 when the Tar Heels played their home games in Cary, N.C.
The Tar Heels dominated the game statistically but found it difficult to get the ball past Colorado goalkeeper Jalen Tompkins who made multiple spectacular saves. She finished with nine stops overall. UNC outshot the Buffaloes 20-5 in the match, registering 10 shots in each half. Claudia Dickey played the whole game in goal for the Tar Heels and was forced to make one save. UNC led in corner kicks 7-0 and committed an out-of-character 14 fouls compared to just six for the Buffaloes.
The lone goal of the match came at 47:54 when Russo finished with authority from outside the box for her 12th goal of the campaign. Bridgette Andrzejewski chased down a loose ball in the left corner of the pitch and sent it into the box where Brianna Pinto controlled it and tapped it back to Russo who rocketed the shot past Tompkins on a low line drive into the lower left corner of the frame.
Dorrance Field will open at 12 p.m. for ticket sales on Sunday prior to the UNC-Michigan start time. Courtesy of ticket purchases by UNC Women's Soccer, all Carolina students showing a valid UNC One Card will be admitted free of charge to Sunday's match. For the general public, reserved seats are $10, general admission seats are $5 and senior citizens and students (other than UNC) are $3.
GAME NOTES
• UNC has matched last season's win total with 21 victories.
• The last time Carolina won more than 21 games in a season was 2009 with 23 triumphs.
• Alessia Russo notched her 12th goal of the season. She also leads UNC in game-winning goals with six this season.
• Russo, a three-time first-team All-ACC selection, now has 27 career goals and 16 career game-winning goals. Fifty-nine percent of Russo's career goals have been game-winning tallies.
• Brianna Pinto and Alessia Russo share the team lead in points with 25 each.
• Bridgette Andrzejewski now has seven assists, third on the team behind Emily Fox with nine and Lois Joel with eight.
• Carolina has 18 clean sheets this season, the most since the 2009 team had 19 shutouts.
• The Tar Heels are now 6-0 all-time against Colorado.
• UNC and Michigan will face each off for the first time on the women's soccer pitch Sunday.

CAROLINA BLANKS BELMONT IN NCAA FIRST ROUND: The second-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team was powered by a pair of goals by Alessia Russo and a goal and two assists by Emily Fox in downing the Belmont Bruins 5-0 in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament at Dorrance Field. A crowd of 1,076 fans was on hand in frigid conditions to watch the Tar Heels advance in its opening NCAA Tournament game for the 38th straight year.
UNC will now host a pair of second round NCAA Tournament games next Friday with Texas Tech playing Michigan in the first game at 3 p.m. and North Carolina facing Colorado in the second game at 6 p.m.. The winners of the two second round games on Friday will play in the NCAA third round next Sunday at Dorrance Field at 1 p.m.
Carolina outshot the Bruins 44-0 in the game and had a 9-0 edge in corner kicks. The 44 shots tied the NCAA record for shots in a tournament game, matching the 44 shots by Oklahoma State in a 9-1 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on November 11, 2011. Lily Herman made 12 saves for Belmont Saturday, giving her 131 this season and establishing a new Belmont school record for stops in a single campaign.
The Tar Heels scored three goals midway through the first half in a span of just 6:27 to break the game open. Alessia Russo finished from close range at the 21:06 mark off assists by Isabel Cox and Bridgette Andrzejewski to put UNC up 1-0. It was Russo's 10th goal of the campaign.
Just 1:40 later, Carolina went up 2-0 as Andrzejewski scored her sixth goal of the season on a header in the box off a long cross by Emily Fox from the right side. It was Andrzejewski's first goal since scoring against Clemson on October 5. Then at 27:33, it was Fox's turn to find the back of the net as she dribbled through the Belmont defense and finished with a blast from the top of the box. It was Fox's first career goal.
UNC added two more goals in the second half. Russo notched her 11th goal of the campaign and her fifth goal in the last three games, turning in the box for a left-footed finish off assists by Emily Fox and Lois Joel. That goal came at 53:48. Carolina finished up the scoring right at the 63-minute mark as Ru Mucherera finished from close range in the left side of the box. After a scramble for the ball, Zoe Redei back heeled a pass to Mucherera through a couple of defenders for the put away.
UNC improved to 20-1-1 on the season with the win. Belmont, the champion of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, finished the year with a record of 8-9-5.
GAME NOTES
• Russo's two goals give her 11 on the season. That is a career high for goals in a season. She had nine in her freshman year in 2017.
• Emily Fox's two assists give her a team-leading nine helpers this year. She has 17 assists in her career. Fox's goal in the 28th minute was the first of her career.
• Lois Joel recorded her eighth assist, one behind the team lead held by Fox.
• Russo now leads the Tar Heels in goals this season with 11, one more than Brianna Pinto. Pinto leads Carolina in points with 24 and Russo is second on the squad with 23.
• Ru Mucherera now has five goals on the season. She has two more goals this season than she did in her first three years combined.
• Bridgette Andrzejewski now has six goals and six assists this season for 18 points. Her 18 points are the third highest total on the team.
• UNC's defense held Belmont without a shot. The last team be held without a shot by Carolina was High Point on November 11, 2017.
• The Tar Heels took 44 shots, equaling the most in a game in NCAA Tournament history. Oklahoma State took 44 shots against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on November 11, 2011.
• Carolina improved to 132-14-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
• UNC reached the 20-win plateau for the second straight year. Carolina has won 20 or more games in a season 28 times in its 41-year history.
• Saturday's meeting was the first ever between UNC and Belmont.
• UNC's previous mark for shots taken in an NCAA Tournament game was 43 against Hartford in 1989.

RUSSO'S OVERTIME GOAL LIFTS TAR HEELS TO ACC TITLE: Tournament Most Valuable Player Alessia Russo scored the game-winning goal 1:48 into the second overtime period to lift third-ranked North Carolina to a 2-1 victory over top-ranked Virginia Sunday afternoon in the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game at Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Tar Heels won the 22nd ACC Tournament championship in their history before a crowd of 2,942 fans and a national TV audience on ESPNU.
The Tar Heels improved to 19-1-1 on the season with the victory over the Cavaliers while Virginia dropped its first match of the season and is now 16-1-3 on the campaign. Carolina was playing in its fourth successive ACC Tournament final, having also won in 2017 while finishing as the runner-up in 2016 and 2018. The appearance in the final was Virginia's first since the 2015 season.
Emily Fox set up Russo's game-winning goal at 101:48 by sending a ball over the top from the right side of the field just over the midfield line. Russo took the ball in stride, dribbled just inside the box and set a low shot from 16 yards out into the lower left side of the frame for the game-winner. It was her ninth goal of the season and in the process she took over the team lead in game-winning goals with four.
Russo was named the tournament MVP after scoring twice in the ACC semifinal versus NC State on Friday night and then tallying the game-winning goal against the Cavaliers on Sunday. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by four other Tar Heels - freshman defender Maycee Bell, sophomore goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, junior defender Emily Fox and junior defender Lotte Wubben-Moy.
Carolina dominated the game statistically, outshooting the Cavaliers 16-4 and earning 10 corner kicks to one for Virginia. Claudia Dickey went all 101 plus minutes in the game in goal and made one save and allowed one goal. It was the first goal Dickey had allowed in a game since the Arkansas match on September 15. Laurel Ivory played 84:47 in goal for UVA before being injured. She made three saves and allowed one goal. Michaela Moran made one save and allowed one goal while playing the last 17:01 of the match.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 6:47 into the match on Maycee Bell's second goal of the season. Alessia Russo charged up the right side and took a shot that Virginia goalkeeper Laurel Ivory pushed over the cross bar leading to a corner kick. Lotte Wubben-Moy sent her corner kick from the right side perfectly on to the head of Bell in the center of the penalty area and she redirected the ball perfectly over the Virginia defensive line and into the back net.
Each goalkeeper was forced to make a big save just seconds apart later in the half. Meghan McCool had a shot from 15 yards out in the right side of the box after she had slipped past the UNC defense but Claudia Dickey made the save. Forty-nine seconds later, Rachel Jones had a shot just inside the top of the box for Carolina but Ivory smothered it for her second save of the game.
Carolina outshot the Cavaliers 7-2 in the first half and UNC had four corner kicks in the half.
Virginia tied the match at 67:58 after a foul by the Tar Heels in the midfield. On the resulting free kick, the ball was headed out by a Carolina defender off the end line but it went straight to Diana Ordonez who buried a shot from 12 yards out into the upper left corner. It was the 14th goal of the season for Ordonez. The shot was the only one taken in the second half by the Cavaliers.
The win for the Tar Heels was the first for Carolina over a #1-ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches poll since November 30, 2012 when UNC beat top-ranked Stanford in double overtime in the NCAA Tournament semifinals by a 1-0 score in the San Diego, Calif.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Alessia Russo, Jr., F, North Carolina - MVP
Maycee Bell, Fr., D, North Carolina
Claudia Dickey, So., GK, North Carolina
Emily Fox, Jr., D, North Carolina
Lotte Wubben-Moy, Jr., D, North Carolina
Alexa Spaanstra, So., F, Virginia
Rebecca Jarrett, So., F, Virginia
Zoe Morse, Sr., M, Virginia
Diana Ordonez, Fr., F, Virginia
Deyna Castellanos, Sr., F, Florida State
Tziarra King, Sr., M, NC State
GAME NOTES
• UNC won its 22nd ACC Tournament in history. It is the second ACC title of the decade. Carolina also won in 2017.
• The Tar Heels are now 38-4-4 all-time against the Cavaliers and UNC has won three straight in the series against Virginia.
• The Tar Heels are now 7-2-2 all-time against Virginia in the ACC Tournament. It was the first meeting in the finals since 2005 between the two teams when Carolina beat the Cavaliers 4-1.
• Alessia Russo's goal was her fourth game-winning goal of the season. She leads the team in that category, one ahead of Bridgette Andrzejewski.
• Lotte Wubben-Moy had her sixth assist of the season and Emily Fox had her seventh helper. Fox shares the team leads in assists with Lois Joel. Wubben-Moy and Ru Mucherera are tied for third on the squad with six assists each.
• Russo had three goals on the weekend and now ranks second on the squad behind Brianna Pinto who has 10 goals.

UNC MOVES INTO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WITH WIN OVER NCSU: The third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team relied on a pair of goals by junior forward Alessia Russo and two assists from freshman striker Isabel Cox to defeat the 23rd-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack 3-0 in the ACC Tournament semifinals Friday night before 1,875 fans at Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Carolina advances to the ACC Tournament championship game to meet #1-ranked and undefeated Virginia Sunday at 12 noon at Sahlen's Stadium. The Cavaliers advanced to the championship game with a 2-1 overtime win over fifth-ranked and defending tournament champion Florida State in the earlier semifinal game on Friday. UNC has now advanced to the ACC Tournament final four straight years after not making an appearance in the game between 2010 and 2015.
UNC outshot the Wolfpack 21-3 and dominated the game statistically, including a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks. Claudia Dickey played the whole game in goal for UNC and made one save, recording her fourth solo shutout of the campaign. Jessica Berlin played the whole 90 minutes for NC State and made seven saves. UNC has now recorded 16 shutouts in 20 matches this season.
The Tar Heels jumped on top 1-0 just 7:29 into the match on a nice give-and-go by forwards Alessia Russo and Isabel Cox. Russo sent a ball from the midfield over the top to Cox on the right side. The freshman from Greensboro dribbled deep into the box and sent a centering pass back to Russo who was alone in the penalty area about 15 yards out. Russo one-timed her shot into the lower left corner of the frame past NC State goalkeeper Jessica Berlin for her seventh goal of the season and her first since she tallied twice against Louisville in a 3-0 road win on September 21. UNC outshot the Wolfpack 10-1 in the first half and had three corner kicks.
Carolina put the game away with a pair of goals in the final 16 minutes of the match. Just 59 seconds after Carolina made six substitutions, UNC struck for a 2-0 lead with Cox earning her second assist of the night on the fourth goal of the season by midfielder Rachel Jones. It was the first multi-assist game of Cox's young career. Cox sent a feed from inside the box to the left side where Jones one-timed a finish inside the far post for the 2-0 lead at 74:52 of the match.
The Tar Heels then added a third goal with just 1:36 to play in the match as Russo scored her second goal of the game and her eighth of the season. She pounced on a turnover by a Wolfpack defender at the top of the 18-yard box and sent a laser into the lower right corner of the frame. It was Russo's fourth brace of the season as she also scored twice against UNLV, Wake Forest and Louisville.
GAMES NOTES
• UNC has outscored opponents 52-7 this season.
• Carolina is now 47-2-2 against NC State all-time.
• The Tar Heels improved to 8-0-1 all-time in ACC Tournament meetings against the Wolfpack.
• Carolina is now 25-3-2 all-time in ACC Tournament semifinal matches.
• UNC and Virginia will play in the ACC Tournament final for the first time since 2005.
• Russo's two goals moved her into second place on the team in goals scored this season with eight and in points with 17.
• The two assists by Isabel Cox improved her season total to five. It was the first time she has had multiple assists in a match.

