UNC Women’s Soccer 2025-2026

[UltimateHeel]

We need more shots from Fassee, Devey as they have a better conversion rate. While OT scores a some, she sprays an awful lot of shots. More quality shots, on frame, are needed.

Team tried to get Fassee involved in first half with direct balls but the pace/weight was too much so didn't get any good chances.

 

[3397char]

I would disagree that "they're finishing so much better"....we absolutely dominated possession last night, our biggest problem was finishing. We had 11-12 corner kicks and several other free kick just outside the box and converted none. Thomas had a point blank shot in the first half she missed wide. Faase was surprisingly a total non-factor in the game last night and failed to convert a couple of almost point blank opportunities (credit to JMU's GK though)...we need more from the defending national player of the year than we got yesterday.

The two goals by Dellarose and Thomas were both absolutely brilliant strikes, no doubt about it. They saved us from a big letdown against a far outmatched team that was playing without a couple of their key starters.

But we have to get better in the attacking third...we are leaving too many opportunities on the table, and were extremely fortunate to escape last night with the last minute win. The competition is about to get significantly more difficult.

Not trying to be overly pessimistic, but we were one play away from a really big disappointment last night and it was reminiscent of the Tennessee and Georgia losses where we were the better team and dominated possession, but left the door open because we could not convert in the attacking third. That's the type of flaw that can cost you an early/unexpected exit in the NCAAs. Let's hope that the team got the wakeup call. This is certainly a young team that will have it's ups and downs, but our 3 primary attackers (Faase, Thomas, Ullmark) are all veteran players and we need them to be difference makers. VT is a team we should have comfortably beaten, so last night's performance has me a bit uneasy.

I generally agree that UNC is not playing like the team that was preseason #1; not even close. I also was not impressed with our work on set pieces. Way too many put zero pressure on VT.

With that said, I will push back on a couple of points:

• VT is a solid team. Last year they made it to the NCAA quarters and beat 3 top 10 teams during the season. They have a history of getting up for big opponents, playing to their level and then losing some head scratchers as well. This year they are not as good as last year, but they still have some good pieces (several players would start for UNC), good coaching, and they quite often do well against us. Their losses this season are to #16 Georgetown, #19 UNC, a head scratcher at ODU. They were ranked 20th last week (ahead of us) until that ODU loss, and are still 28th if you expand into the receiving votes category. All of their losses are by one goal.
• Their goalie played pretty spectacular. 2 of her 4 saves were of the wow variety. On top of that she consistently made the right choice to come out of goal to snag crosses and punch away plays in. One of those Faasse misses you reference was actually a slight deflection by the goalie that defused a guaranteed goal. Our 2 goals were impossible to defend. That is what it took on this day.
• We actually had a higher finish rate than VT. 1 in 6 shots went in (a reasonable number in top D1) vs 1 in 9 for them.
• Both teams played without starters. That is the nature of D1 women's soccer. I would argue that they were not "key starters" for either team, even though the announcers made a big deal of their injuries without mentioning ours.

Any coach who wants to know how to play against a team with more talent than yours should watch VT tape. They play physical, pester dribblers from behind, and relentlessly contest every ball handler with better hustle than their opponent.

 

[Jriv23]

Every team in the ACC is good in soccer. There are no easy games or cup cake games. The minute a team is not ready the play on a nightly basis, they will get beat. That is the bottom line and that is just how good our conference is in soccer.

 

[UNCH]

Scottlyn Antonucci	2026	MF	Rancho Cucamonga	California	Legends FC
Maggie Currie	2026	MF		California	Mtn. View Los Altos SC
Leah Kuklick	2026	F		North Carolina	NC Courage
Ella Martinez	2026	MF	Marietta	Georgia	Concorde Fire SC
Cali O'Neill	2026	D	Durham	North Carolina	NC Courage
Samantha Rich	2026	F	Orinda	California	Lamorinda SC
Chloe Shroff	2026	MF	Wilmington	North Carolina	Wilmington Hammerheads FC
Deus Stanislaus	2026	MF	Fort Washington	Pennsylvania	PDA
Sealey Strawn	2026	F	Prosper	Texas	Solar Soccer Club
Peyton Trayer	2026	GK	Aliso Viejo	California	Slammers FC HB Koge
Gianna Hanf	2027	F	Chesterfield	New Jersey	Match Fit Academy FC
Wren Kincaid	2027	MF	Brookhaven	Georgia	FC Prime
Marin Kotschau	2027	MF	Thornton	Colorado	Colorado Rapids
Amari Manning	2027	F	Flemington	New Jersey	PDA
Grace Murray	2027	MF	Redondo Beach	California	Beach FC (CA)

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for posting and for the updates on who we have coming in for the 2026 and 2027 years.

