2024 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team

2024 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer
National Champions
NCAA Tournament, College Cup
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches  poll	No. 1
TopDrawerSoccer.com	No. 1
Record	22–5–0 (7–3–0 ACC)
Head coach	Damon Nahas (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Chris Ducar (29th season) Tracey Leone (1st season)
Home stadium	Dorrance Field
Seasons ←  2023 2025  →

2024 ACC women's soccer standings

v t e	Conf.									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
No. 3 Duke  ‍†‍‍y	9	–	0	–	1		.950			18	–	3	–	1		.841
No. 2 Wake Forest  ‍‍‍y	7	–	2	–	1		.750			16	–	4	–	4		.750
No. 13 Florida State  ‍‍‡‍y	7	–	2	–	1		.750			15	–	2	–	4		.810
No. 1 North Carolina  ‍‍‍y	7	–	3	–	0		.700			22	–	5	–	0		.815
No. 7 Virginia Tech  ‍‍‍y	6	–	2	–	2		.700			14	–	6	–	3		.674
No. 6 Notre Dame  ‍‍‍y	5	–	1	–	4		.700			14	–	4	–	4		.727
California  ‍‍‍y	5	–	4	–	1		.550			13	–	6	–	2		.667
No. 4 Stanford  ‍‍‍y	5	–	4	–	1		.550			16	–	5	–	2		.739
Virginia  ‍‍‍y	5	–	5	–	0		.500			13	–	5	–	1		.711
Boston College  ‍‍‍	4	–	4	–	2		.500			12	–	5	–	2		.684
Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍	3	–	5	–	2		.400			9	–	6	–	3		.583
Louisville  ‍‍‍	2	–	5	–	3		.350			7	–	6	–	5		.528
SMU  ‍‍‍	2	–	6	–	2		.300			6	–	9	–	2		.412
Clemson  ‍‍‍	2	–	7	–	1		.250			6	–	8	–	3		.441
Miami (FL)  ‍‍‍	1	–	6	–	3		.250			5	–	8	–	4		.412
NC State  ‍‍‍	1	–	6	–	3		.250			4	–	10	–	4		.333
Syracuse  ‍‍‍	0	–	9	–	1		.050			6	–	10	–	2		.389
† – Conference champion ‡ – 2024 ACC Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of December 10, 2024 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll Source: The ACC

The 2024 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. It was the 48th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by first-year head coach Damon Nahas and played their home games at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The Tar Heels were set to be led by Anson Dorrance but he announced his retirement just four days prior to the season beginning on August 11, 2024. Damon Nahas was selected to be the interim head coach. ^[1]

Despite a coaching change between the preseason and the start of the regular sesaon, the Tar Heels started the season with two wins on a trip to Colorado. They returned home to face sixteenth ranked Georgia who they defeated 4–3. They followed that with another Power 4 win against Arizona. They won two games against non-Power 4 opponents before losing to an unranked Duke. The Tar Heels were ranked second for that matchup and fell to tenth to start ACC play. They began the ACC season with a six game winning streak which included defeats of Wake Forest, nineteenth ranked Virginia, and seventeenth ranked California. The streak was broken at seventh ranked Stanford. The Tar Heels rebounded to defeat Clemson before losing the final two games of the ACC season. The losses were against seventeenth ranked Florida State and another loss to Duke, this time the Blue Devils were ranked first in the nation.

The Tar Heels finished the regular season 14–4–0 and 7–3–0 in ACC play to finish in fourth place. As the fourth seed in the ACC Tournament, they hosted fifth seed and twevlth ranked Virginia Tech in the First Round and defeated them 2–0. They faced-off against rival Duke for the third time in the season, and got their first win 2–1 to make the Finals. The Final was a regular season rematch between the Tar Heels and Florida State. The Tar Geels again lost, this time 3–2, to finish as runners up. The Tar Heels received an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament where they were the second-seed in the Florida State Bracket. They defeated USC Upstate in the First Round, Santa Clara in the Second Round, and sixth-seed Minnesota in the Round of 16. Upsets elsewhere in the bracket saw the Tar Heels host Penn State in the Quarterfinals. The Tar Heels won 2–1 in overtime to advance to the College Cup. Their semifnal match-up was a fourth meeting on the season with Duke. The Tar Heels won this one 3–0, making the record on the season 2–2, with Duke winning both regular season matches, and the Tar Heels winning both postseason matches. They faced off against Wake Forest in the final, and defeated them 1–0 to win their twenty-second national title. The Tar Heels' final record was 22–5–0.

