No. 7 Carolina women’s soccer is back home Thursday night to open ACC play, and the Tar Heels are doing it after spending the last two weeks on the road.
UNC will host Cal at Dorrance Field at Play2Dream Legacy Stadium, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET and streaming on ACCNX.
This will be the 13th meeting between the programs, and the Tar Heels have owned the series. Carolina is 11-0-1 all-time against the Bears and has won all four home matchups. In those previous meetings, the Tar Heels have posted six shutouts while piling up a 33-8 scoring edge.
Both teams enter Thursday’s game with their ACC seasons just getting underway. Carolina was picked to finish fifth in the league’s preseason poll, while Cal landed 10th.
The Tar Heels have been getting their offense from a familiar pair. Summer Denigan and Bella Devey have each scored six goals this season, and Denigan has pushed her scoring streak to five straight matches. She has also scored three times from the penalty spot.
Denigan has been one of Carolina’s biggest producers across the board, leading the team with three assists and 15 points. Hope Munson has also delivered a brace this season, matching Denigan in that category.
Carolina comes into the conference opener at 5-1 overall and 3-0 away from home. The Tar Heels are also sitting at No. 7 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll.
Devey picked up ACC Player of the Week honors after a huge opening week, when she led the nation with five goals and 10 points. It was the first ACC weekly award of her career, and she had already been named to the Preseason All-ACC Team.
Carolina’s preseason recognition stretched well beyond that. Five Tar Heels appeared in the Preseason TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Rankings: Summer Denigan at No.
4, Izzi Stratton at No. 24, Bella Gaetino at No.
35, Bella Devey at No. 68 and Hope Munson at No. 77.
Three more Tar Heels were included on the Preseason TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Teams, with Denigan on the First Team, Stratton on the Third Team and Cali O’Neill on the Freshman Team. Denigan and Stratton were also named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.
On the national team front, Aven Alvarez, Hope Munson and Sealey Strawn were selected to the U-20 WNT roster for the upcoming 2026 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup. They’ll be with the team Sept. 5-27 in Poland.
In Other News...
UNC Off-Field Turmoil Just Added Another Concern For Bill Belichick
North Carolinas football program is already navigating an uneasy stretch off the field, and now it has another self-imposed restriction layered onto the mix. The Tar Heels announced they will not host any unofficial visits for the upcoming game against East Tennessee State after a past recruiting violation, adding another administrative headache as Bill Belichick tries to settle in and focus attention on the season.
Michael Lombardis resignation has already reshaped the programs front office, and the new recruiting limitation only adds to the sense of churn around Chapel Hill. It also comes separate from the ongoing investigation involving defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, leaving UNC with multiple issues to manage at once while the on-field product tries to find some stability. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Misses On A Five-Star Guard Who Was Firmly In The Mix
NaVorro Bowman Jr., one of the top guards in the Class of 2027, is off the board early after committing to UConn, ending a recruiting battle that had included North Carolina, Texas and Arizona. The five-star prospect, ranked No. 11 in his class, had been firmly in the mix for the Tar Heels and was scheduled to visit Illinois before backing off that trip and making his choice.
For UNC, it is another reminder of how quickly the market can move on elite young guards, especially when a player commits this far out. Bowmans decision also gives other programs a clearer path as they recalibrate their recruiting boards, while North Carolina keeps working the class without one of the names it had targeted most aggressively. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Lands Another Huge Recruiting Chance In Massive Weekend For Malone
A busy recruiting weekend is bringing two of the top names in the 2027 class to Chapel Hill, and North Carolina is right in the middle of both pursuits. Five-star guard Jordan Page is scheduled to take an official visit to UNC this weekend, and he will be on campus with fellow five-star prospect CJ Rosser, giving the Tar Heels a chance to make a strong impression on a pair of elite targets at the same time.
For a program that keeps leaning into the top end of the high school market, the timing matters as much as the names. UNC has shown strong interest in both Page and Rosser throughout the 2027 cycle, and this trip gives the staff another chance to build on that momentum as the Tar Heels keep working to line up commitments from premier talent. [Read more 🡒]