CAROLINA WHITEWASHES NOTRE DAME IN ACC QUARTERFINAL: Lotte Wubben-Moy scored a pair of goals and Ru Mucherera gave the Tar Heels separation in the second half as the third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team defeated Notre Dame 3-0 in the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals before 875 fans at Dorrance Field on November 3.
The Tar Heels advance to the ACC semifinals next Friday at Sahlen's Stadium in Cary, N.C. where they will meet NC State at 5 p.m. on the ACC Network. The first semifinal game Friday will feature Virginia versus Florida State at 2:30 p.m., also on the ACC Network. The winners of Friday's semifinals will advance to the ACC Tournament final next Sunday at 12 noon in a game to be televised on ESPNU.
After a scoreless first half on Sunday, Carolina exploded for three second-half goals to ensure its quarterfinal win. This marked the second 3-0 victory by the Tar Heels over the Fighting Irish at Dorrance Field this season. UNC also beat Notre Dame by the same score in the regular season on September 29 on Dorrance Field Dedication Day.
UNC outshot the Fighting Irish 15-4 in the match and had an 8-2 edge in corner kicks. Brooke Littman played all 90 minutes in goal for the Fighting Irish and made four saves while allowing three goals. Claudia Dickey went all 90 minutes for UNC and made two saves. It was her third solo shutout of season. She also had solo shutouts versus UNLV and Wake Forest.
Carolina opened the scoring at the 51:16 mark on a goal by defender Lotte Wubben-Moy, the first goal she has scored in her career in the run of play. Wubben-Moy came forward on attack, slipping the ball to her right to Brianna Pinto just outside the box. Pinto sent it on to Emily Fox whose pass threaded the defensive wall and found Wubben-Moy inside the box 15 yards out. She sent her shot to the far post where Littman got her right hand on the ball but the shot was hit with enough pace to find the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The Tar Heels extended their lead to 2-0 on a goal off a corner kick at 73:10. Lois Joel sent the corner kick from the right side where it was headed on by Maycee Bell to the far post where Ru Mucherera was well positioned to drive a hard strike into the upper left 90 of the goal. It was Mucherera's fourth of the season and Joel retook the team lead in assists with seven.
UNC finished the scoring at 84:04 after Emily Fox was taken down in the box on the right side by a Notre Dame defender. Wubben-Moy stepped to the 12-yard spot and drove the ball confidently into the lower left corner of the frame for her fifth goal of the season and second goal from the penalty spot against the Irish this season. Four of her five goals this year have been on penalty kicks.
GAME NOTES
• Carolina improved to 67-6-5 all-time in the ACC Tournament. UNC has won five ACC Tournament quarterfinal games in a row.
• The Tar Heels are now 19-7-3 all-time against the Fighting Irish. UNC has won three straight games against the Fighting Irish it is 4-0-1 against Notre Dame in the last five meetings between the two teams.
• Between 2011 and 2018, the teams played eight times with seven meetings being decided by one goal and one ending in a tie. Carolina emerged with a pair of three-goal victories in 2019 in the series.
• Ru Mucherera scored her fourth goal of the season. Previous to 2019, she had scored just three goals in her career.
• Maycee Bell had her first career assist on Mucherera's goal.
• Lotte Wubben-Moy has scored five career goals, all this season. She is tied with Bridgette Andrzejewski for third on the team in goals scored.
• Lois Joel recorded her team-leading seventh assist on Mucherera's goal.

TAR HEELS RALLY AT MIAMI TO FINISH ACC REGULAR SEASON WITHOUT A LOSS: Brianna Pinto scored her team-leading 10th goal of the season with 6:07 to play to lift the third-ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heels to a 3-2 victory over the Miami Hurricanes in women's soccer action at Cobb Stadium. It was the regular-season finale for both teams.
Carolina finished the regular season 16-1-1 overall and 9-0-1 in the ACC as the Tar Heels posted their third straight conference regular season without a loss. UNC was 8-0-2 in the ACC in 2017, 10-0 in 2018 and 9-0-1 in 2019. Miami saw its season finish with a mark of 5-9-2 overall and 2-7-1 in ACC play.
Carolina conceded goals in ACC play for only the second time this season and Miami scored late in the first half and early in the second half to take a 2-1 lead in the game. But Zoe Redei tied the game with 28:40 to play and Pinto eventually provided the game-winner late in regulation.
UNC will host an ACC Tournament quarterfinal match on Sunday at Dorrance Field against Notre Dame at 7 p.m. The conference office will release the complete tournament bracket later this evening. Sunday's match will be telecast nationally on the ACC Network and tickets for the match are now on sale at the GoHeels.com Ticket Center.
Carolina outshot the Hurricanes 21-3 in Thursday night's match but two of Miami's three shots were on goal and both of those efforts found the back of the net. But eventually Carolina's statistical advantage wore down the Hurricanes and UNC was able to come-from-behind for the third time this year for a victory. Carolina had a come-from-behind triumph 3-2 at Washington on August 29 and also rallied for a 3-1 win at Pittsburgh on October 13.
In addition to its shot advantage, the Tar Heels had a 13-1 edge in corner kicks. Ten of Carolina's 21 shots were on frame and Miami put two of its three on frame. Marz Josephson went all 90 minutes in goal for Carolina and she allowed both goals. Tyler Speaks went all 90 minutes for the Hurricanes in goal and she made seven saves in the match while allowing three goals.
The Tar Heels took a 1-0 lead at 18:24 of the match as Rachel Jones tallied her third goal of the season off the third assist of the season by Isabel Cox. After the Hurricanes turned the ball over on the end line as Alessia Russo blocked a clearance, Cox claimed the ball, took a couple of dribbles and centered it back to Jones at the top of the 18-yard box. Jones one-timed her shot on a rope into the upper right side for a 1-0 lead.
Miami got the equalizer with 3:08 left in the first half with Tia Dupont finishing from inside the box on the right side across the frame and into the left side netting. The goal was assisted by Sierra Frey. It did not take long for Miami to gain a 2-1 advantage as it struck just 1:18 into the second half. Michelle Giamportone headed home a shot from inside the six-yard box into the lower right part of the frame with assists going to Maria Jakobsdottir and Bayleigh Chaviers.
Just 43 seconds after the Tar Heels made multiple subs in the second half, two of the newly inserted players combined to tie the score. Ru Mucherera sent a long throw in from the left side of the pitch into the box where Zoe Redei was positioned with her back to goal at the near post. She took the ball in on the bounce, pivoted and finished from close range with her left foot into the top of the netting. It was Redei's third goal of the season and she now has goals in back-to-back games. Mucherera's assist was her sixth of the season and she is now tied for the team lead in assists with Lois Joel.
Carolina got the game-winner with 6:07 to play off the left foot of Brianna Pinto, her team-leading 10th goal of the season. After receiving a pass from Alessia Russo, Rachel Jones dribbled the ball to the end line and her centering pass was advantageously blocked by a Miami defender. The ball spurted out directly to Pinto who was unmarked about eight yards out in the center of the box. Pinto deftly slotted the ball into the lower right corner of the goal for the game-winning tally.
GAME NOTES
• Carolina now has won 10 matches in a row against Miami. The Tar Heels are 15-2 all-time against the Hurricanes and they have won five matches in a row against Miami in Coral Gables. UNC went the decade of the 2010s with a 10-0 mark against the Hurricanes.
• UNC is now 30-0-3 in its last 33 regular-season ACC matches since losing 1-0 at Notre Dame on October 14, 2016.
• Carolina had not allowed a goal in ACC play since the first half of the Pitt game on October 13.
• The last time UNC had allowed more than one goal in an ACC regular season game was October 8, 2015 in a 2-1 overtime loss at Louisville. The last time Carolina allowed more than one goal in regulation time in an ACC regular-season game was October 3, 2014 in a 3-2 win over Virginia Tech at Fetzer Field.
• Zoe Redei's tying goal was her third goal of the season and her 12th career goal. She has tallied goals in back-to-back games.
• Ru Mucherera recorded her sixth career assist. She is tied for the team lead in assists with Lois Joel. Mucherera had four assists combined in her first three seasons combined.
• Brianna Pinto notched her 10th goal of the season. She leads the Tar Heels in goals scored as well as in points with 23.

CAROLINA CLINCHES ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP WITH SHUTOUT WIN OVER VIRGINIA TECH: The third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team secured its 23rd Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship on October 27 with a 2-0 victory against 25th-ranked Virginia Tech before 2,113 fans at Dorrance Field.
Senior Zoe Redei scored the game-winning goal for the Tar Heels in the 43rd minute and Carolina benefitted from an own goal to put the game away in the 87th minute of play.
Redei was one of six Tar Heel players honored in the pregame on Senior Day at Dorrance Field, joining Ru Mucherera, Morgan Goff, Bridgette Andrzejewski, Madison Schultz and Kasey Parker in pregame festivities. The game-winning goal was the 11th overall goal of Redei's career and the sixth time she has scored a game-winner for the Tar Heels.
UNC did not concede a goal in ACC play for the eighth time in nine games this season. Pittsburgh is the only team that has scored on the Tar Heels in league play. Carolina has outscored teams 43-5 overall this season.
Carolina outshot the Hokies 15-3 in the match but did concede seven corner kicks to the Hokies while Carolina took three in the match. Mandy McGlynn made six saves in the match including a spectacular stop on a dangerous shot by Rachel Jones with 13:26 gone in the first half. A little over a minute later the Tar Heels almost broke out on top but Alessia Russo's shot from the left side of the penalty area slid past McGlynn only to be denied by the right post.
The Tar Heels would eventually take the lead at 42:09 on Redei's world class strike from the top of the box on the left side. Goalkeeper Marz Josephson cleared a ball upfield to a defender who sent the ball on to Redei. The senior striker from Illinois took it in with her back to the goal, danced around her defenders for a split second and eventually found enough space to launch a shot with pace with her right foot that hit the underside of the cross bar and bounced down and into the goal for the eventual game-winner.
Carolina outshot the Hokies 9-1 in the first half and 6-2 in the second half for an overall differential of 15-3. Virginia Tech's best chance came a little less than four minutes into the second half when Lilly Weber found herself open in the box around 15 yards out but she sent her strike just wide of the left post. Twelve UNC fouls and seven corner kicks allowed the Hokies to stay dangerous on set pieces before UNC was able to notch a tally for separation. Taylor Otto sprung Isabel Cox free with a through ball down the left side. Cox dribbled into the penalty area where McGlynn came out to cut down her angle. Cox's shot looked destined to go wide of the right post but a Virginia Tech defender hustling on the play made contact as she tried to clear it and the ball was redirected into the center part of the goal for a defensive own goal and the 2-0 lead the Tar Heels needed to shut down the game.
Josephson and Claudia Dickey shared Carolina's 14th shutout of the season in 17 games and the eighth clean sheet for Carolina in nine ACC games.
The Tar Heels close out the regular season with a 7:30 p.m. game at Miami on Halloween night this Thursday at Cobb Field in Coral Gables, Fla. The game will be nationally televised on the Atlantic Coast Conference's Regional Sports Network (ACC RSN) which is Fox Sports Carolina in the state of North Carolina.
With the win UNC improved to 15-1-1 overall this campaign and 8-0-1 in the ACC. Virginia Tech, which was perfect in the non-conference phase of its season, is 11-4-2 overall and 3-4-2 in the ACC.
GAME NOTES
• Carolina earned its 23rd ACC regular season championship Sunday in 33 season of league play. It is the 22nd outright title and while UNC also shared a regular-season championship with Florida State in 2014.
• This is the first time the Tar Heels have won back-to-back ACC regular season championships since claiming eight in a row from 2001-08.
• Zoe Redei has now scored 11 goals in her career. Six of those goals have been game-winning goals.
• Carolina has given up just one goal in 830 minutes in ACC regular season games this season.
• UNC improved to 18-2 overall against Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels have won 10 in a row in the series against the Hokies.
• The Tar Heels are now 29-0-3 in ACC regular season games since a 1-0 setback at Notre Dame on October 14, 2016.