Previous season

Main article: 2023 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team

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

Offseason

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Nona Reason	0	GK	5'10"	Freshman	Noblesville, Indiana	Transferred to Clemson [2]
Savannah King	3	DF	5'6"	Freshman	West Hills, California	Drafted 2nd overall in 2024 NWSL Draft
Paige Tolentino	4	DF/MF	5'5"	Senior	Pinehurst, North Carolina	Transferred to NC State
Julia Dorsey	7	DF	5'7"	Graduate Student	Baltimore, Maryland	Graduated; drafted 40th overall in 2024 NWSL Draft
Emily Moxley	8	DF/MF	5'8"	Graduate Student	Cary, North Carolina	Graduated
Tori DellaPeruta	9	FW	5'8"	Sophomore	Cumming, Georgia	Signed professional contract with Sampdoria [3]
Samantha Meza	10	MF	5'4"	Senior	Dallas, Texas	Graduated; drafted 17th overall in 2024 NWSL Draft
Sydney Cheeseman	12	DF	5'6"	Sophomore	Lafayette, Colorado	Transferred to LSU [4]
Isabel Cox	13	FW	5'10"	Graduate Student	Greensboro, North Carolina	Graduated
Kai Hayes	14	MF	5'4"	Senior	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida	Graduated, transferred to Baylor
Avery Patterson	15	MF	5'6"	Senior	Jacksonville, Florida	Graduated; drafted 19th overall in 2024 NWSL Draft
Melina Rebimbas	16	MF/DF	5'6"	Freshman	Warren, New Jersey	Transferred to Alabama
Emily Colton	19	MF/FW	5'3"	Junior	Carlsbad, California	Transferred to Wake Forest
Ally Sentnor	21	MF/FW	5'3"	Sophomore	Hanson, Massachusetts	Drafted 1st overall in 2024 NWSL Draft
Mia Oliaro	22	FW/MF	5'9"	Freshman	Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Transferred to Duke
Maci Teater	23	MF	5'3"	Sophomore	St. Louis, Missouri	Transferred to Vanderbilt
Talia DellaPeruta	24	MF	5'5"	Senior	Cumming, Georgia	Graduated; Signed professional contract with Sampdoria [3]
Maycee Bell	25	DF	5'11"	Senior	Wichita, Kansas	Graduated; drafted 14th overall in 2024 NWSL Draft
Kayleigh Herr	30	DF	5'6"	Sophomore	Cary, North Carolina	Transferred to Penn State
Emmie Allen	32	GK	5'11"	Sophomore	High Point, North Carolina	Signed with Bay FC [5]
Riley Quinlan	33	MF	5'6"	Senior	Wake Forest, North Carolina	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Source: ^[6]

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Clare Gagne	0	GK	5'10"	Graduate Student	Orono, Minnesota	Brown
Eden Bretzer	14	MF	5'7"	Junior	Edmonton, Canada	Florida Gulf Coast
Olivia Migli	16	MF	5'4"	Graduate Student	Haymarket, Virginia	Duke
Aria Nagai	19	MF	5'3"	Graduate Student	Herndon, Virginia	Princeton
Marisa Shorrock	21	GK	5'8"	Graduate Student	Westport, Connecticut	Yale

Recruiting class

Source: ^[7]

Name	Nationality	Hometown	Club	TDS Rating
Aven Alvarez DF		New Hill, North Carolina	NC Courage	[8]
Trinity Armstrong DF		Dallas, Texas	FC Dallas (ECNL)	[9]
Bella Gaetino MF		Dexter, Michigan	Michigan Hawks	[10]
Hannah Johann GK		Bamberg, Germany	Eintracht Frankfurt	N/A
Caitlin Mara DF		Cambridge, Massachusetts	FC Stars of Massachusetts	[11]
Ashley Pennie MF		Miami, Florida	Weston FC	[12]
Logan Tongberg FW		Chevy Chase, Maryland	Bethesda SC Academy	[13]
Linda Ullmark MF		Buffalo, New York	WNY Flash	[14]

