It has been too long since we’ve won an ACCT, I want this one bad.
UNC Women's Soccer 2026-2027
- Thread starter 3397char
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Because they also scheduled two men’s games for that evening.
That makes a tiny bit more sense, but still think it's absurd. Have the mens semis on Friday.
Four games on one field in one day should be interesting...hopefully it's not raining that day or that pitch is going to be a mess by Sunday. That being said, WakeMed Park has about the most pristine natural grass field you will ever see, I imagine their grounds crew is up to the task.
Still a huge bummer. Attendance for the women's games is going be impacted. Despite the ACC having the best conference in the nation in women's soccer, they still get ignored (only 6 team tournament and relegated to morning or early afternoon games on a weekday). You'd expect better considering the growth of women's soccer and success of NWSL in the past few years. I guess I shouldn't be surprised...the people that run the league probably spend 99.9% of their time trying to figure out how not to get left even further behind in football and lose its key member schools. I imagine the non-revenue sports are the last thing they are focused on (which may explain why the Stanford player never got punished at all for the spitting incident). Asleep at the wheel.
I think it's a real shame because in previous years, the evening semi-finals have drawn large crowds—crowds that seemed larger than that of the final. I got the sense that a lot of the attendees weren't affiliated with any team. They just lived in the broader area, had a passion for women's soccer, and wanted the excitement of back to back games featuring many of the best players in the college game—paradigmatically, large group of teenage girls who presumably play together, shuttled around by parents.
In previous years, they haven't played the men's semi-finals on the same day. I hope this is a one-off.
In previous years, they haven't played the men's semi-finals on the same day. I hope this is a one-off.
The scheduling decisions made by the ACC for the Olympics sports never fail to amaze me. They routinely overlap games/sports. It’s almost like they want lower attendance. I will never understand.
Updated Recruiting Call rankings, after Maddie DiMaria has been removed
We'll only have the full picture after the portal transfers are in, and Nahas has been doing a great job there. We are losing Denigan, Blum, and Stratton for sure. In our current formation, that creates two gaps at no 10, where Antonucci plays, Strawn looks ready to start, and Stanislaus plays too; it also creates a defense gap that Gaetino can fill. Both Devey and Munson look good enough to go pro, but maybe we can offer them further development and they'll wait a year? If they go, we need a number 9 and a right winger — Stanislaus and Bradley have played both positions, and Strawn has played right wing although I really don't think that brings the best out of her talents. Another bonus of Munson is that if we needed her to drop back as an outside back, she could do that job too, so her departure also creates a need for defensive backups. Those recruits are listed as mainly midfielders and one forward. So we are projecting to have a good starting 11 but we'd be vulnerable to injuries at key positions, and the portal can offer us more depth and maybe even a couple of stars.
Great synopsis, but don't forget Malsom should hopefully be back, a wing forward likely.
Mara has significant experience at UNC on defense, but appears to be in 5th place this year in the pecking order, for whatever reason. But she certainly solves any concerns on depth for the Defensive line.
Great point. I had been forgetting Malsom and can't wait to see her return — long-term injuries are by far the worst part of the game.
You guys are getting way ahead of yourselves just assuming that some of the people on the roster now will all be back. Some will go pro, some will transfer for various reasons, some of which we have no idea about. No one wants to hear that, but it needs to be said. It sucks but that is just the way of the world now. Looking forward to next year isn’t really even worth talking about until rosters are finalized many months from now. Assuming Gaetino, Antonucci, Munson, Manning, and literally any of the rest of them are a lock to return is being somewhat naive. Anyone who is talented is going to have money or promises thrown at them from multiple directions.
Maybe one day the adults in charge of college athletics will do something to put an end to the neverending musical chairs of the transfer portal, and put actual meaning behind the word commitment again. Until then, everyone is a free agent, and assuming 100% loyalty is going to lead to a lot of disappointments. Coaches will tell you this…they literally have to re-recruit basically their entire roster every single season now. It’s really a blanking mess.
