University of North Carolina Athletics
Preseason Officially Underway For Women’s Soccer
July 31, 2024 | Women's Soccer
The 2024 North Carolina women’s soccer season is officially underway.
After a full-team meeting on Monday afternoon to kick off the players’ return to campus, the Tar Heels began preseason on Tuesday with the annual beep test. The first official training session of the 2024 season was held Wednesday morning.
Beep test is complete, and preseason is officially underway! pic.twitter.com/fEBm6dHSgP
— UNC Women's Soccer (@uncwomenssoccer) July 30, 2024
The Tar Heels will soon embark on an 18-game regular season which features 10 home matches at Dorrance Field. The 2024 campaign begins Thursday, August 15 at Denver before returning to Chapel Hill for the home opener against Georgia on Thursday, August 22.
Carolina is set to face five teams that finished in the top 25 of the final United Soccer Coaches poll last year, highlighted by matchups with defending NCAA champion Florida State and national runner-up Stanford. In addition, UNC's opponents include four quarterfinal and three semifinal teams from the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
The full 2024 schedule can be found here.
Season tickets for the 2024 season are on sale and can be purchased here.
Single game tickets will become available on Thursday, August 1 at 10 a.m. ET. Tickets will range from $8-10 and admission will be free for students with a valid ID.
Tar Heel fans will see several new faces this season as the team has welcomed 15 newcomers to its roster. The roster additions feature eight freshmen, five transfers and two newcomers. Twelve returners are back for another season in Carolina blue.
The 27-person roster includes six graduate students, four seniors, four juniors, five sophomores and eight freshmen. They hail from three countries (Canada, United States, Germany) and represent 15 different states.
The complete roster can be found here.
The Tar Heels are led by an all-star coaching staff. Head coach Anson Dorrance enters his 48th year at North Carolina and his 46th year as the women’s head coach. The only head coach in program history, he has compiled a remarkable 934-88-53 mark with the women's team.
Associate head coach Damon Nahas begins his ninth complete season with the Tar Heels. This year will mark assistant coach Chris Ducar’s 29th season; He transitioned to the position of general manager in 2021 after spending 26 years serving as the program's goalkeeper coach, but has since resumed his goalkeeper coach duties.
The team has also welcomed back Tracey Bates Leone as an assistant coach. A standout midfielder under Dorrance in the late 1980s, Leone – then known as Tracey Bates – led the Tar Heels to three national championships (1986, 1987, 1989) and one runner-up finish (1985). She scored the game-winning goal against Colorado College in 1986.
Carolina finished the 2023 season with a 13-2-8 overall mark, which included a 5-0-5 record in ACC play and saw a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals. Six players received All-ACC honors with four garnering All-Region praise and two earning All-America recognition.
Following the season, an NWSL-record six UNC players were selected in the 2024 NWSL Draft. Carolina had three first-round draftees – including the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks – which set a new NWSL record for most players selected from a single school in the opening round.
Stay up to date with UNC women's soccer by following the Tar Heels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