Squad

Roster

As of February 7, 2025 ^[15]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 GK   USA Clare Gagne 1 GK   GER Hannah Johann 2 DF   USA Evelyn Shores 3 DF   USA Trinity Armstrong 4 DF   USA Aven Alvarez 5 FW   USA Maddie Dahlien 6 MF   USA Emerson Elgin 7 MF   USA Linda Ullmark 8 MF   USA Bella Gaetino 11 MF   USA Makenna Dominguez 13 FW   USA Kate Faasse 14 MF   CAN Eden Bretzer 16 MF   USA Olivia Migli 17 DF   USA Caitlin Mara

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF   USA Bella Sember 19 MF   USA Aria Nagai 20 MF   USA Ashley Pennie 21 GK   USA Marisa Shorrock 22 DF   USA Avery Look 23 DF   USA Raegan Williams 25 FW   USA Logan Tongberg 31 MF   USA Ella Smith 33 FW   USA Olivia Thomas 34 DF   USA Tessa Dellarose 39 FW   USA Asha Means 40 GK   USA Abby Gundry 44 DF   USA Alexa Wojnovich

Team management

Position	Staff
Athletic Director	Bubba Cunningham
Head coach	Damon Nahas
Assistant Coach/General Manager	Chris Ducar
Assistant Coach	Tracey Bates Leone
Director of Operations	Tom Sander
Assistant Director of Operations	Corey Emerick

Source: ^[15]

Schedule

Source: ^{[16] [17]}

Date Time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
August 4 7:00 p.m.	No. 8т	DC Power FC	W 5–1	–	Dorrance Field Chapel Hill, NC
August 10 1:00 p.m.	No. 8т	Davidson	W 3–0	–	Dorrance Field Chapel Hill, NC
Non-conference Regular season
August 15 9:00 p.m.,  ESPN+	No. 8т	at  Denver	W  2–1	1–0–0	CIBER Field (1,127) Denver, CO
August 18 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 8т	at  Colorado	W  3–2	2–0–0	Prentup Field (1,876) Boulder, CO
August 22 5:00 p.m.,  ACCNX	No. 5	No. 16  Georgia	W  4–3	3–0–0	Dorrance Field (3,219) Chapel Hill, NC
August 25 12:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 5	Arizona	W  2–0	4–0–0	Dorrance Field (2,073) Chapel Hill, NC
August 29 4:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 5	North Dakota	W  3–0	5–0–0	Dorrance Field (3,097) Chapel Hill, NC
September 1 1:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 5	Seton Hall	W  2–0	6–0–0	Dorrance Field (1,203) Chapel Hill, NC
September 5 7:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 2	at  Duke Rivalry	L  0–1	6–1–0	Koskinen Stadium (2,257) Durham, NC
September 8 1:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 2	Columbia	W  2–0	7–1–0	Dorrance Field (2,653) Chapel Hill, NC
ACC Regular Season
September 12 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 10	Wake Forest	W  1–0	8–1–0 (1–0–0)	Dorrance Field (2,942) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
September 19 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 8	at  Pittsburgh	W  1–0	9–1–0 (2–0–0)	Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,490) Pittsburgh, PA
September 22 1:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 8	at  Syracuse	W  1–0	10–1–0 (3–0–0)	SU Soccer Stadium (857) Syracuse, NY
September 27 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 2	No. 19  Virginia	W  3–2	11–1–0 (4–0–0)	Dorrance Field (2,979) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
October 3 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 3	Louisville	W  5–0	12–1–0 (5–0–0)	Dorrance Field (2,012) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
October 10 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 2	at No. 17  California	W  1–0	13–1–0 (6–0–0)	Edwards Stadium (688) Berkeley, CA
October 13 4:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 2	at No. 7  Stanford	L  0–1	13–2–0 (6–1–0)	Cagan Stadium (2,087) Stanford, CA
October 17 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 4	Clemson	W  6–0	14–2–0 (7–1–0)	Dorrance Field (2,237) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
October 25 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 4	at No. 17  Florida State	L  2–4	14–3–0 (7–2–0)	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,684) Tallahassee, FL
October 31 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 8	No. 1 Duke Rivalry	L  2–3	14–4–0 (7–3–0)	Dorrance Field (3,127) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
ACC Tournament
November 3 6:00 p.m., ACCN	(4) No. 8	(5) No. 12  Virginia Tech First Round	W  2–0	15–4–0	Dorrance Field (1,347) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
November 7 8:00 p.m., ACCN	(4) No. 8	vs. (1) No. 1 Duke Semifinals, Rivalry	W  2–1	16–4–0	WakeMed Soccer Park (1,492) Cary, NC
November 10 12:00 p.m.,  ESPNU	(4) No. 8	vs. (3) No. 6 Florida State Final	L  2–3	16–5–0	WakeMed Soccer Park (2,905) Cary, NC
NCAA Tournament
November 15 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	(2) No. 8	USC Upstate First Round	W  8–0	17–5–0	Dorrance Field (1,273) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
November 22 4:30 p.m., ESPN+	(2) No. 8	No. 11  Santa Clara Second Round	W  1–0	18–5–0	Dorrance Field (1,893) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
November 24 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	(2) No. 8	(6)  Minnesota Round of 16	W  3–0	19–5–0	Dorrance Field (1,903) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
November 29 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	(2) No. 8	(4) No. 22  Penn State Quarterfinals	W  2–1  OT	20–5–0	Dorrance Field (2,879) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
December 6 7:30 p.m., ESPNU	(2) No. 8	(1) No. 1 Duke Semifinals, Rivalry	W  3–0	21–5–0	WakeMed Soccer Park (10,333) Cary, NC
December 9 7:00 p.m., ESPNU	(2) No. 8	(2) No. 3 Wake Forest Final	W  1–0	22–5–0	WakeMed Soccer Park (9,475) Cary, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Olivia Thomas	ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week – Week 2	August 27	[18]
Trinity Armstrong	ACC Defensive Player of the Week – Week 6	September 24	[19]
Linda Ullmark	ACC Offensive Player of the Week – Week 7	October 1	[20]
Trinity Armstrong	All-ACC First Team	November 6	[21]
Kate Faasse
Maddie Dahlien	All-ACC Third Team
Tessa Dellarose
Trinity Armstrong	ACC All-Freshman Team
Bella Gaetino
Linda Ullmark
Kate Faasse	All-ACC Tournament Team	November 10	[22]
Trinity Armstrong
Maddie Dahlien
Linda Ullmark
Kate Fassee	Hermann Trophy	January 3, 2025	[23]