Maybe one day the adults in charge of college athletics will do something to put an end to the neverending musical chairs of the transfer portal, and put actual meaning behind the word commitment again. Until then, everyone is a free agent, and assuming 100% loyalty is going to lead to a lot of disappointments. Coaches will tell you this…they literally have to re-recruit basically their entire roster every single season now. It’s really a blanking mess.
It's pretty rare for our starters to transfer to other schools. Even during the mass exodus in Dorrance's last season, no starter transferred — the closest was Oliaro, who arguably would have become a starter if she stayed. Of the players discussed, Bradley would be the only non-starter I think has a decent chance of transferring to another school.
It's also rare for freshers to go pro: just King and Armstrong so far. Even Ullmark and Shores stayed for 2 years. Perhaps that will change. I think Manning is first rate and I could imagine her going pro, but my bet is she'll stay for her sophomore season. I find Alvarez hard to call.
The other piece to the puzzle is roster size. This season we had 32 and the limit was 28. So we must have had 4 designated athletes. If they were among the seniors who just left, then we are over our limit (with 6 seniors leaving and 6 freshers arriving).
It's also rare for freshers to go pro: just King and Armstrong so far. Even Ullmark and Shores stayed for 2 years. Perhaps that will change. I think Manning is first rate and I could imagine her going pro, but my bet is she'll stay for her sophomore season. I find Alvarez hard to call.
The other piece to the puzzle is roster size. This season we had 32 and the limit was 28. So we must have had 4 designated athletes. If they were among the seniors who just left, then we are over our limit (with 6 seniors leaving and 6 freshers arriving).
No one is saying this roster will fully survive the offseason. Some will go pro, we will certainly lose depth at a minimum in the portal. This discussion is merely a starting point. from there:
- It serves no purpose to idly speculate who specifically will go pro and especially who will transfer. Just know that some of that will happen; perhaps a lot.
- those sudden transfers are exactly the holes you will fill in the transfer portal.
- This incoming recruiting class (and the next) are built specifically to reload, and some likely will start.
Players did not used to be more "committed." they faced the choice of losing a year of eligibility if they left. That put a lot more power and control in the hands of coaches. Who, by the way, leave whenever they want, often breaking contracts in the process.
I agree with all your points; good insight.
For this past offseason, I would add Freifeld to your first point. She started 6 games last year and probably would have penciled in as a starter this year. Bretzer grad transferred as well, she had 3 starts, but it would have been tough sledding to start full time this year.
Feifeld transferred to TCU where she starts on a pretty bad team. It is probably pretty lonely playing forward on a team that is #256 in shot attempts per game. 8 shot attempts for 2 goals and 3 assists on the season. Their season is over, did not make the Big XII tourney.
Brtezer eventually ended up at MI St after committing to AZ. This is a great team, but she only played in 8 games, so far no starts
Before that we lost part-time starter Murphy in 2022 and key starter Colton in 2023, both to WF. No losses I can recall in 2024. So very roughly one probable starter every year.
In terms of transfers in, we replaced Colton with Nagai (and Migli), Murphy with nobody (remaining embarrassment of riches at the forward position) , Olario with Bradley, Freifeld with Blum, Bretzer with Dennigan. No net loss.
At the risk of stating the obvious, players going pro has hurt a lot more than the portal.
Manning and O'Neill seem like the only freshmen with a shot to go pro. Plenty of upperclassmen who could, it is just a matter of their priorities.
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I stand by my point. The history of the portal is a fairly short one, so it’s hard to form any conclusions or trends from that yet. The good thing for us is that UNC is a destination school in womens soccer, so we certainly have that advantage in terms of prestige and path to pro (or national teams). The big things going against us in the portal era are:
-Money can outweigh prestige…if some donor at some other school has a bigger bag of cash, it’s hard for a young adult to turn that down. All you have to do is look at our men’s basketball program….all of the prestige in the world but has lost a lot of talent elsewhere many times due to the almighty dollar.