UNC TAKES CONTROL OF ACC RACE WITH SHUTOUT VICTORY AGAINST FLORIDA STATE: Spectacular second half goals by Ru Mucherera and Brianna Pinto powered the third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over fifth-ranked Florida State before a crowd of 3,021 fans at Dorrance Field on October 24.
With the victory over the Seminoles, the Tar Heels improved to 14-1-1 overall and 7-0-1 in the ACC. The defending national champion Seminoles are now 12-4 on the season and 6-2 in the ACC. With two games remaining in the regular season, Carolina now holds a solid lead in the league standings with 22 points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie). Virginia and Florida State are now tied for second in the conference rankings with 18 points.
The Tar Heels hit a cross bar and a post in the first half of play and another post less than three minutes into the second half before scoring a pair of goals less than seven minutes apart late in the second half of play.
It was redshirt senior Ru Mucherera who put the Tar Heels ahead at 75:30 with a breakaway goal off a crazy game of ping pong in the Tar Heel defensive end. Emily Fox sent a back pass to Claudia Dickey but her clearance was intercepted by a Florida State attacking player whose heavy touch went directly to Carolina defender Lotte Wubben-Moy just yards in front of the penalty area. The junior English defender one-touched a long pass on a line drive over the defensive line of Florida State where Mucherera ran on to the ball, splitting FSU defenders in the process and charged into the box where she finished a low liner just off the right post and into the goal past a charging Seminole goalkeeper Caroline Jeffers.
The goal was the sixth of Mucherera's career and her second career tally against Florida State. She also scored against the Seminoles in the championship game of the 2018 ACC Tournament. It was Mucherera's third goal this season.
UNC doubled its lead less than seven minutes later when Brianna Pinto intercepted a pass at midfield and dribbled 45 yards for a one-on-one breakaway, finishing past Jeffers inside the right goal post for a 2-0 Tar Heel lead at 82:19. It was Pinto's team-leading ninth goal of the campaign.
Carolina had two excellent scoring chances in the first half of the game. Pinto's shot from the top of the penalty area was denied by the cross bar at 12:41 of the match, bouncing straight down and out of danger. Seventeen minutes into the match, FSU had its best opportunity of the night with Yujie Zhao finding herself wide open on the left side of the box only to see her shot careen wide of the right post by a foot. Carolina had another great chance to score at 19:19 as Maycee Bell snuck completely behind the Florida State defensive line to take a long pass in stride only to see her header clang off the right post, skip behind Jeffers and hug the goal line without finding its way across.
The Tar Heels finished with a 5-2 shot edge in the first half and there was only one save in the first half and it came from Jeffers who saved a shot by Isabel Cox.
The game was much more wide open in the second half with end-to-end action exciting the boisterous crowd in attendance. FSU actually outshot the Tar Heels 12-6 in the second half but many of the FSU shots came from distance after Carolina had taken the lead. Claudia Dickey played the second half in goal for Carolina after Marz Josephson had played the first half. Dickey made six second half saves to set a career game high. Her previous high for saves in a game came with four each in her freshman year against Texas on August 22, 2018 and against Notre Dame on October 4, 2018.
Carolina will be back in action on Sunday at 3 p.m. when it hosts Virginia Tech at Dorrance Field. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU. It will mark the final regular season home game for six Tar Heel seniors – Ru Mucherera, Morgan Goff, Bridgette Andrzejewski, Zoe Redei, Madison Schultz and Kasey Parker.
GAME NOTES
• UNC improved to 29-10-4 all-time against Florida State with the win. The victory broke a two-game winning streak in the series by the Seminoles.
• The 2-0 margin of victory was the largest in the series since September 29, 2011 when Carolina beat the Seminoles 2-0 in Tallahassee.
• The last 14 meetings in the series prior to Thursday night had resulted in 12 one-goal margins of victory and a pair of ties.
• Carolina has now defeated Florida State four straight years in the regular season contest between the squads.
• Pinto's goal was her team-leading ninth of the season. She also leads UNC in points with 21.
• Lotte Wubben-Moy recorded her fifth assist of the season. She ranks second on the team behind Lois Joel who has six assists.

FOX NAMED ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK OCTOBER 29: North Carolina midfielder Emily Fox has been tabbed ACC Defensive Player of the Week for games the week of October 21-27. Fox played all but 12 minutes in the midfield during North Carolina's 2-0 week, helping the Tar Heels secure the 2019 ACC regular season championship.
She played all 90 minutes in the shutout of No. 5 Florida State in a rematch of the 2018 NCAA National Championship match and 2018 ACC Tournament final. Hailing from Ashburn, Va., Fox then played 78 minutes in the 2-0 win over Virginia Tech on Sunday. The Tar Heels did not allow a shot on goal against the 25th-ranked Hokies.
Fox has been a key cog in a UNC defensive effort which has allowed only one goal in nine ACC matches totaling 830 minutes of game action. ACC women's soccer regular season action concludes Thursday night with all 14 teams in action.

TAR HEELS WIN AT BOSTON COLLEGE IN SHUTOUT FASHION: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team got goals from Maycee Bell, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Rachel Jones and posted a clean sheet defensively as the third-ranked Tar Heels defeated Boston College 3-0 Thursday night, October 17 at the Newton Lacrosse and Soccer Field. Carolina prevailed over the Eagles on a cold and windy night in Beantown before a national television audience on the ACC Network.
The victory assures the Tar Heels of holding on to their lead in the ACC standings through this weekend heading into next Thursday's rivalry matchup against Florida State in Chapel Hill. That game at 7 p.m. at Dorrance Field will feature the 2018 NCAA finalists and will again be nationally televised by ACC Network.
UNC improved to 13-1-1 with the victory over the Eagles and the Tar Heels are now 6-0-1 in the ACC. Boston College fell to 8-5-2 overall and 1-5-1 in the ACC. Carolina has 19 points in the ACC standings with Florida State in second place with 15 points. The Seminoles host Miami Friday afternoon.
The Tar Heels outshot the Eagles 17-6 and they had a 9-3 margin in shots on goal. UNC had four corner kicks in the game compared to one for BC. Allie Augur played all 90 minutes in goal for the Eagles and made six saves. Marz Josephson and Claudia Dickey shared the shutout for Carolina with Josephson making two saves in the first half and Dickey stopping one shot in the second half.
The Tar Heels jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of the game. The opening tally came from freshman defender Maycee Bell, her first career goal. The goal came with 37:49 left in the first half as Bell headed home a corner kick by junior defender Lotte Wubben-Moy. The English defender sent the corner kick from the right side to the far post where Bell evaded her mark and confidently headed it home for a 1-0 UNC lead.
Carolina doubled its lead with 26:24 left in the first half. Bridgette Andrzejewski carried the ball into the left side of the penalty box where he cross resulted in a hand ball by Boston College's Jade Ruiters. Wubben-Moy stepped to the 12-yard spot and deposited her penalty kick into the left side of the goal past BC goalkeeper Allie Augur. It was Wubben-Moy's third goal of the season, all on penalty kicks.
Just over two minutes later both teams had excellent chances just seconds apart. Samantha Agresti pounced on a poor clearance to take a shot from distance that just went wide of the left post at 24:24. On the other end, Alessia Russo, just 43 seconds later, had a look from the right side of the penalty box but it was knocked down by Augur before going inside the left post.
UNC outshot the Eagles 10-4 in the first half, including a 6-2 edge in shots on goal. The Tar Heels had three corner kicks in the first half to just one for BC. Augur made four saves in the first half for BC while Carolina starting goalkeeper Marz Josephson notched a pair of saves.
Rachel Jones was the most active player offensively in the second half for the Tar Heels and her hard work eventually paid off with the Tar Heels' third goal of the game. With 36:49 left in the game, Jones stole the ball from a BC defender but sent her shot high from 15 yards out. Boston College almost halved its deficit with 26:35 left in the game when Samantha Agresti was able to sneak behind the Tar Heel defense but her shot from the left side of the box headed to the far post was smothered by Claudia Dickey.
UNC came inches away from making it 3-0 with 22:47 remaining but Izzy Brown's shot from the left side of the penalty area was denied by the cross bar. Jones again had an excellent scoring chance with 12:56 left but her one-touch shot from the top of the box headed inside the right post was knocked down by Augur.
Carolina eventually got the third goal and separation it sought with 10:55 to play in the game when Jones finished with a left-footed shot from just inside the penalty area into the lower right corner for her second tally of the season. The hard work on the goal was really done by Alessia Russo who carried the ball deep into the right corner before evading a pair of Boston College defenders and dribbling into the right side of the box before delivering a perfect assist to Jones for the put away.
GAME NOTES
Carolina improved to 19-1 all-time against the Eagles UNC is now 9-0 in the series in games played at BC.
UNC has won eight in a row against the Eagles.
The three-goal margin of victory marked only the third time in the last 11 meetings between the two teams decided by more than one goal.
Lotte Wubben-Moy now has three goals on the season, all on penalty kicks.
Maycee Bell notched the first goal of her career. It also proved to be the game-winning tally.
Lotte Wubben-Moy now has three assists in the past two games and four assists in the past four games.
Rachel Jones scored her second goal of the season and her first since she had the game-winning tally in a 4-0 win over Portland on September 1.
Carolina now has 12 shutouts in 15 matches this season. UNC has conceded just one goal in seven ACC games in 650 minutes of conference play.
UNC is now 27-0-3 in ACC regular season matches since a 1-0 loss at Notre Dame on October 14, 2016.

CAROLINA RALLIES FOR WIN AT PITTSBURGH: The third-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team rallied with three second-half goals to upend Pittsburgh 3-1 Sunday afternoon, October 13 at Ambrose Urbanic Field.
The Tar Heel victory, coupled with Virginia's 1-0 double overtime victory at Florida State, moved UNC into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings for the first time this season. UNC improved to 12-1-1 overall on the campaign with the victory over the Panthers and to 5-0-1 in the ACC. The Panthers, who earned their first conference victory since 2016 last Thursday with an overtime win over Boston College, fell to 4-7-3 overall and 1-3-2 in the ACC.
Second-half goals by Brianna Pinto, Taylor Otto and Rachael Dorwart lifted the Tar Heels to the victory after the team had conceded a goal for the first time in ACC play in the 12th minute of play.
UNC outshot the Panthers 28-3 in the match and had a 5-2 edge in corner kicks but a stout defensive effort by the Panthers kept the Tar Heels from finding the back of the net until the 49th minute of the match. Amaia Pena played all 90 minutes in goal for the Panthers, making eight saves while allowing three goals. Marz Josephson played the first half in goal for the Tar Heels while Claudia Dickey played the second half. Dickey made two saves in the second half. Carolina had 12 shots on goal in the game while the Panthers put all three of their shots on frame.
Pitt took the lead in the first half at 11:58 of the match on the first goal of the season by Vildan Kardesler with assists by Amanda West and Anna Bout. Kardesler took a cross into the box from the left side of the pitch and finished from five yards out.
The first two goals of the game for the Tar Heels were both set up after forward Alessia Russo was fouled by the Panthers to set up free kicks deep in the offensive end for Carolina.
Lotte Wubben-Moy assisted on both goals on free kicks. Brianna Pinto notched her eighth goal of the season at 48:05 as Wubben-Moy's cross went over the defensive line for Pinto's finish from five yards out. Taylor Otto then recorded the game-winning goal at 55:39. Wubben-Moy again sent a free kick into a dangerous spot in the penalty box and Otto sent a looping shot into the upper right 90 of the goal for the lead.
Carolina added an insurance goal at 75:32 as Rachael Dorwart scored from about 12 yards out on the left side of the box, sending a shot to Pena's left and into the right side of the goal. Emily Fox sent a ball from just outside the penalty area to Alexis Strickland who one-touched it to her left to Dorwart who found herself free for the put away.
Next up for the Tar Heels is a match at Boston College on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on the ACC Network.
GAME NOTES
Carolina improved to 5-0 all-time against the Panthers. UNC is now 3-0 in the series in games played at Pitt.
Brianna Pinto's goal was her team-leading eighth of the campaign.
Both Taylor Otto and Rachael Dorwart scored their first goals of the season.
Lotte Wubben-Moy recorded a pair of assists, improving her season total to three. Emily Fox recorded her fifth assist. Fox, Bridgette Andrzejewski and Ru Mucherera each have five assists, one behind team leader Lois Joel who has six. Alexis Strickland recorded her second assist of the campaign.
The goal conceded by Carolina at 11:58 was the first allowed in ACC play this season by the Tar Heels. Carolina went 481 minutes and 58 seconds before UNC let in a goal in conference matches this season. Carolina had also gone 491 minutes and 20 seconds overall since allowing a goal by Arkansas in a 2-0 loss on September 15.
Carolina trailed the Panthers for 36 minutes and seven seconds of the match. This was only the third match in which Carolina trailed all season. The Tar Heels trailed 1-0 and 2-1 at Washington on August 29 before rallying for a 3-2 win. Carolina also trailed in the 2-0 loss at Arkansas on September 15.
UNC is now 26-0-3 in ACC regular season matches since a 1-0 loss at Notre Dame on October 14, 2016.