Rankings

See also: 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
United Soccer [24]	8т	5	5	2	10	8	4	3	2 (2)	4	4	8	Not released					1
TopDrawer Soccer [25]	13	9	4	2	8	6	2	2	1	6	5	8	9	4	4	2	2	1

References

1. "Anson Dorrance retires as North Carolina women's soccer coach". espn.com. Associated Press. August 11, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
2. "USYNT roster pool goalkeeper Nona Reason transfers to Clemson from UNC". soccerwire.com. SoccerWire. February 20, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
3. Clark, Travis (February 26, 2024). "Tracking Pro Signings, Early Departures". TopDrawerSoccer . Retrieved May 12, 2024.
4. "UNC Transfer Sydney Cheesman Joins LSU Soccer". lsusports.net. Louisiana State University Athletics. December 22, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
5. "Bay FC announces roster ahead of inaugural NWSL season". Bay FC. March 13, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
6. "Women's Soccer Announces Roster Additions For 2024". goheels.com. University of North Carolina Athletics. July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
7. "Women's Soccer Inks Seven In Class Of 2024". goheels.com. University of North Carolina Athletics. November 10, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
8. "Aven Alvarez". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
9. "Trinity Armstrong". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
10. "Bella Gaetino". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
11. "Caitlin Mara". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
12. "Ashley Pennie". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
13. "Logan Tongberg". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
14. "Linda Ullmark". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
15. "2024 Women's Soccer Roster". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
16. "2024 Women's Soccer Schedule". goheels.com. University of North Carolina. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
17. "Women's Soccer Announces 2024 Schedule". goheels.com. University of North Carolina. July 15, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
18. "ACC Announces Weekly Women's Soccer Honors". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 27, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
19. "Wake's Colton, UNC's Armstrong Named ACC Women's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. September 24, 2024. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
20. "ACC Announces Weekly Women's Soccer Honors". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
21. "2024 All-ACC Women's Soccer Awards Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 6, 2024. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
22. "Florida State Wins 2024 Ally ACC Women's Soccer Championship". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 10, 2024. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
23. "Hermann Trophy goes to UNC's Faasse, Ohio State's Adedokun". ESPN . Associated Press. January 3, 2025. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
24. "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Women — National". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
25. "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawerSoccer . TopDrawer Soccer. December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 10, 2024.