 

[akillesheel17]

We need more shots from Fassee, Devey as they have a better conversion rate. While OT scores a some, she sprays an awful lot of shots. More quality shots, on frame, are needed.

Team tried to get Fassee involved in first half with direct balls but the pace/weight was too much so didn't get any good chances.

Thomas has taken 50 shots, 20 on frame, 8 goals. 40% on-frame rate, 16% shot-to-goal, 40% of SOG are scored.
Faasse has taken 27 shots, 11 on frame, 5 goals. 40.7% on-frame rate, 18.5% shot-to-goal, 45% of SOG scored.

They're virtually identical - Thomas just finds more opportunities because she's a better chance creator than Faasse, whose best work last year was as a poacher with immaculate spatial awareness and touch.

 

[UltimateHeel]

Thomas has taken 50 shots, 20 on frame, 8 goals. 40% on-frame rate, 16% shot-to-goal, 40% of SOG are scored.
Faasse has taken 27 shots, 11 on frame, 5 goals. 40.7% on-frame rate, 18.5% shot-to-goal, 45% of SOG scored.

They're virtually identical - Thomas just finds more opportunities because she's a better chance creator than Faasse, whose best work last year was as a poacher with immaculate spatial awareness and touch.

Thanks for the stats, I would not have guessed they were the same or close. My eye told me OT is less accurate. Maybe it stems from last year too (or your stats may show otherwise )

 

[Jriv23]

Bottom line, we need other players to step up to help us win games; especially doing conference play. We know that in the ACC, the other teams are going to key on these two.

 

[3397char]

Thomas has taken 50 shots, 20 on frame, 8 goals. 40% on-frame rate, 16% shot-to-goal, 40% of SOG are scored.
Faasse has taken 27 shots, 11 on frame, 5 goals. 40.7% on-frame rate, 18.5% shot-to-goal, 45% of SOG scored.

They're virtually identical - Thomas just finds more opportunities because she's a better chance creator than Faasse, whose best work last year was as a poacher with immaculate spatial awareness and touch.

Your point is well made and I agree. But I would just add that Thomas should have more opportunities as the center attacker and also that Faasse is the better and more willing passer.

 

[akillesheel17]

Your point is well made and I agree. But I would just add that Thomas should have more opportunities as the center attacker and also that Faasse is the better and more willing passer.

oh absolutely, that's a lot of the explanation for the difference in volume; faasse has been playing a lot more on ball this year than last, and while she's totally capable in that dahlien-y role, it's taken away from her doing what got her 20 goals last year - finishing team attacks, finding space in the box, and winning balls out of the air with her great touch and timing.

i just don't think she's close to the ballhandler or shooter off the dribble that thomas is, and i tend to feel like there's a kind of ugliness to the way that thomas gets talked about by this community so i wanted to speak up.

 

[3397char]

oh absolutely, that's a lot of the explanation for the difference in volume; faasse has been playing a lot more on ball this year than last, and while she's totally capable in that dahlien-y role, it's taken away from her doing what got her 20 goals last year - finishing team attacks, finding space in the box, and winning balls out of the air with her great touch and timing.

i just don't think she's close to the ballhandler or shooter off the dribble that thomas is, and i tend to feel like there's a kind of ugliness to the way that thomas gets talked about by this community so i wanted to speak up.

Totally fair, and I have been a lead in pointing out Thomas's past missed shot rate (mainly last season) but I was quick to praise her when she really put it together a couple of weeks ago. She is playing very well for UNC this season.

 

[akillesheel17]

Thanks for the stats, I would not have guessed they were the same or close. My eye told me OT is less accurate. Maybe it stems from last year too (or your stats may show otherwise )

Totally fair, and I have been a lead in pointing out Thomas's past missed shot rate (mainly last season) but I was quick to praise her when she really put it together a couple of weeks ago. She is playing very well for UNC this season.

ftr, Thomas' SOG% last year was 44% (among players with comparable shot attempts, Faasse's was 49%, Sember's was 41%, and Ullmark's 47%). From when she returned from injury up until the NCAA Tournament, though, she had 5 goals on 25 SOG for a 20% conversion rate, half of what she's got so far this year - showing what I always believed to be the case, which is that she was less of a sprayer and more somebody who took a lot of weak chances that went right to the keeper - equally frustrating, tbf.