TAR HEELS REMAIN UNBEATEN IN ACC WITH SHUTOUT WIN OVER CLEMSON: Bridgette Andrzejewski's diving header off a Lotte Wubben-Moy free kick in the 55th minute proved to be the difference as No. 3 North Carolina outlasted No. 8 Clemson 1-0 on October 5 at Dorrance Field. Andrzejewski's fifth goal of the year was her third game winner of the 2019 campaign and the second in as many contests for the senior from Lutherville, Md. With the victory, Carolina improves to 11-1 and 4-0 in the ACC, while the Tigers drop to 8-2-1 and 2-2 in league play.
The night's lone goal was set up by a spectacular individual effort from defender Maycee Bell. The freshman center back pounced on a Clemson turnover and carried the ball nearly 50 yards, shedding a defender in a run through the midfield before being felled near the penalty area. Wubben-Moy took the ensuing free kick and delivered an inch-perfect cross to the head of Andrzejewski, who buried the chance past Tiger goalie Sandy MacIver into the lower right part of the frame.
Clemson had the upper hand in the opening spell of the game with midfielder Caroline Conti forcing UNC's Marz Josephson into an early save in the fifth minute. The Tigers had a pair of dangerous corner kicks inside the first 10 minutes, but both times Josephson was able to get hands to the ball and prevent a shot on goal.
Isabel Cox had Carolina's first good chance of the night, shooting just wide of the left post in the 18th minute. A flurry in front of the goal mouth with less than 15 minutes left in the opening half nearly produced the game's first goal, but video review confirmed the on-field call that Rachel Jones' effort off the post did not cross the goal line.
The Tar Heels' best chance of the opening 45 came late in the half, when Aleigh Gambone got free behind the Clemson back line but fired a shot that caromed off the right post.
Mariana Speckmaier put a shot on frame in the first 30 seconds after the break to force Claudia Dickey into a comfortable save, but the Tigers were unable to produce another shot on goal the rest of the night.
The win was Carolina's 10th shutout of the year, and the Tar Heels have yet to allow a goal in conference play. UNC has also not conceded in six games at Dorrance Field in 2019, extending a run of shutouts on the former site of Fetzer Field to 11 games dating back to October of 2016, the last season before construction began on the new Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium.
Next up for the Tar Heels is a visit to archrival Duke on Thursday, Oct. 10. Carolina defeated the Blue Devils 2-0 in a non-conference matchup in Chapel Hill on Aug. 25.

ANDRZEJEWSKI NAMED ACC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Carolina senior forward Bridgette Andrzejewski has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week on October 8.
Andrzejewski scored the game-winning goal in the 55th minute as No. 3 North Carolina defeated No. 8 Clemson 1-0 last Saturday. The Lutherville, Md., native tallied the goal on a diving header off an assist by Lotte Wubben-Moy.
It was Andrzejewski's fifth goal of the season and third game-winning goal, including the game-winner in two straight ACC games (previous Sunday against Notre Dame as well). She ranks second on the UNC team in points with 15, third in goals with five and tied for second in assists with five.

CAROLINA EARNS SHUTOUT WIN OVER FIGHTING IRISH: Senior Bridgette Andrzejewski scored the game-winning goal and added an assist on the goal that gave the Tar Heels separation as the fourth-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team blanked Notre Dame 3-0 on Dorrance Field Dedication Day in Chapel Hill Sunday afternoon. A crowd of 2,316 fans was on hand for the shutout victory.
With the victory the Tar Heels improved to 10-1 on the season and stayed perfect in the ACC at 3-0. Notre Dame fell to 7-4 with the loss and the Fighting Irish are now 1-2 in league play.
Before the game the University of North Carolina officially named the playing field at the new soccer and lacrosse facility in honor of 41-year head coach Anson Dorrance. With the win over the Fighting Irish, the Tar Heels are now 857-75-40 in Dorrance's 41 years as head coach.
After the first few minutes Sunday, the Tar Heels took over control of the game after the Irish had a couple of close in looks off corner kicks. Carolina would go on to outshoot the Irish 18-4 in the match and have a pronounced 12-5 edge in corner kicks.
The Tar Heels broke through for what was eventually the game-winning goal at 27:32 of the match. Junior defender Lotte Wubben-Moy lofted a ball from about 35 yards out in the center of the pitch over the Notre Dame back line and into the left side of the box to Ru Mucherera who brought it down and struck a shot that was saved by Notre Dame goalkeeper Brooke Littman. Andrzejewski pounced on the rebound immediately and drove it into the back of the net from three yards out for her fourth goal of the campaign.
Carolina would go on to add two more goals in the second half. Brianna Pinto notched her team-leading seventh goal of the season at 60:59 off assists by Emily Fox and Andrzejewski. Pinto's finish was a back flick onto the far post from eight yards out after taking a pass from the right side from Fox. Andrzejewski had initially pushed the ball out to Fox from a central attacking position just moments earlier.
The Tar Heels finished out the scoring at 74:54 on Lotte Wubben-Moy's second goal of the season. Wubben-Moy converted a penalty kick for what was also her second career goal. Both have come on penalties this season, the other in a win over UNLV earlier in the campaign by an 8-0 score. The Tar Heels had earned the penalty kick after freshman Isabel Cox had been taken down in the penalty box by a Notre Dame defender.
Brooke Littman went the entire way for the Fighting Irish in goal, making six saves and allowing three goals. As it customary, UNC split goalkeeper time. Marz Josephson played the first half and made two saves and Claudia Dickey patrolled the net the second 45 minutes and made one save.
The Tar Heels will be back in action next Saturday when they host Clemson at 5 p.m. at Dorrance Field in a match to be nationally televised on ACC Network Extra. The Tigers improved to 8-1-1 overall and 2-1 in the ACC Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Virginia Tech.
GAME NOTES
• The Tar Heels improved to 19-7-3 all-time against Notre Dame and they have won two in a row in their series with the Fighting Irish.
• Pinto's goal was her team-leading seventh of the season. She also leads Carolina in points with 17.
• Andrzejewski now ranks second on the team in scoring with 13 points.
• Andrzejewski and Mucherera each recorded their fifth assists of the season on Sunday, one behind team leader Lois Joel. Fox recorded her fourth assist of the season and ranks fourth on the team in helpers.
• The Tar Heels have now outscored opponents 32-4 in 11 games.
• UNC has conceded only four goals this campaign. Two in a 3-2 win at Washington and two in a 2-0 loss at Arkansas.
• The Tar Heels now have nine shutouts in 11 games this season.
• ACC teams are scoreless in 270 minutes against Carolina so far this season.
• The Tar Heels are now 24-0-2 in their last 26 ACC regular season matches.
• Carolina has won 13 successive ACC regular season games since a 1-1 tie against Notre Dame on October 26, 2017.

CAROLINA RETURNS HOME TO PREVAIL IN SQUEAKER VERSUS PACK: University of North Carolina freshman forward Isabel Cox scored in the 52nd minute of the game to lift the Tar Heel women's soccer team past NC State 1-0 before 1,536 fans at the UNC Soccer Stadium.
The win lifted the Tar Heels to 2-0 in the ACC and 9-1 on the season while NC State fell to 5-4-1 overall and 0-1-1 in league play.
Cox and junior transfer Lois Joel completed a supremely executed give-and-go on the only goal of the match. Cox pushed the ball wide on the left side to Joel who returned it to the Greensboro first-year player who drove the ball from 15 yards out on the left side of the box inside the near post past NC State goalkeeper Jessica Berlin.
It was a night in which both teams had trouble putting the ball on frame. UNC outshot the Wolfpack 15-4, including an 11-0 margin in the first 45 minutes of play. But the Wolfpack did not put a shot on goal and the Tar Heels put only two. Alessia Russo forced a save by Berlin at 19:13 of the match and Cox's game-winner at 51:18 was the only other shot on frame.
The only other shot that almost found the back of the net was off the head of Brianna Pinto at 14:04. Russo sent a perfect ball from the left side goal line extended that Pinto ran on to, bouncing her shot off the underside of the bar. It ricocheted to the ground conveniently for the Wolfpack, bouncing into the field of play and out of danger.
The Tar Heels finished with a 7-1 edge in corner kicks. Berlin played all 90 minutes for NC State and made one save. Marz Josephson played the first half for Carolina and Claudia Dickey played the second 45 minutes. Dickey faced all four shots by the Wolfpack.
GAME NOTES
UNC improved to 46-2-2 all-time against the Wolfpack. This is the fourth game in a row in the series the two teams have played to a one-goal margin and third successive 1-0 game. The Wolfpack won 1-0 in 2016 at Chapel Hill and UNC won 1-0 in the ACC Tournament semifinals in 2017 in Charleston, S.C.
Cox's goal was her third of the season and the first game-winning goal of her career.
Lois Joel, a junior transfer from West Virginia, recorded her sixth assist of the year, the most of any Tar Heel. She is two assists ahead of Bridgette Andrzejewski and Ru Mucherera on the UNC scoring chart.
The clean sheet was the eighth shutout of the season for Carolina.

HEELS PITCH SHUTOUT IN ACC OPENER: A brace by Alessia Russo and a penalty kick save by freshman goalkeeper Marz Josephson paced the fourth-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team to a 3-0 victory over 20th-ranked Louisville September 21 at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Soccer Stadium.
The game was the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. UNC improved to 8-1 on the season and 1-0 in the ACC while Louisville fell for the first time on the campaign and is now 7-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.
Junior Alessia Russo had her third brace of the season and the fifth of her career to lead the Tar Heels to the victory. She also recorded her second game-winning goal of the season and the 12th game-winning goal of her career. Phenomenally, 12 of Russo's 21 career goals have been game-winners. UNC also benefitted from freshman Alexis Stickland's third goal of the season, a goal which provided separation midway in the second half en route to the shutout victory.
Freshman goalkeeper Marz Josephson played the best game of her young career, making three saves in the first half, including one on a penalty kick which kept the game scoreless. Within two minutes of Josephson's stop on the penalty kick, Russo scored to put the Tar Heels ahead 1-0 and Carolina tacked on two more goals in the second half.
At 19:46 of the match, UNC's Emily Fox was whistled for a foul in the penalty box. Louisville's Emina Ekic stepped to the 12-yard spot but her shot was deflected by Josephson off the cross bar and Carolina defender Morgan Goff swept in to head the ball away. But the Tar Heels were not out of danger yet. At 20:15, the Cardinals' Brooklyn Rivers found herself unmarked and rifled a shot off the top woodwork, denying Louisville a second time. Then 12 seconds later, Allison Whitfield of Louisville sent a shot from the left side of the box that Josephson saved, maintaining the tie score.
It did not take long for Carolina to capitalize on the other end. Brianna Pinto slipped a nifty through ball to Russo who dribbled past defenders to give herself space and then finished from about 14 yards out in the right side of the box into the lower left corner. The goal came at 21:32 of the match.
Josephson made her third save of the half at 24:03, denying Niamh Nelson. Carolina did not allow another shot in the first half as the game went to halftime with the Tar Heels up 1-0.
In the second 45 minutes, Carolina almost went up two goals at 50:04 but Bridgette Andrzejewski's shot from close range off a cross by Rachel Jones was tipped over the cross bar by Louisville goalkeeper Gabrielle Kouzelos. Meanwhile, Claudia Dickey had come on to play the second half in goal for Carolina and she saved a shot by Ekic at 58:09 to keep the Tar Heels in front.
Eight minutes later, Carolina doubled its lead on Alexis Strickland's third goal of the season. Senior Ru Mucherera sent a low cross from the left side through the penalty box and Stickland pounced on it at the far post and put the shot away for a 2-0 lead at 66:04 of the match.
Carolina's third goal came at the 80:52 mark as Russo scored her second of the match and sixth of the season off a corner kick by junior Lois Joel. The goal came off a corner kick from the right side by Joel that went over a whole host of players to the left side of the box where Russo gathered it in and sent a low shot through considerable traffic past Kouzelos for a 3-0 lead.
UNC finished with a 10-7 edge in shots and a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. UNC had nine corner kicks in the game while Louisville had one. Carolina was charged with eight fouls compared to five for Louisville. UNC was whistled for all eight offside infractions in the game.
Josephson played the first half for Carolina and made three saves and Claudia Dickey made one save in the second half as the two goalkeepers combined on the clean sheet. Gabrielle Kouzelos made four saves and allowed three goals for the Cardinals.
UNC will return home this week for a pair of ACC matches. The Tar Heels will host NC State Thursday at 7 p.m. at the UNC Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium in a match to be televised nationally on the ACC Network. UNC will also host Notre Dame next Sunday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
GAME NOTES
• Alessia Russo had her fifth career two-goal game.
• Alessia Russo scored her 12th career game-winning goal. Of her 21 career goals, 12 have been game-winning tallies.
• Lois Joel's assist on Russo's second goal was her team-leading fifth.
• Ru Mucherera recorded her fourth assist of the season. Coming into this season she had recorded four assists in her career.
• Alexis Strickland tallied the third goal of her freshman season. That ties her for third on the team with Bridgette Andrzejewski. Brianna Pinto and Alessia Russo share the team lead with six goals each.
• The clean sheet was the 603rd in Tar Heel history in 970 games in Tar Heel history. UNC has seven shutouts this season in nine games.
• Carolina improved to 43-5-5 in its last 53 ACC regular season games. Carolina has not lost an ACC regular season game since October 14, 2016, a 1-0 loss at Notre Dame. UNC has an 11-game ACC regular-season winning streak dating to a 1-1 tie versus Notre Dame on October 26, 2017.
• UNC is now 27-4-1 all-time in ACC regular-season openers.
• Carolina improved to 2-1-1 all-time against Louisville and it has won two in a row over the Cardinals.

