Tessa Dellarose

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Tessa Dellarose
UNC vs VT (Sep 2023) 080.jpg
Dellarose with North Carolina in 2023
Personal information
Full name Tessa Elise Dellarose [1]
Date of birth (2004-04-02) April 2, 2004 (age 21) [1]
Place of birth Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Position(s) Left back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 North Carolina Tar Heels
Number 34
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2022–2025 North Carolina Tar Heels 89 (6)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2022–2024 Racing Louisville (USL W) 10 (2)
2025 Pittsburgh Riveters 6 (1)
International career‡
2023–2024 United States U-20 8 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of August 14, 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of April 7, 2024

Tessa Elise Dellarose (born April 2, 2004) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender or midfielder. She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels, helping the team win the 2024 national championship. She has represented the United States at the youth international level.

Contents

Early life

Dellarose was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Melinda and Ron Dellarose, and has two older siblings. [2] Her father played college baseball at Duquesne. [2] Dellarose was raised in Grindstone, Pennsylvania. [2] She played three seasons of high school soccer at Brownsville High School, where she became captain and set a school record with 108 career goals. [2] She committed to the University of North Carolina as a sophomore. [3] She sat out her senior high school season to play with her Pittsburgh Riverhounds academy club and the youth national team. [4]

College career

On her first day of preseason training with the North Carolina Tar Heels in 2022, Dellarose set a team record in the beep test (multi-stage fitness test) by reaching level 57, a mark she surpassed the next year at 63. [4] [5] Primarily a defensive midfielder, she also played left back for the Tar Heels. [6] She started almost every game as a freshman in 2022, earning third-team All-ACChonors, helped the team reach the national title game, losing to UCLA. [7]

After mostly playing off the bench as a sophomore in 2023, Dellarose returned to the starting lineup as a junior in 2024, playing the second-most field minutes on the team. She recorded career highs with four goals and a team-joint-high seven assists, earning third-team All-ACC and fourth-team All-American honors. [2] [8] In the NCAA tournament, she scored the last-minute winner in the 1–0 second round win over Santa Clara and assisted Kate Faasse's golden goal from a corner kick in the quarterfinal 2–1 win against Penn State. [9] [10] North Carolina won 1–0 against Wake Forest in the final, winning their 23rd national title and first since 2012. [11]

Dellarose missed five games as a senior after tearing the quadriceps tendon in her left leg over the summer before returning to the field as team captain in 2025. [12] Unseeded in the NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels went to the third round before losing TCU on penalties, though Dellarose made hers. [13] She finished her college career with 89 games played, 63 started, and 6 goals. [2]

During her college years, Dellarose played in the USL W League for Racing Louisville in 2022 and 2024 and joined the newly formed Pittsburgh Riveters in 2025. [6] [14] She also represented the US Women–sponsored team in the Soccer Tournament 2024. She scored the winning goal in the final game and was named the tournament's most valuable player. [15]

International career

Dellarose was called into training camp with the United States national under-16 team in 2020 and the under-20 team the following year. [16] [17] She appeared in all five games at the 2023 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, where the United States finished runners-up. [7]

Honors

North Carolina Tar Heels

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 "2023 Concacaf Women's Under-20 Championship – National team roster" (PDF). CONCACAF . Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Tessa Dellarose". University of North Carolina Athletics . Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  3. ↑ Everett, Brad (August 21, 2019). "Brownsville's Tessa Dellarose to play for college soccer power" . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Mueller, Chris (September 20, 2022). "Fitness, finesse earn Brownsville's Tessa Dellarose starting spot for North Carolina" . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  5. ↑ UNC Women's Soccer [@uncwomenssoccer] (August 2, 2023). "Holy smokes!" (Tweet). Retrieved April 22, 2024– via Twitter.
  6. 1 2 Santa, John (October 3, 2024). "Face of the franchise: Brownsville native, North Carolina standout Tessa Dellarose named first player in Pittsburgh Riveters history". Pittsburgh Union Progress. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  7. 1 2 Santa, John (June 25, 2023). "Pittsburgh's next great soccer star? Brownsville graduate Tessa Dellarose making impact with North Carolina, United States U-20 Women's Youth National Team" . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  8. ↑ "2024 Women's Soccer Cumulative Statistics". North Carolina Tar Heels . Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  9. ↑ Koh, Michael (November 22, 2024). "Last-Minute Winner Sends UNC Women's Soccer Past Santa Clara in NCAA Tournament". Chapelboro.com . Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  10. ↑ Koh, Michael (November 29, 2024). "Golden Goal Sends UNC Women's Soccer Past Penn State into College Cup". Chapelboro.com . Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  11. ↑ Koh, Michael (December 9, 2024). "UNC Women's Soccer Beats Wake Forest to Win 23rd National Championship". Chapelboro.com . Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  12. ↑ Guth, Jonathan (September 14, 2025). "Glad to be back". The Herald-Standard . Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  13. ↑ Koh, Michael (November 24, 2025). "UNC Women's Soccer's Season Ends in Penalty Shootout in NCAA Tournament Round of 16". Chapelboro.com . Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Racing sets inaugural USL W League roster with season nearing". Racing Louisville FC. May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
    "Racing announces W League roster for 2024 season". Racing Louisville FC. April 30, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Dellarose Named MVP, US Women Win TST 2024". North Carolina Tar Heels. June 11, 2024. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  16. ↑ "U16 GNT heads to training camp in Florida". United States Soccer Federation. January 20, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer.
  17. ↑ "US U20 WNT Camp Roster – October". United States Soccer Federation. October 7, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer.
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