North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer | |||
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2024 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team | |||
University | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | ||
Head coach | Damon Nahas (1st season) | ||
Conference | ACC | ||
Location | Chapel Hill, North Carolina | ||
Stadium | Dorrance Field (Capacity: 4,200) | ||
Nickname | Tar Heels | ||
Colors | Carolina blue and white [1] | ||
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NCAA Tournament championships | |||
1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2024 | |||
NCAA Tournament runner-up | |||
1985, 1998, 2001, 2018, 2019, 2022 | |||
NCAA Tournament Semifinals | |||
1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024 | |||
NCAA Tournament appearances | |||
1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 [2] | |||
Conference Tournament championships | |||
1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2017, 2019 | |||
Conference Regular Season championships | |||
1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 |
The North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I soccer. [3]
North Carolina is one of the most successful women's college soccer teams, having won 22 of the 36 Atlantic Coast Conference championships, and 22 of the 43 NCAA national championships. The team has participated in every NCAA tournament. [4]
The UNC women's soccer team began as a club team established by students looking for high level competition. In 1979, they petitioned the UNC Athletic Director, Bill Cobey, to take the club to the varsity level. Cobey asked Anson Dorrance, then the UNC men's soccer coach to assess the club's ability to transition to varsity status. Dorrance was impressed enough by the club, then coached by Mike Byers, to recommend that the school form a women's soccer team. Cobey agreed and hired Dorrance as head coach, with Byers as an assistant, for the 1978 season. That year, the Tar Heels played an essentially club schedule, including games against high school teams. However, in 1979, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, at the prompting of Dorrance and University of Colorado coach, Chris Lidstone, established a national women's soccer program. [5]
At the time, UNC had the only varsity women's soccer team in the Southeast and this allowed Dorrance to recruit the top talent in the region. In 1981, he recruited one of the most talented freshman squads in the history of women's soccer. Eight of those recruits won starting positions and took the team to the first, and only, AIAW national championship. This group would set the tone for Tar Heels soccer for down through its history. As Dorrance recalls it, "These were the true pioneers. They were given nothing. They were accustomed to taking things and so they weren't as genteel as the sort of young ladies we can recruit now. . . They were the sort of girls who would go downtown, burn it to the ground, . . . But then, they were on time for every single practice and in practice they worked themselves until they were bleeding and throwing up. They had a tremendous commitment to victory and to personal athletic excellence. And for that I admired them because they were a tremendous group. And even though, off the field, I think they all hated each other. But once the game began, there was a collective fury that just intimidated everyone they played against." [6] Building on that competitive drive, the Tar Heels went on to win the first three NCAA championships, and dominate the sport for years to come.
Year | Head coach | Overall | ACC | ACC tourn. | NCAA tourn. |
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1979 | Anson Dorrance | 10–2–0 | – | – | – |
1980 | 21–5–0 | – | – | AIAW Semifinals | |
1981 | 23–0–0 | – | – | AIAW Champions | |
1982 | 19–2–0 | – | – | Champions | |
1983 | 19–1–0 | – | – | Champions | |
1984 | 24–0–1 | – | – | Champions | |
1985 | 18–2–1 | – | – | Runner up | |
1986 | 24–0–1 | – | – | Champions | |
1987 | 23–0–1 | 3–0–0 | – | Champions | |
1988 | 18–0–3 | 1–0–1 | Runner up | Champions | |
1989 | 24–0–1 | 4–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
1990 | 20–1–1 | 4–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
1991 | 24–0–0 | 4–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
1992 | 25–0–0 | 4–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
1993 | 23–0–0 | 4–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
1994 | 25–1–1 | 5–1–0 | Champions | Champions | |
1995 | 25–1–0 | 7–0–0 | Champions | Semifinals | |
1996 | 25–1–0 | 7–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
1997 | 27–0–1 | 7–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
1998 | 25–1–0 | 7–0–0 | Champions | Runner up | |
1999 | 24–2–0 | 7–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
2000 | 21–3–0 | 4–3–0 | Champions | Champions | |
2001 | 24–1–0 | 7–0–0 | Champions | Runner up | |
2002 | 21–2–4 | 4–1–2 | Champions | Semifinals | |
2003 | 27–0–0 | 7–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
2004 | 20–1–2 | 9–0–0 | Runner up | Third round | |
2005 | 23–1–1 | 9–1–0 | Champions | Quarterfinals | |
2006 | 27–1–0 | 10–0–0 | Champions | Champions | |
2007 | 19–4–1 | 9–1–0 | Champions | Third round | |
2008 | 25–1–2 | 9–0–1 | Champions | Champions | |
2009 | 23–3–1 | 9–3–0 | Champions | Champions | |
2010 | 19–3–2 | 9–3–0 | Semifinals | Third round | |
2011 | 13–5–2 | 6–3–1 | Quarterfinals | Third round | |
2012 | 15–5–3 | 6–3–1 | Quarterfinals | Champions | |
2013 | 20–5–0 | 10–3–0 | Semifinals | Quarterfinals | |
2014 | 14–4–2 | 9–0–1 | Semifinals | Third round | |
2015 | 15–5–1 | 7–3–0 | Semifinals | Second round | |
2016 | 17–4–4 | 6–2–2 | Runner up | Semifinals | |
2017 | 17–3–2 | 8–0–2 | Champions | Third round | |
2018 | 21–4–2 | 10–0–0 | Runner up | Runner up | |
2019 | 24–1–2 | 9–0–1 | Champions | Runner up | |
2020 | 18–2–0 | 8–0–0 | Runner up | Semifinals | |
2021 | 12–3–3 | 5–2–3 | — | First round | |
2022 | 20–5–1 | 8–2–0 | Runner up | Runner up | |
2023 | 13–2–8 | 5–0–5 | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | |
2024 | Damon Nahas | 22-5-0 | 7-3-0 | Runner up | Champions |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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National Coach of the Year:
ACC Coach of the Year:
ACC Player of the Year:
ACC Defensive Player of the Year:
ACC Offensive Player of the Year:
ACC Rookie of the Year:
NCAA Tournament MVP:
Offensive Player of the NCAA Tournament:
Defensive Player of the Tournament:
First Team All-America Selection: As of 2011, North Carolina had 70 players gain first-team All-American recognition. The next two schools with the greatest number of All-Americans were tied with twenty-two each. [8]
Cynthia Marie Parlow Cone is an American soccer executive and president of the United States Soccer Federation. A former professional soccer player, she is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup champion. As head coach in 2013, Parlow Cone led the Portland Thorns FC to clinch the inaugural National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) championship title.
Albert Anson Dorrance IV is a retired American soccer coach. He was the head coach of the women's soccer program at the University of North Carolina from 1979 to 2024. He has one of the most successful coaching records in the history of athletics. Under Dorrance's leadership, the Tar Heels have won 21 of the 41 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships. The Tar Heels' record under Dorrance stood at 809-67-36 over 33 seasons at the end of the 2017 season. He has led his team to a 101-game unbeaten streak and coached 13 different women to a total of 20 National Player of the Year awards.
Robert Fetzer Field was a stadium located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and was the home of the lacrosse and soccer teams of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Tar Heels. The four teams that called Fetzer field their home have a combined total of 26 national championships.
The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the Tar Heel State. The campus at Chapel Hill is referred to as the University of North Carolina for the purposes of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Since the school fostered the oldest collegiate team in the Carolinas, the school took on the nickname Carolina, especially in athletics. The Tar Heels are also referred to as UNC or The Heels.
Tisha Lea Venturini-Hoch is a former American soccer player and current National Spokesperson for Produce for Better Health. She is a gold medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and a world champion in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup held in the U.S.
Elmar Bolowich was most recently head coach of the George Mason Patriots men's soccer team at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, United States. He was previously the head coach of the Creighton Bluejays men's soccer team at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska for eight years after leaving his 22-year tenure as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer team at the University of North Carolina.
The North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in men's NCAA Division I soccer competition. They compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels won the NCAA championship in 2001 and 2011. They play at Dorrance Field.
Danielle Marie Reyna is an American former soccer player. She played six times for the United States women's national team in 1993. She married soccer player Claudio Reyna in 1997.
The 1991 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament was the 10th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's collegiate soccer. The championship game was played at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina during December 1991.
The 1992 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament was the 11th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's collegiate soccer. The championship game was played at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina during December 1992.
The 1993 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament was the 12th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's collegiate soccer. The championship game was played at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina during December 1993.
The 1994 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament was the 13th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's collegiate soccer. The semifinals and championship game were played at Merlo Field in Portland, Oregon during December 1994.
The 1997 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament was the 16th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's collegiate soccer. The semifinals and championship game were played at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina during December 1997.
The 2000 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament was the 19th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's collegiate soccer. The semifinals and championship game were played at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California during December 2000.
Angela Kelly is a Canadian soccer coach and former player. She is currently the head coach of the University of Texas women’s soccer team. Kelly was previously the head coach of the University of Tennessee women’s soccer team for 12 seasons.
The 2020 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2020 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. It was the 44th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by 44th year head coach Anson Dorrance.
Brianna Alexis Smalls Pinto is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
The 2021 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2021 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. It was the 45th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by 45th year head coach Anson Dorrance and played their home games at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The 2023 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. It was the 47th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by 47th year head coach Anson Dorrance and played their home games at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The 2024 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. It is the 48th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels are led by first-year head coach Damon Nahas and play their home games at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.