No. 2 Carolina women’s soccer heads to Kentucky on Thursday night with one more regular-season test waiting in front of it: No. 24 Louisville.
The Tar Heels and Cardinals will kick off at 6 p.m. from Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium, with the match streaming on ACC Network. UNC enters the finale after earning its seventh ACC win and sitting second in the league standings with 21 points.
This will be only the eighth meeting between the programs, and Carolina has controlled the series so far. The Tar Heels own a 5-1-1 edge all-time against Louisville, with three of those victories coming on the road.
That road record matters here. UNC has been sharp away from home this season, going 5-1 with three shutouts and one ranked win. Louisville, meanwhile, brings a 6-2-1 home mark into the matchup.
Carolina’s attack has been the story of its season, and the numbers are loud. The Tar Heels lead the ACC with 48 goals and are averaging 3.00 goals per game. They’ve outscored opponents 48-11 overall, and Bella Devey has been at the center of it all.
Devey leads the ACC in total goals with 16 and has added six game-winners. She also earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors three times this season and was named to the Preseason All-ACC Team. Nationally, she ranks second in total goals.
UNC’s latest conference win came in a 2-0 result over SMU, and the Tar Heels have now posted 10 shutouts this season, including four in ACC play. The defensive side has been just as important as the scoring surge.
Peyton Trayer has handled the goalkeeping load with 10 wins and 21 saves, while collecting four clean sheets. She was named ACC Freshman and Goalkeeper of the Week on Oct.
- Izzi Stratton also picked up ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors that same day.
Several other Tar Heels have stacked up recognition along the way. Cali O’Neill earned her first career weekly award on Oct. 6 after being named ACC Defensive Player of the Week.
Lilliah Blum recorded her first career brace against Duke and now has five goals on the season; she was also named ACC Offensive Player of the Week and TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week on Sept. 22.
Blum and Amari Manning lead the team with five assists apiece.
UNC’s depth shows up in the rankings, too. Four Tar Heels appeared in the Midseason TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Rankings: Bella Devey at No.
2, Lilliah Blum at No. 19, Summer Denigan at No. 29 and Ashley Pennie at No.
- Three freshmen made the Midseason TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Freshmen Rankings: Cali O’Neill at No.
1, Amari Manning at No. 22 and Scottie Antonucci at No. 42.
The Tar Heels were picked fifth in the ACC Preseason Poll, but they’ve climbed well beyond that spot. They were also represented on the Preseason TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Teams, with Summer Denigan on the First Team, Izzi Stratton on the Third Team and O’Neill on the Freshman Team.
Aven Alvarez, Hope Munson and Sealey Strawn were also named to the U-20 WNT roster for the 2026 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the trio helped the national team reach the round of 16.
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Kaleb Cost Just Gave UNC's Secondary A Needed Reality Check
Kaleb Costs return gave North Carolinas secondary a timely boost in a recent matchup with Miami, and it came with a clear reminder of how little margin there is against top receivers. After missing time with injury, Cost was back on the field and part of a unit that kept Malachi Toney in check for much of the game, even if the Miami wideout still finished with seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
Cost spoke afterward about what it meant to be back, while also giving Toney his due as a difficult cover. For UNC, the bigger takeaway may be the standard it has to sustain from here, with preparation and consistency becoming the key words for a defense that needs its secondary to keep answering the bell every week. [Read more 🡒]
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For North Carolina, the assignment is straightforward even if the execution is not: keep Osborne from turning scrambles and designed runs into the kind of momentum that can tilt a game. After letting Miami expose some issues, the Tar Heels need a cleaner showing against a team that can attack in a way they have already shown some trouble handling. If UNC wants to steady its season, this is the sort of matchup where the defense has to answer first. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Win Exposed A Frontcourt Concern Fans Cant Ignore
North Carolina opened the season with a win over Western Carolina, but the box score left behind a familiar worry for anyone watching closely: the Tar Heels leaned heavily on perimeter scoring while struggling to establish much of anything inside. The frontcourt never quite took control, and the rebounding numbers told the story, with UNC losing the battle on the glass 41-32 and giving up 13 offensive boards.
For a team with conference play looming, that kind of imbalance is hard to ignore. The hope was that transfer Cameron Fens could help stabilize the post and add some needed size, but eligibility issues have kept that option off the table for now, leaving UNC to sort through its frontcourt questions the old-fashioned way. [Read more 🡒]