-We attract top talent year after year after year. So players are constantly under the threat of being recruited over. Eres Friefeld was mentioned….I don’t think she was a lock to be a starter this year at all, and think she was most likely a bench/role player based on seeing her play and comparing her to what we have on the field right now. I think the draw to go somewhere else and have a guaranteed starting role is a big temptation for some. People have different personalities, she may be way happier playing big minutes instead of watching from the sidelines even if her new team isn’t as good. We can only put 11 people on the field at once, and other schools give out scholarships too.
That last point could just as easily be interpreted as a strength for UNC…we want the best talent, and those not afraid to compete for their playing time. Constantly bringing in top players and letting it sort itself from there is a formula Anson did pretty well with. But it will be harder for Damon to pull off in this new world of annual free agency. As long as we don’t screw it up, we should almost always have a first team that can compete with anyone, but it will definitely be harder to have elite depth on a regular basis due to attrition. And with the portal now, it works both ways…there is an unlimited amount of talent we can bring in every single year from any other team. It’s just such a different environment now.
I sincerely hope our current players are all loving playing for UNC and stick around 4 years (Chapel Hill being a great place to go to college doesn’t hurt either!)…that’s my favorite thing as a fan is to see young players come in and develop over time. But watching UNC football and basketball (men & women) rosters turn over so much every year now just has me in a cynical mood about modern day college sports and keeping continuity now. We are in a great position to pull it off compared to most when it comes to this soccer program, but I’m too cautious to look past anything other than the next month. A big part of being a top program now is fending off the vultures who will try to steal your talent every offseason, and there is no enforcement mechanism in place to really stop them.
Great points about those players. I overlooked Colton — a straight-up starter who went elsewhere. Presumably because of what was going on behind the scenes with the squad meltdown. Murphy is the sort of player I am happy to see go for her sake. She only gets one life and chose to start another school (who ended up making the NCAA final!) rather than come off the bench for us. Freifeld (like Martinez this season) is the sort of talented player I'd like to see us develop but maybe these players hear about incoming competition for their spot, and don't want to take the risk of being a substitute. But your overall assessment is clearly correct: we are benefiting from the portal in terms of the quality of our players even if we and the sport is losing some of the player development that makes it special.
I agree about the temptation to leave to start elsewhere. Pretty obviously, this only really applies to the players who aren't getting a lot of minutes. Their departures hurt us the least in terms of how strong our team is. I think that the non-starters discussed are Strawn, Stanislaus, and Bradley. I think Nahas has shown such enthusiasm to get Strawn on the field that she has to expect she has a chance to start. I think Stanislaus has good reason to be optimistic too: it's understandable if a 17 year old has to wait her turn when we have so many stars in the no. 9 and no. 10 positions. I don't see evidence from this season to expect that Bradley will be getting major minutes, so I wouldn't be surprised if she transfers out.
I'm curious how you see money being a temptation to leave, at least for the players who get regular minutes. Since 2025, we've got most our regulars on full scholarships. Meanwhile, the NIL school payments for women's college soccer are pretty modest amounts—four figures not five, and dwarfed by the scholarship. That's an obvious difference from football and basketball where NIL amounts are huge. Another big difference is that most elite players in women's soccer have got where they are by their families spending large amounts on their development. By contrast, many more football and basketball players come from families who would benefit from immediate income from the players.
You can make the argument that signing a bunch of top prospects, letting them duke it out for starting spots, then allowing the reserves to leave, and reloading with another batch of top prospects, is the best way to build a team that is consistently great. Especially when you play a sport with roster limits. Yes, that is a really reductive statement, but it sounds like 'bama football, KY MBB, or UConn WBB to me.
Great synopsis on the W soccer landscape, although I do think the booster NIL money for key players at major P4 schools is a little larger than you say, but still significantly less than a scholarship to your point. Getting more minutes is probably a much bigger concern than money: for what they want from the sport right now, what they hope to earn later in college, and what gives them a shot at the pros.
Ah, man, I miss Murph. Chippy, bordering on thugish. Just a little less talented than her demeanor. I think she's with the Irish national team now.