BELL NAMED ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK FOR SECOND TIME: North Carolina freshman defender Maycee Bell has been tabbed ACC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season on September 24.
Bell led a stout defensive effort, as the No. 4 Tar Heels handed 20th-ranked Louisville its first shutout loss, 3-0, on the Cardinals' home field. The Cards were limited to seven shots and just one corner kick in the game by the UNC defense.
With the strong play of the Wichita, Kansas, native on the back line, North Carolina is off to an 8-1 record with seven shutouts. Bell was also named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week after the opening weekend of the season.

HEELS BLANK DEMON DEACONS IN NEAR PERFECT PERFORMANCE: Junior Alessia Russo scored a pair of second-half goals to lead the No. 1 North Carolina women's soccer team to a 4-0 win over Wake Forest Thursday evening at the UNC Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium. Seniors Zoe Redei and Ru Mucherera also tallied for the Tar Heels, who improved to 7-0 on the season.
The four-goal win was the largest for Carolina over Wake Forest since a 4-0 victory on September 27, 2009 at Fetzer Field. The Demon Deacons, who entered Thursday having allowed just one goal on the season, suffered their first loss of 2019 to fall to 5-1-1.
After the two teams played scoreless soccer for more than 35 minutes, the Tar Heels benefitted from having fresh legs on the field with head coach Anson Dorrance having made a whole host of substitutions in the 28th minute.
Carolina took the lead at 35:45 on Zoe Redei's first goal of the season. Senior Ru Mucherera sent a ball from the right side of the pitch to junior transfer Lois Joel on the opposite side of the field. Joel sent a long looping ball with her right foot from about 28 yards out to the far post where four players went up simultaneously and Redei's header beat the others. Her redirection of the ball went over Wake Forest starting goalkeeper Meghan Kennedy into the left side for a 1-0 Tar Heel lead.
It took just over a minute for Carolina to double its lead as freshman Julia Dorsey sent a ball from the right side into the middle of the box. Mucherera chested the ball down, pivoted and drove a shot with velocity from 12 yards out into the left side of the goal. It was Mucherera's second goal of the season. The official time of the goal came was 37:07.
Carolina would go on to score a pair of goals in the second half to stretch the final margin to 4-0. Both goals in the second half came from the foot of English international star Russo, her third and fourth goals of the season. She also had a brace in a 2-0 win over the Demon Deacons in her freshman season on October 8, 2017.
Freshman Isabel Cox picked the pocket of a Wake Forest defender which led to Russo's goal at 78:19 as she converted one-on-one with the goalie after the turnover near the top of the box. Russo then scored again at 86:23, converting off assists by Bridgette Andrzejewski and Alexis Strickland. Russo finished from in close off the counter attack after a goal kick by Claudia Dickey was headed on by Strickland at midfield to Andrzejewski.
UNC outshot the Demon Deacons 18-5 and had a 6-3 edge in corner kicks. Claudia Dickey went all 90 minutes in goal for Carolina, making one save. Meghan Kennedy made five saves and allowed four goals in 90 minutes of play for the Demon Deacons.
Carolina is back in action on Sunday when it plays at Arkansas at 1 p.m. EDT/12 p.m. CDT. The game will be nationally televised by ESPNU.
GAME NOTES
• Alessia Russo now has four multi-goal games in her career. She has scored two goals in back-to-back games against UNLV and Wake Forest. Two of her four career multi-goal games have come against Wake Forest.
• Ru Mucherera had a goal and an assist in a game for the second time this season. She also had three points in the Tar Heels' 3-2 win at Washington on August 29.
• Carolina is now 32-2-2 all-time against Wake Forest and the Tar Heels have won seven in a row over the Demon Deacons dating to the 2013 campaign.
• Julia Dorsey's assist on the goal by Mucherera was her first career point.
• Bridgette Andrzejewski and Lois Joel lead the Tar Heels in assists this year with four.
• Zoe Redei's game-winning goal was the fifth of her Tar Heel career.

TAR HEELS EXPLODE FOR MOST GOALS IN SEVEN YEARS IN WIN OVER REBELS: Alessia Russo and Brianna Pinto each scored a pair of goals and Bridgette Andrzejewski and Emily Fox each recorded three assists as the top-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team overwhelmed UNLV 8-0 September 8 at the Duke Nike Classic at Koskinen Stadium. The Tar Heels improved to 6-0 on the season while the Rebels fell to 2-3 on the campaign.
The eight goals were the most scored in a game by the Tar Heels since November 16, 2012 when Carolina beat Illinois 9-2 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Fetzer Field. UNC tallied seven goals in the second half of that match. The six goals scored by the Tar Heels in the first half Sunday were the most in the opening 45 minutes of a game since September 17, 2003 when UNC scored seven goals before intermission in a 9-0 victory over Guilford.
All 27 players in uniform for the Tar Heels Sunday played at least 16 minutes as UNC head coach Anson Dorrance made liberal use of his bench in the win over the Rebels.
Sunday's match also marked the return to the lineup of Alessia Russo, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Emily Fox all of whom had missed the previous three matches while competing for their home countries in the U23 Nordic Tournament in England.
All three of those players had a huge impact in the game. Russo opened the scoring with 40:01 left in the first half for her first goal of the season. She was assisted on the play by Andrzejewski and Fox. The goal resulted from a nice buildup through the right side with Fox feeding Andrzejewski who delivered a perfect cross from to the foot of Russo at the six-yard line for the put away.
Just less than five minutes later, Brianna Pinto made it 2-0 as she scored her fifth goal of the season from about 12 yards out with 35:03 left in the half. Fox also had the assist on that goal. Freshman Isabel Cox made it 3-0 Carolina with 31:43 left in the half as she stole a back pass, beat a defender and finished from the left side of the penalty area to the far post for her second goal of the season.
Pinto added her second goal of the game with 22:48 left in the opening period, taking a cross from the right side from Andrzejewski and scoring from 10 yards out in the center of the box past the UNLV goalkeeper Emberly Sevilla. It was Pinto's sixth goal of the season.
With 5:30 left in the first half, UNC made it 5-0 on junior defender Lotte Wubben-Moy's first career goal. Wubben-Moy was taken down in the right side of the penalty area by UNLV defender Paige Almendariz. The London native confidently stepped to the 12-yard mark and finished high into the left side of the goal on her penalty attempt. Carolina added its sixth goal of the game with 1:42 left in the first half as Madison Schultz recorded her second goal of the season from four yards out after a cross by Ru Mucherera from the left side. Mucherera had made a long run up the left side of the pitch before feeding her fellow senior striker for the finish.
Carolina added two more goals in the second 45 minutes. Andrzejewski tallied her third goal of the campaign with 37:52 left in the second half, taking a centering pass from Isabel Cox from the right side of the box for a finish in the center within the six-yard area. The assist was the first of Cox's career.
Russo got her second goal of the game with 32:11 left off the third assists of the match by both Andrzejewski and Emily Fox. The passing sequence from the right side found Russo free just inside the unguarded left post for the put away.
Carolina finished with a 28-4 edge in shots in the match and a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks. Claudia Dickey went the whole way in goal for Carolina, making three saves. She improved her goalkeeper record to 3-0 while posting her first solo shutout of the season.
GAME NOTES
• Carolina is 6-0 on the season for the first time since 2013 when it started its campaign with seven straight wins.
• Brianna Pinto matched her career high for goals in a match with two. She also scored twice against Indiana on August 22, 2019.
• Alessia Russo equaled her career high for goals in a game with two. She also had two against Wake Forest on October 8, 2017 and two against Louisville on September 29, 2018.
• Both Emily Fox and Bridgette Andrzejewski had three assists in the match, the first time for a Tar Heel to post a trio of helpers since Julia Ashley had three against Kansas on November 16, 2018.
• Fox matched her career high for assists in a game. She also had three against Syracuse on September 30, 2017.
• This was the first three assist-game of Andrzejewski's career. She had two in a 2-1 win over Virginia on September 24, 2017.
• Freshman Libby Moore and junior transfer Cameron Keating both made their Carolina debuts Sunday, each playing 16 minutes.

PINTO'S MONSTER GOAL LIFTS TAR HEELS PAST TIGERS: Sophomore Brianna Pinto scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 71st minute on September 5 as the top-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team edged LSU 1-0 at Koskinen Stadium in the first game of the 2019 Duke Nike Classic.
The game was played on a slippery field with plenty of rain falling throughout as Hurricane Dorian began its assault on North Carolina Thursday afternoon. UNC improved to 5-0 with the victory while the defending Southeastern Conference Tournament champion Tigers fell to 2-2-1 on the campaign. The shutout was the 600th for the Tar Heels in school history in 966 all-time games.
Carolina dominated the game statistically but LSU's 5-3-1 formation proved to be a challenge for the Tar Heels in the finishing aspect of the game. The only goal came at 70:20 of the match off the foot of Pinto, the Durham native. After Lois Joel's corner kick was cleared out of the penalty area by the Tigers, Rachel Jones retrieved the ball and pushed it on to her right to an open Pinto who took a couple of dribbles and deposited the ball with more than a little authority from the top of the arc into the upper left corner.
Carolina outshot the Tigers 12-1 in the first half and had all seven corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes. With 38 minutes left in the first half, Morgan Goff's header off a free kick service by Lois Joel went off the left post. Four minutes later, Isabel Cox had a shot from the right side of the box saved by LSU starting goalkeeper Emma Grace Goldman.
Pinto's shot from the top of the box with 22:21 left in the first half was saved by Goldman, who finished the match with seven saves while playing all 90 minutes. With 12:45 left before halftime it appeared freshman Alexis Strickland might have earned her third goal of the young season but her header skidded just to the right of the goal and the match went to halftime all knotted at nil-nil.
The Tar Heels outshot the Tigers 7-3 in the second half and earned all five of the period's corner kicks. Eventually it was Pinto's moment of offensive brilliance that provided the difference. Morgan Goff made a diving tackle in the game's final five minutes in the penalty box to preserve the clean sheet.
UNC outshot the Tigers 19-4 and finished with a 12-0 edge on corner kicks. Carolina split goalkeepers by half with Marz Josephson playing the opening 45 minutes and Claudia Dickey the second 45 minutes. Each Tar Heel goalkeeper made one save.
GAMES NOTES
• UNC improved to 2-0 all-time against LSU. The previous meeting was 10 years ago in the 2009 Duke Nike Classic at Koskinen Stadium. That meeting also resulted in a 1-0 Tar Heel victory and was decided on a goal in the 78th minute of play by 2019 World Cup champion Jessica McDonald, then a junior for the Tar Heels.
• Claudia Dickey is now 2-0 in goalkeeper decisions this season.
• Dickey and Josephson shared the shutout, each making one save. UNC recorded its 600th shutout in Carolina history in 966 games. UNC has shut out its opponents 62.1 percent of the time in history.
• Alessia Russo, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Emily Fox returned to the team this week after playing in the U23 Nordic Tournament in England August 28-September 2. None of the three played on Thursday but they are expected back in the lineup Sunday versus UNLV.

