Tag: acc soccer

UNC women’s soccer program wins record 23rd National Championship

The UNC women’s soccer team snapped its long championship drought on Monday night, beating a fellow ACC rival.

Despite being the winningest program in women’s college soccer history, the North Carolina Tar Heels last won a National Championship in 2012.

That quickly changed on Monday night.

Only needing a free kick from sophomore Olivia Thomas in the 62nd minute, UNC captured their record 23rd National Championship in program history, winning 1-0 against in-state ACC rival Wake Forest.

North Carolina (22-5, 7-3 ACC) didn’t gain a ton of opportunities against a stout Demon Deacons (16-4-4, 7-2-1 ACC) defense, but made the most of its chance midway through the second half.

Thomas collected herself, curled a shot over Wake’s wall and past the outstretched arms of goalie Valentina Amaral. The Demon Deacons entered Monday’s championship match allowing just three combined goals in the NCAA Tournament, making Thomas’ goal against them a rarity – but one the North Carolina faithful expected of Thomas.

Speaking of goalkeepers, Tar Heels goalie Clare Gagne was a brick wall between the goal posts. Gagne made three saves on the night, including a couple point-blank ones early in the first half.

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UNC almost added a second goal in the closing seconds, but Amaral averted the threat.

Many outside of Chapel Hill wondered if North Carolina would even make the NCAA Championship, with longtime head coach Anson Dorrance retiring on August 11, after 45 seasons at the helm. The Tar Heels quickly tagged soccer mind Damon Nahas, an assistant coach with the program since 2015, as their interim head coach.

With Nahas leading UNC to a National Championship his first season as head coach, it’s time for him to be named the permanent head coach.

After yet another successful year, the Tar Heels are back at the top where they belong: the queens of college soccer.

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UNC Women’s Soccer advances to National Championship with second-straight win over Duke

It’s always a great day when North Carolina beats Duke.

Back on November 7, the UNC women’s soccer team dealt archrival Duke just its second loss of 2024.

On Friday, Dec. 6, North Carolina beat Duke again – but this time for a berth in the National Championship.

The Tar Heels overwhelmed the top-seeded Blue Devils, 3-0, in Friday’s College Cup semifinal from Cary, N.C. and advanced to their 28th National Championship game in program history.

How did second-ranked North Carolina (21-5, 7-3 ACC), win in such dominant fashion?

It all started early, with UNC scoring its first goal on Kate Faasse‘s penalty kick just 9:25 in. Faasse’s connection was her team-high 20th on the year. The Tar Heels didn’t even have to wait 15 minutes for their next goal, with Olivia Thomas scored her eight at the 23:55 mark in the first half.

North Carolina received its third goal from an unlikely source, Maddie Dahlein, who shot to the lower-left hand corner of the next for goal number three, tallied her second score on the year.

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UNC beat Duke, even with two key disadvantages: total shots and corner kicks. The Tar Heels registered nine total shots against Blue Devils goalkeeper Leah Freeman, while Claire Gagne saved all five Duke shots she face.

North Carolina only had one corner kick throughout Friday’s semifinal matchup, while the Blue Devils generated seven. Corner kicks are typically great ways to generate instant offense, so the fact UNC held Duke scoreless, is impressive in it own feat.

On Monday, Dec. 9, the Tar Heels will be playing for another National Championship, this time against in-state, ACC rival Wake Forest.

Can North Carolina leave Cary with its 21st National Championship in program history?

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UNC stuns top-seeded Duke in comeback victory, advances to ACC women’s soccer Title Game

The UNC women’s soccer team won an absolute thriller against archrival Duke on Thursday.

No matter how well the UNC women’s soccer team played during the regular season, there’s one thing it couldn’t do: beat archrival Duke.

North Carolina lost 1-0 at Duke back in September, then again on Halloween in the regular-season finale.

On Thursday night in the ACC Women’s Soccer Tournament semifinal, the Tar Heels finally enacted revenge.

After trailing 1-0 heading into halftime, UNC staged a second-half rally, scoring its second goal with under 10 minutes left for  2-1 victory over the top-ranked Blue Devils.

North Carolina (16-4) dealt Duke its first loss since August 15, when Duke lost 1-0 at Ohio State.

If you didn’t watch Thursday night, let us take you through the exciting comeback.

The Tar Heels allowed their lone goal of the game 28 minutes in, when Blue Devils defender Cameron Roller converted on a penalty kick. UNC goalkeeper Claire Gagne was solid otherwise, saving four shots.

When the second half started counting down, North Carolina started firing up.

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The Tar Heels‘ first goal looked extremely similar to Stanford’s goal in the men’s tournament. Not even five minutes into the second half, Linda Ullmark sent a long shot into the box, with the ball bouncing off Duke keeper Leah Freeman’s outstretched arms and rolling slowly into the net.

UNC only was able to earn three corner kicks against the Blue Devils’ tough defense, but made one of those pay off. With approximately 10 minutes left in the second half, North Carolina defender Trinity Armstrong scored her first goal of the season, pushing a header into the goal for a 2-1 advantage.

When the final seconds ticked off, the Tar Heels piled on goalie Claire Gagne.