Agreed on all of this…definitely the different financial landscape compared to basketball/football. What’s wild about top level youth soccer clubs now is that many families spend more on club dues and travel and camps/training over a kid’s time through middle school and high school than an entire full ride scholarship would pay back. As anyone who follows the sport knows, the pay-to-play model is a massive criticism of the American system. That’s a larger discussion and one most people don’t fully understand and just solely blame it …I read a very interesting book about Europe’s youth development system called “Every Boy’s Dream” and will have to find time to talk about that later, it was eye-opening and shows why it’s less expensive for top youth players to develop there...some of it is not all positive like you may have been led to believe. Will post more about that later. But your point is a good one in that money isn’t as big of a need for a lot of elite soccer prospects as it is for football/basketball (and the NIL money definitely isn’t as big for soccer).
I think the major point I was trying to convey is that with an open transfer system and various new (and in many ways growing) temptations to leave (which includes growing opportunities to leave to play pro as womens soccer has exploded internationally and the US is contemplating a second division of womens pro soccer considering how many cities are interested in franchises)….all of that leads to more roster turnover in the years ahead compared to what we’ve been used to for so long. Everyone is going to have to deal with it, and so I’m just adjusting my expectations (reluctantly) going forward as far as team continuity from one year to the next. We’ll see where it goes.
Much of this points toward growth of the game and more opportunities for the girls, so it’s hard to get too mad about it, even though selfish me loved the old days of players almost always sticking around 3-4 years.
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#1 Vandy just lost to #32 Texas in the SEC QF. That opens a path to grab the #1 overall seed. (RPI has not yet been updated)
#3 Mich St is in the B1G tourney final on Friday.
#4 Ohio State was upset by #21 Mich in the B1G QF last week, so no more games.
#5 WF lost in the ACC QF last week
#6 Baylor is in the Big XII semis tonight vs #8 TT.
#3 Mich St is in the B1G tourney final on Friday.
#4 Ohio State was upset by #21 Mich in the B1G QF last week, so no more games.
#5 WF lost in the ACC QF last week
#6 Baylor is in the Big XII semis tonight vs #8 TT.
Not sure how this spreadsheet is calculated, but it seems to have Vandy #105? Mich St #166? Seven ACC teams in the top 12? It doesn't appear close to the NCAA's version.
Devey gets ACC top honors, O'Neill is top freshman
theacc.com
2026 All-ACC Women's Soccer Team
Offensive Player of the Year: Bella Devey, North Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year: Sierra Sythe, Wake Forest
Midfielder of the Year: Lily Joseph, Notre Dame
Goalkeeper of the Year: Valentina Amaral, Wake Forest
Freshman of the Year: Cali O’Neill, North Carolina
Coach of the Year: Nate Norman, Notre Dame
First-Team All-ACC
Mia Minestrella, F, Duke
Bella Devey, F, North Carolina
Hope Munson, D, North Carolina
Jade Bordeleau, F, NC State
Izzy Engle, F, Notre Dame
Lily Joseph, M, Notre Dame
Lizzie Boamah, D, Stanford
Charlotte Kohler, M, Stanford
Addison Halpern, M, Virginia
Valentina Amaral, GK, Wake Forest
Sierra Sythe, D, Wake Forest
Second-Team All-ACC
Dani Davis, M, Clemson
Daya King, D, Duke
Avery Oder, M, Duke
Wrianna Hudson, F, Florida State
Aven Alvarez, D, North Carolina
Abby Mills, D, Notre Dame
Y-Lan Nguyen, M, Stanford
Pearl Cecil, D, Virginia
Victoria Safradin, GK, Virginia
Allie Flanagan, F, Wake Forest
Kylie Maxwell, F, Wake Forest
Third-Team All-ACC
Katie Shea Collins, F, Duke
Sam Courtwright, M, Duke
Cameron Roller, D, Duke
Jocelyn Travers, D, Duke
Karina Peat, F, Louisville
Lilliah Blum, M, North Carolina
Ashley Pennie, M, North Carolina
Charlie Codd, M, Notre Dame
Caroline Birkel, GK, Stanford
Ella Carter, M, Virginia
Anna Weir, F, Virginia Tech
Riley Cross, M, Wake Forest
All-Freshman Team
Natalie Chudowsky, M/D, Duke
Yuna Marui, M, Duke
Bridget Mutipula, D, Florida State
Scottie Antonucci, M, North Carolina
Cali O'Neill, D, North Carolina
Amari Manning, F, North Carolina
Reese Canada, M, Notre Dame
Kate Kemmerley, F, Notre Dame
Bristol Kersh, F, Notre Dame
Ella Kral, F, Stanford
London Young, D, Stanford
2026 Women's Soccer All-ACC Awards Announced
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina sophomore Bella Devey and Wake Forest senior Sierra Sythe have been voted the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, by the conference’s head coaches, the league office announced...