TAR HEELS COMPLETE SEATTLE TOURNAMENT WITH 2-0 RECORD: After a sluggish start, the University of North Carolina women's soccer team poured on the offense in the final 65 minutes of the match and went on to blank the Portland Pilots 4-0 in the Husky Invitational at Husky Soccer Stadium on the UW campus. UNC sophomore midfielder Brianna Pinto was named the tournament's most valuable offensive player after assisting on two goals in Thursday's 3-2 win over the host Huskies and then scoring one of her own on September 1.
After three seniors scored in the Thursday win, the Tar Heels got goals from two sophomores and two freshmen in defeating the Pilots in the teams' first meeting since 2012. Rachel Jones and Alexis Strickland scored first half goals for UNC while Pinto and Isabel Cox tallied in the second half for the Tar Heels.
Carolina improved to 4-0 on the campaign while Portland suffered its first loss. The Pilots fell to 1-1-1 and conceded a goal for the first time this season after two season-opening shutouts.
The Tar Heels dented the scoreboard first at 27:57 of the match on sophomore forward Rachel Jones' first goal of the campaign. Freshman Julia Dorsey sent a long cross from the right side into the penalty area that pinged around at the left post amongst a host of players. Jones, who had entered the match just 45 seconds earlier, pounced on the loose ball and redirected it into the back of the net inside the near post.
It took less than 10 minutes for UNC to get its second goal. It came off the head of Alexis Stickland who headed home a corner kick by Lois Joel at 37:48 of the match. It was Strickland's second goal of the season, both on headers. Joel has been credited with assists on both Strickland goals.
UNC outshot the Pilots 5-0 in the first half and had a 5-1 edge in corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes.
Carolina dominated the game statistically in the second half, outshooting the Pilots 16-2 and earning eight corner kicks.
Pinto added to the Tar Heel lead at 50:38. A cross from the right side went just over the head of Isabel Cox and a Portland defender's clear fell to an unmarked Pinto at the eight-yard line. The sophomore midfielder from Durham calmly finished into the left side for a 3-0 Tar Heel advantage.
The final score of the game came at 86:15 off a brilliant individual effort by freshman forward Isabel Cox. She gained possession outside the box, dribbled into a dangerous spot near the 15 yard line, holding off her defenders and deposited a low shot inside the right post past diving Portland goalkeeper Jenny Wahlen. It was the first career goal for Cox.
UNC outshot the Pilots 21-8, including an 8-1 edge in shots on goal. Wahlen made four saves for Portland. UNC split goalkeepers with Marz Josephson playing the first half and Claudia Dickey playing the second half. Dickey made one save. UNC had 13 corner kicks while the Pilots had one. The Pilots were whistled for 13 fouls and Carolina just five.
Carolina returns to action Thursday in the Duke Nike Classic at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. UNC will meet the LSU Tigers Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Carolina will also play in the same tournament next Sunday, facing UNLV at 12 noon.
GAME NOTES
• Carolina is now 9-1-1 all-time against the Pilots. Sunday's match was the first meeting between the two teams since Portland beat UNC 1-0 on August 17, 2012 at Merlo Field in Portland, Oregon.
• The Tar Heels limited Portland to two shots in the game. That is the third time in four games this season that Carolina has limited its opponents to two shots or less. Indiana had one shot on August 22 and Duke had two shots on August 25.
• Pinto, the tournament's offensive MVP, scored her team-leading third goal of the season. Alexis Strickland scored her second of the campaign and Rachel Jones and Isabel Cox each tallied their first goals.
• Carolina recorded its 599th shutout in school history Sunday. The match Sunday was 965th in Tar Heel history. UNC has shut out opponents 62.1 percent of the time all-time.
• UNC played its second straight game minus three starters – Alessia Russo, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Emily Fox – who are compete in the Nordic Tournament U23 competition in England.

SCHULTZ'S GOAL LIFTS TAR HEELS PAST HUSKIES: Senior Madison Schultz returned to her home state to deliver the winning goal as the second-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team rallied past Washington 3-2 on August 29 at Husky Soccer Stadium. A trio of Carolina seniors – Schultz, Ru Mucherera and Bridgette Andrzejewski – scored goals for the Tar Heels in the come-from-behind win as Carolina recorded the 850th victory in school history.
The Huskies were coming off back-to-back scoreless ties against Portland and Seattle last weekend but they were an inspired side against the nationally-ranked Tar Heels. Washington took the lead at 21:39 as Summer Yates sent a free kick from 20 yards out into the lower right corner past Tar Heel starting goalkeeper Marz Josephson. Carolina equaled the score at 36:29 with Ru Mucherera's first goal of the season and fourth goal of her career. Brianna Pinto launched a shot from distance that appeared headed into the lower left corner of the goal. UW goalkeeper Dani Hansen was able to knock down the shot but Mucherera was all over the rebound, heading it into the upper right side of the frame for the goal to pull the Tar Heels even.
Washington would go on to take the lead before halftime, scoring again off a direct free kick. The initial service into the penalty area was knocked off the crossbar by Josephson but the Tar Heels were unable to clear the ball. Mireya Grey gathered the ball in the box and sent a cross into the center of the pitch where Mary Johnston buried it in the back of the net with a one-touch strike. The goal came just 1:28 before intermission.
UNC outshot the Huskies 6-3 in the first half but it trailed at the half. Washington would outshoot the Tar Heels 6-5 in the second half, but Carolina would notch both second half goals to improve to 3-0 on the season while the Huskies fell to 0-1-2.
Carolina scored off a set piece of its own at 57:25 of the match. Lois Joel, starting her first game for Carolina after transferring from West Virginia, sent a long free kick into the penalty area where Bridgette Andrzejewski found herself with just enough freedom to head the ball into the lower left corner past Hansen.
UNC then notched the game winner at 70:35 with Schultz's first goal of the season. Brianna Pinto chased down a loose ball on the left sideline, winning a 50-50 ball and sending a cross into the box where Mucherera again came up big, directing the ball forward to Schultz on the left side of the box. Schultz finished with a remarkable strike, sending her shot from a difficult angle off the bottom of the crossbar and into the right side netting. Schultz is a native of Edmonds, Wash., 25 miles North of Seattle and she had a strong contingent of hometown fans in the stadium to cheer her on.
At 73:11 of the match, Washington almost got the tying goal from Makena Carr but Claudia Dickey dove to her right and saved it off the goal line at the last instant. She scrambled to her feet and gathered the ball in, keeping the Tar Heels ahead for good. Dickey played the second half of the game and made three saves, earning the victory.
GAME NOTES
• The win was the 850th in school history. UNC is now 850-74-40 in 41 years of women's soccer play.
• Schultz's goal was the 11th of her career. Amazingly, eight of those 11 tallies have been game-winning goals.
• The comeback win was the first since UNC beat Louisville on September 29, 2018, a 5-1 victory.
• The last time UNC rallied from a halftime deficit to win was on August 18, 2018 against Illinois. UNC trailed that match 1-0 before scoring three second half goals.
• Carolina is now 6-0 all-time against Washington, including 3-0 in games in Seattle.
• Brianna Pinto finished with a pair of assists in the game. Ru Mucherera had a goal and an assist. Lois Joel now has assists in back-to-back games. Bridgette Andrzejewski scored her second goal of the season, matching Pinto's two-goal total on the season.
• Carolina played without starters Emily Fox (USA), Alessia Russo (England) and Lotte Wubben-Moy (England) who are currently playing in the U23 Nordic Tournament in England August 28-September 2.

TAR HEELS BLANK DUKE BEFORE OVERFLOW CROWD: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team shut out Duke 2-0 on August 25 before an overflow crowd of 4,215 fans at the new UNC Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium.
This early-season non-conference match between the two teams concluded the annual Carolina Nike Classic. Carolina came out of the weekend with a 2-0 record while Duke fell to 1-1. In Sunday's earlier game La Salle and North Florida played to a 1-1 tie.
Carolina outshot the Blue Devils 14-2 in the match and freshman Alexis Strickland scored the game-winning goal for the Tar Heels just 13 seconds before halftime. An own goal by the Blue Devils gave the Tar Heels separation in the 76th minute of play. UNC also had a 13-1 edge in corner kicks in the game.
Carolina began the weekend Thursday with a 3-0 blanking of Indiana in a game in which the Tar Heels outshot the Hoosiers 16-1. In two games combined, the Carolina defense was virtually a solid wall as it allowed only three overall shots in the two games combined and no shots on goal.
Duke goalkeeper Brooke Heinsohn was the defensive star for the Blue Devils during the first half, making three remarkable saves. Aleigh Gambone had back-to-back chances inside the six-yard box in the 26th minute but Heinsohn was able to parry away both shots at the last second. In the 27th minute, Bridgette Andrzejewski had a brilliant heading opportunity from six yards out off a cross from Emily Fox that Heinsohn remarkably knocked away with her right hand, keeping the match at 0-0.
In the last minute of the first half, UNC subbed on freshman Hallie Klanke with 49 seconds left . It was a fortuitous substitution indeed as Carolina would take the lead with just 13 seconds left before halftime on Alexis Strickland's first career goal off Klanke's first career assist. Junior transfer Lois Joel pushed a pass to the right sideline to Klanke. The Missouri first-year player sent a textbook cross to the head of the freshman Strickland, a Raleigh native, who at just 5-3 skied and deposited her header into the lower right corner of the frame for the eventual game-winner. Stickland headed the ball from the six-yard line into the turf where it bounced three yards out and skidded past the goal line.
Carolina's insurance goal came in the 76th minute of play. Senior defender Morgan Goff sent a dangerous cross into the box which Duke's Caitlin Cosme redirected past Heinsohn into the upper right corner of the goal for an own goal.
Carolina then systematically shut down the rest of the match, allowing only one more shot in the final minute of play which was blocked away by the Tar Heel defense.

CAROLINA OPENS CAMPAIGN WITH SHUTOUT WIN OVER HOOSIERS: North Carolina opened its luxurious new Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium on the Tar Heel campus with 3-0 win over Indiana on August 22 evening in a rain-delayed Carolina Nike Classic women's soccer opener. A crowd of 1,481 fans weathered the delays to root on the Tar Heels to victory in their season opener, playing in the new on-campus stadium that replaced Fetzer Field, home of the team from 1979-2016.
Senior Bridgette Andrzejewski scored the first-ever Tar Heel goal in the new stadium for the game-winner in the 14th minute and Brianna Pinto, a sophomore whose father played for the men's team at the old Fetzer in the 1990s, had a brace to push the Tar Heels to an eventual 3-0 win.
Carolina outshot the Hoosiers 16-1 in the match and had an 8-1 edge in corner kicks. UNC employed two goalkeepers with freshman Marz Josephson playing the first half and Claudia Dickey the second half. Neither was forced to make a save. Bethany Kopel went all 90 minutes for Indiana and made four saves while allowing all three goals.
The game was the opener of the season for both teams. In the first game of Thursday's Carolina Nike Classic Duke downed La Salle 2-0.
Carolina opened the scoring at 13:03 behind the hustle of Andrzejewski. She earned a corner kick on the left side and Pinto sent the kick into a fray where it was headed on to the right side of the box. Taylor Otto's pass into the middle of the penalty area nutmegged Kopel and Andrzejewski drove the ball into the back of the net from close range to make it 1-0.
The second Carolina goal came at 17:43 with UNC earning a free from 25 yards. Alessia Russo drove the ball towards the right side of the goal but Kopel parried it away. Freshman Aleigh Gambone pounced on the rebound in the right side of the box and centered it to Pinto who drove the ball into the lower right corner from six yards.
Carolina finished the scoring at 80:42 on a great individual effort goal by Pinto. She gathered in the loose ball at the top of the box, took one dribble and left footed a worm burner from 18 yards out into the lower right corner to finish off the scoring.

BELL NAMED ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Carolina defender Maycee Bell has been tabbed ACC Defensive Player of the Week on August 27 after the opening weekend of the 2019 season. In her collegiate debut, Bell was a dominant player on the back line for the North Carolina defense, as the Tar Heels opened their season with a 3-0 win over Indiana followed by a 2-0 shutout of eighth-ranked Duke in a non-conference matchup.
The Wichita, Kan., native led a defensive effort which limited Indiana to just one shot in the game. Carolina's defensive prowess continued against Duke, as UNC limited the Blue Devils to just two shots and one corner kick.
Neither Indiana nor Duke had a shot on goal in either game.