Since her insane tournament run, though, she's been elite in the attacking third. she's more comfortable on the ball, so she isn't putting the ball too far out in front and sapping all the power from her shot attempts like she used to, so she's able to strike with power and accuracy.

 

[3397char]

ftr, Thomas' SOG% last year was 44% (among players with comparable shot attempts, Faasse's was 49%, Sember's was 41%, and Ullmark's 47%). From when she returned from injury up until the NCAA Tournament, though, she had 5 goals on 25 SOG for a 20% conversion rate, half of what she's got so far this year - showing what I always believed to be the case, which is that she was less of a sprayer and more somebody who took a lot of weak chances that went right to the keeper - equally frustrating, tbf.

Since her insane tournament run, though, she's been elite in the attacking third. she's more comfortable on the ball, so she isn't putting the ball too far out in front and sapping all the power from her shot attempts like she used to, so she's able to strike with power and accuracy.

Her scoring percentage for most of last year was around 10%, putting her near last on the team through the regular season, yet lead the team in shots. Up until the NCAA Tourney started: 47 shots, 5 goals, for 10.6% (and only 2 assists). With 4 very impactful goals in the NCAAT she improved late to a still pretty pedestrian 11.7% to end the season. That is by no means awful, and to be fair Ullmark and Dahlien had worse issues with shot efficiency.

But she shared the field with a NPOY who shot a ridiculous 30% so the juxtaposition to fans was stark, even though they scored in very different ways as you point out.

In 2023 OT shot a seriously bad 3% (31 shots, 1 goal.) That is when all of this conversation started. And that was on a team that generally struggled to put the ball in the net, so she was the most inefficient player on an inefficient team. It was noticed. That team suffered through 8 ties, often when we had the lead, an early exit in the ACCT and a heartbreaking collapse in the NCAA QF, so people looked for reasons.

There were many reasons that OT struggled, not least of which were injury issues. But she has improved on a great trend through her career.

Much like Caleb Love for MBB, that absolutely epic shot in the College Cup forever changed her legacy. And also like Love (but at Zona), absolutely killing it as an upperclassman.

I am a huge fan of OT, glad she is a Tar Heel, and I would vote her on an All-ACC squad right now if the season was over. She is leading the ACC in goals scored (9) and game winners (4).

 

[JohnnyYen]

OT will always stand on a podium for one of the most incredible shots that I've ever seen. But... to play the post, you have to be able to trap a hot feed, which seems to be a challenge for her. I think she's on the brink of elite, I really do. But I also think she's lost of lot of good opportunities because those balls go bouncing off into space. Still, this is nitpicking on one of the best in the game right now. Faasse's game is narrow, but she is damn good at what she does best.

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for all the information. The bottom line is we have FSU today which is going to be a very tough game. We need to keep stacking wins. As I started before, the other players are going to have to step up. The other teams in the ACC are going to key on OT and Faasse.

 

[unc80]

Great opportunity tonight. Gitter done!

 

[UNCH]

Nothing has changed against FSU. Inferior athletes.

 

[6string]

We need to realize it’s not the same game as the past and modify our recruiting strategy in my opinion. Yes I know what happened last year but having bigger, stronger, faster athletes makes everything easier.

 

[UNCH]

FSU plays Anson Dorrance style, and we play bad version of Stanford.

 

[3397char]

Such defeatist attitudes early in a 0-0 game.

UNC has played dead even ball since the first 20 min when FSU was controlling the game.

 

[JCTarHeel]

Dudley owns us again.

 

[6string]

Not trying to be defeatist, just wishing we would have a better overall athletic profile. I was here at this time last year saying the same thing and I guess I will be next year also.

 

[3397char]

Dang 0-1 FSU. We were failing to mark FSU attackers on crosses early in the game and it rears its head again with 31 min left with a dagger.

 

[3397char]

Not trying to be defeatist, just wishing we would have a better overall athletic profile. I was here at this time last year saying the same thing and I guess I will be next year also.

FSU has more depth of talent than us no doubt. They lead the nation in talent and have for a while. We pretty good too tho.


In this game early I saw one team with the depth to practice talent on talent and another that appeared to lack the bodies that allow that competitive cauldron system that builds confidence under pressure. we can out tentative and on our heels, then settled into seeing ourselves as equals.

 

[3397char]

Clearly a PK!