theacc.com
2026 All-ACC Women's Soccer Team
Offensive Player of the Year: Bella Devey, North Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year: Sierra Sythe, Wake Forest
Midfielder of the Year: Lily Joseph, Notre Dame
Goalkeeper of the Year: Valentina Amaral, Wake Forest
Freshman of the Year: Cali O’Neill, North Carolina
Coach of the Year: Nate Norman, Notre Dame
First-Team All-ACC
Mia Minestrella, F, Duke
Bella Devey, F, North Carolina
Hope Munson, D, North Carolina
Jade Bordeleau, F, NC State
Izzy Engle, F, Notre Dame
Lily Joseph, M, Notre Dame
Lizzie Boamah, D, Stanford
Charlotte Kohler, M, Stanford
Addison Halpern, M, Virginia
Valentina Amaral, GK, Wake Forest
Sierra Sythe, D, Wake Forest
Second-Team All-ACC
Dani Davis, M, Clemson
Daya King, D, Duke
Avery Oder, M, Duke
Wrianna Hudson, F, Florida State
Aven Alvarez, D, North Carolina
Abby Mills, D, Notre Dame
Y-Lan Nguyen, M, Stanford
Pearl Cecil, D, Virginia
Victoria Safradin, GK, Virginia
Allie Flanagan, F, Wake Forest
Kylie Maxwell, F, Wake Forest
Third-Team All-ACC
Katie Shea Collins, F, Duke
Sam Courtwright, M, Duke
Cameron Roller, D, Duke
Jocelyn Travers, D, Duke
Karina Peat, F, Louisville
Lilliah Blum, M, North Carolina
Ashley Pennie, M, North Carolina
Charlie Codd, M, Notre Dame
Caroline Birkel, GK, Stanford
Ella Carter, M, Virginia
Anna Weir, F, Virginia Tech
Riley Cross, M, Wake Forest
All-Freshman Team
Natalie Chudowsky, M/D, Duke
Yuna Marui, M, Duke
Bridget Mutipula, D, Florida State
Scottie Antonucci, M, North Carolina
Cali O'Neill, D, North Carolina
Amari Manning, F, North Carolina
Reese Canada, M, Notre Dame
Kate Kemmerley, F, Notre Dame
Bristol Kersh, F, Notre Dame
Ella Kral, F, Stanford
London Young, D, Stanford
It took 8 years to start voting for UNC players for individual awards?
This conference is such a joke.
This conference is such a joke.
How did Dook get 9 players throughout all the lists?
Summer Denigan? 7th in the league in goals scored and 4th in points and didn't make any team? Am I seeing that right?
Wow, that is a long time to be bias towards one school. I thought Summer D should have made at least one of the teams. She has 10 goals on the season. Explain to me why she is not on one of the ACC teams?
This is the same question that I have. How in the world, did she not make one of the teams. She is second to Devey in goals for our team. IMO, she should have made it before Blum. I just do not understand. Someone, please explain this to me on how this young women got left out of off because I surely do not understand how that can happen being 7th in the league in goals scored and 4th in points.