O'REILLY NAMED TAR HEEL ASSISTANT COACH: Heather O'Reilly, one of the all-time greats in University of North Carolina and U.S. Women's National Team history, has been named the new volunteer assistant coach for women's soccer at her alma mater. UNC head coach Anson Dorrance made the announcement on Thursday, August 29.
"Heather O'Reilly checks every box for us in an extraordinary way," Dorrance says. "First of all she is a Tar Heel legend; secondly she is U.S. full National and Olympic Team royalty; and then her professional team resume is also lights out and even her academic resume is in the top one percent."
O'Reilly was the top-ranked recruit in the high school class of 2003. She was already playing with the U.S. National Team as a high school senior in 2002 while attending East Brunswick (N.J.) High School. The college career of the dynamic forward would lead the Tar Heels to two NCAA championships and three ACC championships. While in the midst of her time at Carolina she scored one of the most important goals in Olympic women's soccer history, sparking the U.S. to the Olympic gold medal in 2004. She would go on and win a second gold medal in 2008 and a third Olympic gold medal in 2012. Before retiring from the USWNT in September 2016, she played in three World Cups for the United States, winning a bronze medal in 2007, a silver medal in 2011 and reigning as a FIFA World Cup champion in 2015. She is finishing her long career in the professional ranks this fall as a member of the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League.
"I am incredibly excited and proud to join the UNC women's soccer coaching staff," says O'Reilly. "Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina, and the UNC soccer program all mean a great deal to me. What Anson Dorrance and Bill Palladino built here for 40 years set the standard for greatness which we have seen impact at national and global levels for women's soccer."
O'Reilly finished her college career tied for 10th in goals at UNC with 59 and she was 11th in points with 167 and 12th in assists with 49. Her career was capped in 2006 when she was named the national player of the year by Soccer America magazine while also claiming the prestigious Honda Sports Award for Soccer. She was also named ESPN The Magazine's National Academic All-America of the Year for women's soccer as presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America and she won the Patterson Medal as UNC's outstanding senior female athlete. In 2017, she became the second UNC student-athlete ever inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame.
"It is an honor to be able to learn from Anson, a coaching legend, and pass what I have learned from my long playing career at an elite level to a new generation of Tar Heels," O'Reilly says. "UNC remains the gold standard for women's soccer in terms of competitiveness and player development and I am thrilled to be able to keep that tradition alive as I join the Carolina soccer family in this new capacity."
O'Reilly was at her best in leading Carolina to NCAA Championships in 2003 and 2006, both years being named the offensive MVP of the College Cup. She was the unanimous choice as national freshman player of the year in 2003 and then was a first-team All-America selection in her final three seasons. O'Reilly led the Tar Heels in scoring three straight years from 2004-06 and she was the third-leading scorer on the 2003 team that went 27-0.
She had 15 goals, 14 assists and 44 points in NCAA Tournament games in her career. As she was rehabbing from the broken leg in 2003, she had three goals in the ACC Tournament and then exploded in the NCAA Tournament with an 18-point performance on eight goals and two assists. Those eight goals are the most in UNC history in a single NCAA Tournament.
In the summer of 2004, O'Reilly played with the U.S. National Team in Greece in the hopes of winning an Olympic gold medal. With the U.S. and Germany tied 1-1 in overtime of the semifinal game, O'Reilly blistered the back of the net off a Mia Hamm assist to catapult the Americans into the gold medal match. A few days later, the college sophomore possessed an Olympic gold medal after the U.S. beat Brazil in the final match.
In 2006, she led the Tar Heels to 27 straight wins and the national title after UNC lost its season opener at Texas A&M. She was the offensive MVP of the College Cup after scoring four goals and adding six assists in NCAA play. She scored the insurance goal in the 2-0 NCAA semifinal win over UCLA, scored the first goal of the NCAA final against Notre Dame and assisted on the eventual game-winning tally against the Fighting Irish.
Following her senior year she won the NCAA's prestigious Today's Top VIII Award. No Tar Heel student-athlete had won the award since 1984 and it was the crowning jewel of her college career. The award is the highest annually bestowed by the NCAA for athletic prowess, academic achievement and community service. O'Reilly played for Sky Blue FC of WPS for three years and led the team to the championship of the league in 2009. She joined the Boston Breakers of the National Women's Soccer League in 2013 and then played for Kansas City where she won an NWSL title in 2015. In 2016-17, she played for Arsenal in the FA WSL 1 in England. She ranks eighth in USWNT history in caps, 11th in goals and sixth in assists. She currently plays for North Carolina Courage of NWSL, winning a league crown in 2018. She was a studio analyst for FOX Sports at the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.
O'Reilly was married to David Werry on October 1, 2011. A native of Canada, Werry is a 2006 UNC alumnus and four-year letterman on the men's lacrosse team. They are owners of the Carolina Coffee Shop.
"Very few can compare to her in any category and yet, she has them all. To further embellish her qualities, she married a fantastic Tar Heel athlete and they live in a beautiful home half way between our stadium and our training complex. She is a role model like no other. This is a tremendous day for Carolina soccer."

FOX AMONG AMERICAN PLAYERS COMPETING IN NORDIC CUP: North Carolina defender Emily Fox, who made her senior debut for the USA in 2018, was amongst the players called up for the U.S. under-23 women's national team's trip to England for the Nordic Tournament Aug. 28-Sept. 2.
Fox started both games this on UNC's opening weekend as the Tar Heels defeated Indiana 3-0 and Duke 2-0 to open the 2019 season.
Another pair of starters for the Tar Heels - forward Alessia Russo and defender Lotte Wubben-Moy also competed in the Nordic Tournament for the host English side.

TAR HEELS TABBED TO REPEAT AS ACC REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS: The University of North Carolina women's soccer team has been chosen as the preseason favorite to win the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title in a vote of the league's 14 head coaches announced August 8.
Coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels received six first place votes and 188 total points in the voting. Florida State, which won last year's ACC Tournament, was picked on eight first place ballots and had 185 points overall.
The remainder of the standings have Virginia in third with 163 points, Duke in fourth with 155 points, Clemson in fifth with 121 points, NC State in sixth with 109 points, Wake Forest in seventh with 106 points, Louisville in eighth with 99 points, Notre Dame in ninth with 88 points, Boston College in 10th with 87 points, Virginia Tech in 11th with 85 points, Miami in 12th with 39 points, Pittsburgh in 13th with 29 points and Syracuse in 14th with 16 points.
The 11-player preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team includes a trio of Tar Heels – junior defender Emily Fox, junior forward Alessio Russo and sophomore midfielder Brianna Pinto. The preseason All-ACC Team also includes Clemson junior forward Mariana Speckmaier, Florida State redshirt junior defender Malia Berkely, Florida State senior forward Deyna Castellanos, Florida State sophomore midfielder Jaelin Howell, Florida State sophomore midfielder Yujie Zhao, Louisville junior midfielder Emina Ekic and Virginia Tech senior goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn.
The coaches were prescient in their top three picks as Carolina finished first, Florida State second and Virginia third in the 2019 ACC regular-season standings.

TAR HEELS CHECK IN AT NO. 2 IN PRESEASON UNITED SOCCER COACHES POLL: The University of North Carolina women's soccer program has earned the No. 2 spot in the opening poll of the 2019 season sponsored by United Soccer Coaches (formerly National Soccer Coaches Association of America). The poll was released on August 6.
The Tar Heels trail only defending NCAA champion Florida State in the preseason poll ranking 25 teams. Two other ACC teams are ranked in the Top 10 with Duke at #8 and Virginia at #9. Three other ACC teams are ranked between 20th and 25th in the poll.
United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women's Preseason Poll
August 6, 2019
Rank, School, 1st Place Votes, Total Points, W-L-T
1. Florida State, 33, 870, 1, 20-4-3
2. North Carolina, 0, 821, 2, 21-4-2
3. Stanford, 1, 808, 2, 21-1-2
4. UCLA, 0, 748, 5, 17-3-2
5. Southern California, 0, 700, 6-17-2-3
6. Penn State, 1, 678, 8, 18-9-1
7. Georgetown, 0, 676, 4, 21-1-3
8. Duke, 0, 619, 10, 16-4-2
9. Virginia, 0, 571, 11, 16-5-1
10. Tennessee, 0, 501, 7, 16-3-3
11. West Virginia, 0, 482, 14, 15-4-4
12. Texas A&M, 0, 477, 13, 17-5-1
13. Santa Clara, 0, 447, 12, 17-3-2
14. Baylor, 0, 417, 9, 20-6-0
15. South Carolina, 0, 383, 17, 14-6-1
16. Wisconsin, 0, 283, 15, 14-4-4
17. Vanderbilt, 0, 274, 16, 16-4-1
18. South Florida, 0, 188, 19, 14-4-0
19. Texas, 0, 180, 20, 13-5-3
20. Memphis, 0, 142, 23, 17-4-0
21. NC State, 0, 140, 22, 11-7-4
22. Texas Tech, 0, 102, 24, 14-5-3
23. Wake Forest, 0, 100, 25, 9-9-2
24. LSU, 0, 78, 18, 13-7-4
25. Virginia Tech, 0, 76, 21, 11-8-3

TAR HEELS RANKED FOURTH IN PRESEASON SOCCER AMERICA POLL: The University of North Carolina is ranked fourth in the preseason poll released Tuesday by Soccer America magazine. UNC is also ranked second in the preseason by United Soccer Coaches and third nationally by Top Drawer Soccer.
UNC opens its 2019 season Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the new UNC Soccer Stadium against the Indiana Hoosiers. Carolina will play Duke at the new facility on Sunday at 6 p.m. to close out the opening weekend of play.
Soccer America Preseason Women's College Top 25
RANK TEAM (2018 RECORD)
1. Florida State (20-4-3)
2. Stanford (21-1-2)
3. UCLA (17-3-2)
4. North Carolina (20-4-2)
5. USC (17-2-3)
6. Penn State (18-6-1)
7. Georgetown (21-1-3)
8. Virginia (16-5-1)
9. Santa Clara (17-3-2)
10. Texas A&M (17-5-1)
11. Baylor (20-6-0)
12. Duke (16-4-2)
13. Vanderbilt (16-4-1)
14. West Virginia (15-4-4)
15. South Florida (14-4-0)
16. Tennessee (16-3-3)
17. Texas (13-5-3)
18. Rutgers (11-4-5)
19. South Carolina (14-6-1)
20. Texas Tech (14-5-2)
21. Wisconsin (14-4-4)
22. Clemson (12-9-0)
23. Washington State (13-6-1)
24. N.C. State (11-7-4)
25. Colorado (13-4-3)
Note: SA's Top 25 rankings will appear each Tuesday during the regular season.
Top Drawer Soccer preseason rankings are as follows.
1. Florida State 2. UCLA 3. North Carolina 4. Stanford 5. Virginia 6. Penn State 7. USC 8. Georgetown 9. Santa Clara 10. Vanderbilt 11.Texas A&M 12. Tennessee 13. Texas 14. South Florida 15. Washington State 16. South Carolina 17. Duke 18. West Virginia 19. Rutgers 20. Saint Louis 21. NC State 22. BYU 23. Princeton 24. Memphis 25. Baylor

TAR HEELS IN CURRENT POLLS: North Carolina's women's soccer team is ranked second in the United Soccer Coach's Association coaches' poll on November 12. Top Drawer Soccer had the Tar Heels ranked #1 on November 26. Soccer America ranked the Tar Heels at #2 on November 12 of this season. The Tar Heels are currently No. 2 in the NCAA RPI behind Stanford.

THREE TAR HEELS NAMED TO 2019 HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: A trio of returnees from the University of North Carolina's 2018 NCAA Tournament runnerup team have been named to the 2019 Women's Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List presented by World Wide Technology.
A total of 61 collegiate players nationwide were named to the list by United Soccer Coaches and the Missouri Athletic Club. Tar Heels on the list are junior forward Alessia Russo of Kent, England, junior midfielder Taylor Otto of Apex, N.C. and sophomore midfielder Brianna Pinto of Durham, N.C.
The Watch List was announced on Thursday. Fifteen semifinalists will be announced by United Soccer Coaches on December 3. Three finalists will be identified on December 13. On January 10, 2020, the Hermann Trophy winner will be announced at the Hermann Trophy Press Conference and Awards Banquet to be held at the Missouri Athletic Club in Saint Louis.
Russo was a semifinalist for the award last year. She was a first-team United Soccer Coaches All-America at forward, first-team All-ACC and the 2018 ACC Offensive Player of the Year. Despite having her 2018 season cut short by a torn ACL suffered in the final regular season game, Russo played in 14 games last season and was Carolina's third-leading scorer with 16 point. She shared the team lead in both goals scored with six and game-winning goals with four. She also had four assists.
Otto was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2018 and was named third-team All-America by United Soccer Coaches. She started all 27 games for UNC and had five goals and six assists for 16 points. She tied for third on the team in scoring with 16 points, sharing that spot on the scoring column with Russo.
Pinto was a first-team freshman All-America as named by Top Drawer Soccer. The Durham native was also a first-team All-ACC selection. Pinto played in 26 games, starting 25 times. She was Carolina's second-leading scorer with 20 points. She was second on the squad in assists with eight and she shared the team lead in goals scored with Russo and Julia Ashley with six.

CONSISTENCY, STATISTICAL ANOMALY OR JUST VERY GOOD?: Head Coach Anson Dorrance is currently in his 41st season as the Tar Heels' head mentor. His teams have an all-time record of 870-75-41 (.903). Under Anson Dorrance, UNC has won 22 national championships, including 21 NCAA crowns and one AIAW title in his 40 previous years as head coach. UNC has won 22 outright regular-season ACC titles and shared another conference regular-season crown (2014) while capturing 22 ACC Tournament championships in his 41 years as head coach with ACC regular season play beginning in 1987 and the ACC Tournament in 1988. During his tenure, Dorrance's teams are 218-26-12 in ACC regular-season games, 69-6-5 in ACC Tournament matches and 135-14-4 in NCAA Tournament games. UNC is 380-28-16 in home games in its history and 490-47-25 in games played on the road and at neutral sites. Under Dorrance, UNC has won 90.3 percent of its games overall, 87.5 percent of its ACC regular-season games, 89.4 percent of its ACC Tournament games, 89.5 percent of its NCAA Tournament games, 91.5 percent of its home games and 89.4 percent of its road and neutral site games. UNC has played 562 of its 986 all-time games either on the road or at neutral sites (57.0 percent) so Carolina's record all-time is hardly based on home cooking. In the program's 41-year history, totaling 986 games, Carolina has shut out opponents 615 times and has been held scoreless in just 58 games. UNC has shutout its opponents in 62.4 of its all-time games.