North Carolina will try for its 23rd ACC Tournament Championship – and first since 2019 – at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10 when it faces Florida State.

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Notre Dame men’s soccer loses ACC Tournament game on Hail Mary goal

You absolutely must see this.

The Notre Dame men’s soccer team lost its ACC Tournament opener to Stanford in the most improbable fashion. The final score was 3-2, but that doesn’t begin to describe how that score occurred.

Trailing, 2-1, with 12 seconds left, the Irish had a free kick inside the penalty area. [autotag]Matthew Roou[/autotag], who had scored the Irish’s first goal, softly kicked the ball to [autotag]Mitch Ferguson[/autotag], who then fired it home to tie the game.

Shortly after the Cardinal reset play from midfield, Dylan Hooper fired a desperation kick from slightly further away. The shot turned out to be on goal, and goalkeeper [autotag]Collin Travasos[/autotag] wasn’t able to stop it.

The Cardinal somehow had regained the lead with one second left, and that lead would stand, enabling them to play Clemson in the quarterfinals.

It was as heartbreaking an ending as it could have been for the 7-5-5 Irish, who now must wait until the Nov. 18 selection show to find out if they made the NCAA Tournament. And all because of a crazy sequence that starts at 1:21 in the below video:

Never say you’ve seen everything in sports. Something new always will find a way.

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Former Notre Dame midfielder makes U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team

Congrats, Korbin!

[autotag]Korbin Albert[/autotag] was too good for Notre Dame. Like, she literally was too good. She left after her sophomore season in 2022 after signing a professional contract with Paris Saint-Germain. Now, she’s going to be representing her country in the Olympics.

Albert was one of 18 players named to coach Emma Hayes’ U.S. Olympic roster and one of five midfielders. Having only joined the national team earlier this year, she already has won championships in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and SheBelieves Cup. Now, she’ll have a chance to add an Olympic gold medal to her trophy case.

Albert’s short time with the Irish was memorable. She was named the ACC Midfielder of the Year, a First Team All-American twice, an all-conference selection twice and a Hermann Trophy finalist. Talk about a fantastic addition to the legacy Notre Dame’s women’s soccer program has created.

Best of luck to Albert and her Olympic teammates in Paris.

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Tigers take down top-seeded Duke, advance to ACC semifinals

Congrats to the reigning National Champs on defeating top-seeded Duke to advance to the ACC Semifinals.

Via Clemson Athletic Communications:

Clemson went on the road and knocked off undefeated and top-seeded Duke (11-1-4) in the ACC Quarterfinal match on Sunday night by a final score of 2-0. Derek Waleffe scored his first goal this season and Brandon Parrish put the nail in the coffin late in the match to give Clemson its fourth straight victory.

This marks the 19th time the Tigers have advanced to the ACC semifinals, and 10th in Mike Noonan’s 13 year tenure.

The Tigers (12-5-1) came into the match and immediately took control over its undefeated opponent. Clemson dominated possession in a physical first half, but was unable to break through in the first 45 minutes of action. Clemson outshot Duke 7-4 in the first frame.

In the 71st minute, Waleffe found space inside the penalty area and blasted a left-footed shot past Duke’s goalkeeper Eliot Hamill to give the Blue Devils their first deficit since October 1. The goal also broke a Duke streak of six consecutive matches without allowing a goal.

Despite Duke’s best efforts to look for an equalizer, the Tigers remained on the front foot and kept the Blue Devils’ offense at bay. As time was winding down, Parrish took the ball in the corner and split two defenders, dribbled into the box and beat a charging Hamill in a brilliant individual effort to put away the dagger.

Goalkeeper Joseph Andema earned his seventh shutout in 13 games, stopping three shots in the process. The Tigers’ defense was fantastic all night in stifling the Duke attack, and the offense capitalized on its chances to get two goals on the Blue Devils, who gave up an ACC-low five goals all season.

Up next, Clemson will head to Winston Salem, N.C. to take on Wake Forest in the ACC semifinal match on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with the match slated to broadcast on ACC Network.

 

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Notre Dame women’s soccer dominates Syracuse

Notre Dame’s women’s soccer team had more goals on Sunday than Syracuse had shots on goal. Details to ND’s latest win here.

The Notre Dame women’s soccer team dominated Syracuse on Sunday and won their third straight contest with a 2-0 win.

Kiki Van Zanten handled the scoring for Irish as her first goal of the day came just before halftime at the 42 minute mark and was assisted by Brooke Van Dyck.

Van Zanten’s second goal of the day came with just minutes remaining the contest as she scored at the 89′ mark to cap the scoring by giving Notre Dame a 2-0 lead.

The win kept Notre Dame unbeaten all-time at home against Syracuse, a series that has now seen nine games, none of which Syracuse has even scored in.

Notre Dame’s defense was so stout on Sunday in fact that goalkeeper Mattie Interian had to make just one stop to record the shutout.

The win was Notre Dame’s third straight and moved the Irish to 3-1-0 on the year while Syracuse dropped to 0-3-0.

Notre Dame returns to action when they host Wake Forest on October 15.