You need to click to sort by RPI, I'm not sure whether the adjusted or unadjusted is "correct" but the story is the same either way
I've always thought these awards are stupid and apparently given out by people who never watch the games, only read the stats and team standings. The fact that we are winning a lot this year doesn't change my mind. I also worry that they will light a fire under Minestrella and the rest of the dookies with the result that they manage to keep the margin of their loss respectable.
It's a good question, but all I can think of is because her role was greatly reduced over the last month of the season. I guess those voting (coaches?) didn't see enough of her compared to, for example, Blum. Blum was deserving of a spot regardless...she's been so solid and dependable for us all year long and had an absolutely massive game in the win vs dook. Denigan did a lot of her damage early in the year before the ACC games started, so that is probably what caused her to be left off. Her decreased role and playing time is one of the lineup decision mysteries of the year for me. It all started when it was reported that she was out with a groin injury. Was it the dook game that she first sat out? I can't remember but it feels like it was around then....but from then on she just didn't play nearly as much. Maybe it was a lingering issue and they limited her minutes intentionally to manage the injury. Hard to say and it's all speculation.
It is surprising though that she wasn't at least on 3rd team considering her total goals scored. So many of these all conference types of lists are heavily weighted on goal scorers (which usually annoys the hell out of me because it shows ignorance about the game). Behind every great goal scorer is usually some great midfielders getting them the opportunities. Anyways, it is what it is...hopefully this just fuels her fire and she's ready to make a big impact the rest of the way in. Prove the doubters wrong.
Virginia up 1-0 on Notre Dame at half in the first semifinal. Virginia has very noticeably outplayed ND so far...I think total shots are 9-1.
ND looks really flat and lacking energy so far, that 11am kickoff time seems to be having a big impact on them. I imagine they are about to get a tongue lashing in the halftime speech from their coach...second half should be interesting. ND also lucky not to have gotten a red card. One of their midfielders came in on a late challenge and committed a bad foul and deservedly got a yellow card in the first few minutes of the game. Not 5 minutes later, she did the EXACT, and I mean EXACT, same thing and somehow the ref did not hand her a second yellow. It wasn't a red card level foul on its own, but if you give a yellow for it once, you should probably do it consistently, but I guess he was hesitant to send someone off for something that was not pretty but not what I'd consider violent either. It just more looked lazy...like I said, ND just looks flat and a step slower to react to 50/50 balls right now. Still, they were lucky...there are probably some refs would have shown red there just because the player was warned already and did the exact same thing again soon after.
Virginia looks strong though...they are on a roll after that 3-0 win vs FSU and it looks to have carried over to today so far. A lot can happen in a second half though.....dook and wake put up 8 goals combined after halftime in their quarterfinal game, that was wild.
ND looks really flat and lacking energy so far, that 11am kickoff time seems to be having a big impact on them. I imagine they are about to get a tongue lashing in the halftime speech from their coach...second half should be interesting. ND also lucky not to have gotten a red card. One of their midfielders came in on a late challenge and committed a bad foul and deservedly got a yellow card in the first few minutes of the game. Not 5 minutes later, she did the EXACT, and I mean EXACT, same thing and somehow the ref did not hand her a second yellow. It wasn't a red card level foul on its own, but if you give a yellow for it once, you should probably do it consistently, but I guess he was hesitant to send someone off for something that was not pretty but not what I'd consider violent either. It just more looked lazy...like I said, ND just looks flat and a step slower to react to 50/50 balls right now. Still, they were lucky...there are probably some refs would have shown red there just because the player was warned already and did the exact same thing again soon after.
Virginia looks strong though...they are on a roll after that 3-0 win vs FSU and it looks to have carried over to today so far. A lot can happen in a second half though.....dook and wake put up 8 goals combined after halftime in their quarterfinal game, that was wild.
Damon did say that she had a strain muscle and those require more rest and time to heel. That was the reason he gave why she did not play the games she was out, but still her body of work she count for something.
I guess if it would have been one of our players, the referee would have given our player another yellow card or even a red card. These referees are so bias towards our team that it is a crying shame.
My prediction today: Munson batters their right back Travers. If Hall hasn't worked out a proper double team strategy, we'll win the game there
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