TAR HEELS ELECT TEAM CAPTAINS: The North Carolina women's soccer team elected three players as team captains for the 2019 campaign. The captains are redshirt junior Taylor Otto, who will be in heer second season as a captain. She is joined this year as captains by juniors Alessia Russo and Lotte Wubben-Moy, both English national team players.

FOLLOW CAROLINA WOMEN'S SOCCER ON TWITTER: Fans are able to follow Carolina women's soccer through Twitter updates at @uncwomenssoccer run by the UNC Athletic Communications Office. 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 site is one of the most followed of any collegiate women's soccer team with 22,200 followers. The Tar Heels have gained 3,200 Twitter followers since the start of the 2019 season. Carolina fans are also encouraged to follow the Tar Heels on Instagram at @uncwomenssoccer. The Tar Heel program has 55,500 followers on Instagram.

JUST FIVE TIMES SINCE 1986: Carolina's 2-0 setback at Arkansas on September 15, 2019 marked only the fifth loss for the Tar Heels by a margin of more than one goal since the 1985 season, a campaign which ended with a 2-0 loss to George Mason in the NCAA Tournament final.
Carolina has played 837 games since the start of the 1986 season, losing by more than one goal just five 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 five 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, lost to USC 3-0 on September 11, 2016 and fell to Arkansas 2-0 on September 15, 2019.

DID YOU KNOW...: North Carolina would have to lose its next 795 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 Friday with an all-time record of 870-75-41. Dorrance has coached the Tar Heels in all 985 of their games all-time.

SHUTOUTS ARE INFREQUENT: UNC's 0-0 tie against Duke on October 10, 2019 was only the 58th time the Tar Heels have been shut out in their history. Altogether, UNC has played 986 matches since 1979.
The Tar Heels have been blanked on the scoreboard in only 5.9 percent of the games they have played in during their history. Carolina has suffered 43 shutout losses in its history. The Tar Heels have also played 15 scoreless ties in their 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.

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 218-26-12 all-time in ACC regular-season matches. The Tar Heels earned their 200th all-time ACC regular season victory on September 14, 2018 when they won at Florida State 1-0.
UNC has averaged just 0.79 ACC regular-season losses a year in the 33 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 had happened in history. Carolina suffered losses to Louisville, Florida State and Duke in consecutive games that season.
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 10 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 Princeton at WakeMed Soccer Park on November 19, 2017 was just the 28th home loss in Carolina history and just the third home loss in the four seasons combined from 2015 to 2018. 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 2018, UNC recorded a 10-0-1 record in home games. Carolina won all 13 home games in 2019.

IN THE ACC REGULAR SEASON: In its last 62 ACC regular season games, UNC is now 51-5-6, a winning percentage of 87.1 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 into midway through the 2015 campaign.
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. Carolina finished the 2018 season with a perfect 10-0-0 ACC regular-season mark.
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 regular-season 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, 51 wins, just five losses and six ties in UNC's last 62 regular season ACC games is a remarkable accomplishment given the parity in the league at this point and the number of nationally-ranked league foes the Tar Heels face on a regular basis.
Carolina has not lost an ACC regular-season game since October 14, 2016, a 1-0 loss at Notre Dame. UNC is 30-0-3 since that loss in ACC regular-season games. The Tar Heels had won 14 successive ACC regular season games since a 1-1 tie against Notre Dame on October 26, 2017 before the Tar Heels and Duke tied 0-0 on October 10.

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. UNC beat Louisville 3-0 in its ACC opener for 2019 on September 21.
The Tar Heels are 27-4-1 overall in conference openers.
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 2019 season, Carolina swept a pair of games in the Carolina Nike Classic as the Tar Heels beat Indiana 3-0 and Duke 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 28 times.
Carolina has a 51-3-2 record in its early season tournaments at home. The only losses were to Penn State in 1999, to Notre Dame in 2008 and to 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 34-5-2 all-time in season openers after beating Indiana 3-0 on August 22.   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 36-2-3 in home openers all-time after beating Indiana 3-0 on August 22.
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.

16 TAR HEEL SOCCER PLAYERS NAMED TO 2019 ACC ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL: A record 405 North Carolina student-athletes were named to the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll. It marks the fourth year in a row that UNC has established a new high and the first time that more than 400 Tar Heels have been named to the list.
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. The conference recognized a record 4,769 student-athletes for their hard work in the classroom during the 2018-19 school year.
The number of UNC students honored for 2018-19 is more than half of Carolina's total number of student-athletes and is an improvement of more than 100 student-athletes over the past decade.
It's the seventh year in a row that more than 300 Tar Heel student-athletes have earned the recognition. The Tar Heels ranked fourth among conference schools in total number of student-athletes honored, second among public schools. Duke led the way with 519 honored, followed by Notre Dame (460) and Virginia (427) ahead of UNC.
Forty-two UNC student-athletes were honored for a fourth time. They included Dorian Bailey (women's soccer) and Nicole Crutchfield (women's soccer).
UNC's ACC Academic Honor Roll totals over the past decade:
405 in 2018-19
391 in 2017-18
385 in 2016-17
356 in 2015-16
339 in 2014-15
347 in 2013-14
329 in 2012-13
290 in 2011-12
247 in 2010-11
262 in 2009-10
274 in 2008-09
Women's soccer players, a total of 16, on the 2018-19 ACC Academic Honor Roll included Miah Araba, Dorian Bailey, Natalie Chandler, Nicole Crutchfield, Claudia Dickey, Rachael Dorwart, Emily Fox, Morgan Goff, Rachel Jones, Megan Joyner, Mary Elliott McCabe, Brianna Pinto, Zoe Redei, Jessie Scarpa, Laura Sparling and Lotte Wubben-Moy.

UNC STRENGTH & CONDITIONING PROGRAM NAMES 2018-19 AWARD WINNERS: The UNC Strength & Conditioning staff announced team awards for the 2018-19 school year, recognizing student-athletes from Olympic sports who excelled as part of in-season and out-of-season programs. Tar Heels were selected for Most Improved, Newcomer and Iron Ram honors.
The Iron Ram Award recognizes all-around performance, and each year's winners are honored with photos hanging in the Loudermilk Center Olympic sports weight room.
Women's Soccer Winners
Iron Ram: Rachael Dorwart
Most Improved: Lotte Wubben-Moy, Morgan Goff
Newcomer: Brianna Pinto

UNC ACADEMIC AWARD WINNERS: Several UNC women's soccer were honored as academic award winners by the University and athletic department during the 2018-19 school year.
4.0 Club (Both Semesters of 2018) - Natalie Chandler
4.0 Club (Fall Semester 2018 - Laura Sparling, Abby Staker
2018 Tar Heel Scholar-Athletes (GPA of 3.2 or better in fall and spring semesters of 2018.) * – those who have earned induction into Chi Alpha Sigma honorary society. Induction requires that a student-athlete has achieved least a 3.4 cumulative GPA, has reached at least junior status academically and has lettered in a varsity sport.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Miah Araba
Dorian Bailey *
Natalie Chandler
Nicole Crutchfield *
Rachael Dorwart
Emily Fox
Morgan Goff
Megan Joyner
Annie Kingman
Kate Morris *
Jessie Scarpa *
Laura Sparling
Abby Staker *

18 TAR HEELS ON OPENING DAY NWSL ROSTERS FOR 2019: Eighteen players who are University of North Carolina alumnae were on opening day rosters for the 2019 National Women's Soccer League Season which begins this weekend. This is the seventh season of NWSL play.
The eighteen former Tar Heels is an increase of four players over last season when 14 former University of North Carolina players were on opening day rosters for NWSL squads.
A pair of seniors from the 2018 NCAA runner-up team – Alex Kimball and Dorian Bailey – are making their NWSL debuts in 2019.
TAR HEELS ON 2019 OPENING DAY NWSL ROSTERS (18)
CHICAGO RED STARS – Brooke Elby (defender)
HOUSTON DASH – Amber Brooks (defender), Satara Murray (defender), Kealia Ohai (forward)
NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE – Merritt Mathias (defender), Heather O'Reilly (midfielder), Crystal Dunn (forward), Jessica McDonald (forward)
ORLANDO PRIDE – Ashlyn Harris (goalkeeper), Joanna Boyles (midfielder), Abby Elinsky (midfielder)
PORTLAND THORNS – Meghan Klingenberg (defender), Tobin Heath (midfielder)
SEATTLE REIGN FC – Allie Long (midfielder)
UTAH ROYALS – Katie Bowen (defender), Alex Kimball (forward)
WASHINGTON SPIRIT – Paige Nielsen (defender), Dorian Bailey (defender)

TAR HEELS EARN TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD FROM UNITED SOCCER COACHES:   The United Soccer Coaches announced on October 3 the winners at the collegiate level recognizing exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2018-19 academic year A total of 644 women's teams nationwide earned the Team Academic Award from the United Soccer Coaches. UNC won the award for the second successive year.   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 for the 2018-19 academic year.

MORRIS WINS TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD: Each year the University of North Carolina athletic department names one player from each team as the winner of the Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete Award. The winner of the award for the 2018-19 UNC women's soccer team was senior Kate Morris.

SEVEN TAR HEELS NAMED TO 2018 ALL-ACC ACADEMIC TEAM: Seven Tar Heels earned spots on the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team for women's soccer, announced January 31 by the league office. Dorian Bailey, Rachael Dorwart, Emily Fox, Morgan Goff, Rachel Jones, Brianna Pinto and Lotte Wubben-Moy were selected for the team, which takes into account both athletic and academic performance.
UNC, which won the ACC regular-season title and finished as the NCAA runner-up, led the league with seven selections.
Bailey, a midfielder from Mission, Kan., graduated from UNC in December with a degree in exercise and sport science.
Dorwart, a freshman forward from Mechanicsburg, Pa., is majoring in exercise and sport science.
Fox, a sophomore defender from Ashburn, Va., is majoring in global studies.
Goff, a junior defender from Dunn, N.C., is majoring English and comparative literature
Jones, a freshman forward from Lawrenceville, Ga., is majoring in public policy.
Pinto, a freshman midfielder from Durham, N.C., has not yet declared a major.
Wubben-Moye, a sophomore defender from London, England, is majoring in exercise and sport science.
Fox and Pinto also earned first-team All-ACC honors, and Bailey was named to the third team.
Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.

THREE TAR HEELS SELECTED IN 2019 NWSL DRAFT: Three members of the North Carolina women's soccer team were selected in the 2019 NWSL College Draft Thursday, January 10 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Defender Julia Ashley and midfielder Dorian Bailey were taken in the first round, with midfielder Alex Kimball tabbed in the fourth round.
Ashley, who had six goals and 10 assists as a senior, was the No. 6 overall pick to Sky Blue FC. A native of Verona, New Jersey, Ashley was a tri-captain for UNC who started all 27 games in 2018, earned second-team All-ACC honors and scored the game-winning goal in the College Cup win over Georgetown.
Bailey, a Mission, Kansas, product, was taken eighth overall by the Washington Spirit. A third-team All-ACC pick, Bailey also started all 27 games for the national runners-up and tallied five goals and three assists on the year.
A native of Chapel Hill, Kimball was picked with the fifth pick of the fourth round by Utah Royals FC. After missing the entire 2017 season due to injury, Kimball capped her Carolina career with four goals and two assists last fall.

HAMM NAMED WINNER OF PRESTIGIOUS 2019 NCAA SILVER ANNIVERSARY AWARD: University of North Carolina women's soccer great Mia Hamm, UNC Class of 1994, was named a recipient of the prestigious NCAA Silver Anniversary Award for 2019 on December 13, 2018. The Silver Anniversary Awards are given each year by the NCAA to recognize six distinguished former student-athletes on their 25th anniversary as college graduates.
The Silver Anniversary Awards were first given in 1973, when five distinguished former student-athletes were honored. In 1986, the number of annual honorees was increased to six. Hamm will receive her award at the organization's annual convention in Orlando Fla., on January 23, 2019.
In order to be eligible, the nominee must be a college graduate and a varsity letter-winner at an NCAA member institution and must have achieved personal distinction since his or her graduation. The selection criteria are weighted 40 percent to the nominee's status as a prominent collegiate athlete and 60 percent to the nominee's career achievement.
"Mia's extraordinary exploits on the field are well documented and legendary but she is so much deeper than her athletic resume," says UNC women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance, who coached Hamm at the collegiate level from 1989-93. "Mia represented the best of selflessness and team above individual. She is so deserving of this honor."
Hamm will be honored with the other 1994 college graduates who are Silver Anniversary Award honorees – fencer Tim Cullen of Air Force, wrestler David Hirsch of Cornell, basketball player Lisa Leslie of USC, football player Heath Shuler of Tennessee and baseball player Jason Varitek of Georgia Tech.

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).

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 959 matches in its history. There have been only 25 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.