 

[6string]

Should be but I bet not.

 

[3397char]

0-1 final.

FSU earned it in the first 20 min but scored it mid second half.

plenty of good opportunities for UNC but ultimately could not connect thanks to great marking by the FSU back line.

 

[bradarb08]

Does FSU have an insane NIL program for WSOC? Cause our team and incoming freshmen have been gutted for two years, but these FSU players are staying… I’d actually love to know how they are keeping so many of their players. How Dudley is still in college and not crushing it in the NWSL is beyond me.

 

[RonaldMunt]

FSU coach looks like a real jackass.

 

[oldeastjl]

FSU does have an NIL program and recruits internationally, a lot. Add to that bringing in 2 all-americans from Tennessee in the last few years (Simmonds and Huff, both of whom he stole from his old job) and here you go.

NWSL does not have a lot of money or pay it, so staying in college can be more lucrative a la women's basketball.

On the field, they are a lot more aggressive than we are with plenty of long passes and attempted runs. We have to change that.

 

[UNCH]

NWSL has no money yet they bought Shores, Armstrong and Dahlien?

 

[bradarb08]

And King (would be a junior), Sentnor (would be a senior) and a number of recruits like Claire Hutton…

 

[oldeastjl]

Shores is always injured, allegedly did not get along with the new coach, and was offered a contract. Dahlien was in college for 3 years. Armstrong, like King, did not want to play in college and wanted to play professionally a la Mallory Pugh and Trinity Rodman.

Huff (tennessee and fsu) stayed as many years as she could. So did Nighswonger (fsu) and Lexi Missimo (texas)

 

[TAHeel]

Need to put more chances on net, a few really good ones were blocked and/or just missed the frame

 

[oldeastjl]

And, then there is the whole Wasserman thing where high school players are offered everything to sign with them and I wonder what they actually get. I haven't heard their compensation, but a ton of players who could have gone to UNC, Stanford, UCLA, FSU, Notre Dame, and Virginia sign with Wasserman and never make it to campus.

 

[JCTarHeel]

I'm so tired of losing to FSU.

 

[Jriv23]

I know how yall are feeling, but truth be told. We lost 5 starters from last year's team who all could have come back, but we have to be happy that our team won the whole thing last year and FSU did not. Also, this team does not have a lot of depth and FSU had the majority of their starters to come back this year and as someone pointed out, they have more depth. The depth showed as they wore us down in the second half. Our major players are playing a ton of minutes each game and when you play a team like FSU it is going to catch up with us at some point. If we can just keep the core players for next year and don't have a lot of starters to go pro than I think we will have more depth next year with the recruits when have coming in. It was a great game you have to admit. FSU did not blow us out. The game was tied at 0 until near the end.

 

[UltimateHeel]

Our early losses make this loss sting a little more, would have been nice to both be undefeated going into this game.

I thought our girls settled down and played fairly even with FSU the rest of the way. Gave up a goal but had some chances to tie. Overall our girls fought hard and was proud of their effort. Something to build on, gain some confidence and hopefully stack wins going forward.

 

[JohnnyYen]

It looked really messy from the stands for both teams last night. But I may watch the broadcast tonight to see how it looked from the booth. I would say that FSU looked like the team that UNC wants to be. They are bigger, faster and just better players right now. So I think UNC was overmatched but held it together. Going in, I thought the best that we could hope for was a tie and I don't think a one goal loss was that bad. And yes, I too am tired of see Dudley in crimson. And just can't stand Brian whatshisface's smug-*******.

I don't think UNC has scored on a set piece yet this season, correct?

Also, always great to see half the Courage team there. Maycee, Feli, Meredith, Brianna, Wingate, Staude and a couple of others that I didn't recognize.

 

[bradarb08]

It looked really messy from the stands for both teams last night. But I may watch the broadcast tonight to see how it looked from the booth. I would say that FSU looked like the team that UNC wants to be. They are bigger, faster and just better players right now. So I think UNC was overmatched but held it together. Going in, I thought the best that we could hope for was a tie and I don't think a one goal loss was that bad. And yes, I too am tired of see Dudley in crimson. And just can't stand Brian whatshisface's smug-*******.

I don't think UNC has scored on a set piece yet this season, correct?

Also, always great to see half the Courage team there. Maycee, Feli, Meredith, Brianna, Wingate, Staude and a couple of others that I didn't recognize.

OT has one or two direct free kick goals this year, but that's it for set pieces that I can recall.