North Carolina’s women’s soccer program came away from Wednesday afternoon’s ACC awards release with a heavy haul, led by Bella Devey taking Offensive Player of the Year and Cali O’Neill being voted Freshman of the Year.
UNC landed eight All-ACC selections overall, with Devey and Hope Munson on the First Team, Aven Alvarez on the Second Team, and Lilliah Blum and Ashley Pennie on the Third Team. The Tar Heels also placed three players on the All-Freshman Team in Scottie Antonucci, O’Neill and Amari Manning.
Devey’s season has been packed with production from start to finish. The sophomore has scored 16 goals and six game-winners, and she leads the team with 33 points.
She has found the net in 10 different matches and has turned in five multi-goal performances. Her first career hat trick came in Carolina’s win over Quinnipiac.
Along the way, she picked up ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors three times, appeared on the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week on Aug. 18, checked in at No. 2 in the TopDrawerSoccer Midseason Top 100 Rankings, and made the Midseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. Devey is the first Tar Heel to win ACC Offensive Player of the Year since Alessia Russo in 2018.
O’Neill made her own mark in her first year in Chapel Hill. The Durham native started every match and logged a team-high 1,456 minutes.
She was named ACC Defender of the Week on Oct. 6 after assisting in Carolina’s win over No. 12 Notre Dame.
O’Neill helped anchor a back line that produced 10 shutout wins and gave up just 13 goals all season. She also ranked No. 1 in the TopDrawerSoccer Midseason Top 100 Freshmen Rankings.
She is Carolina’s first ACC Freshman of the Year in six seasons.
Munson’s season earned her a spot on the First Team after she made an impact at both ends of the field. Defensively, she helped Carolina to seven shutouts, including three in ACC play.
Offensively, she has become a real threat, too. The sophomore posted her first career hat trick in a road win over No.
24 Louisville, pushing her season total to eight goals and placing her third on the team.
Alvarez was Carolina’s lone Second Team selection. The defender started 11 matches and helped the Tar Heel back line to seven shutouts. She also assisted on the game-winning goal in the Oct. 29 win over SMU.
Blum and Pennie gave UNC two more names on the Third Team. Both midfielders started every match and played major roles in a season that has produced 15 wins, including eight in ACC play.
Blum has five goals and six assists, and her biggest offensive burst came with her first career brace in the win over No. 2 Duke.
That performance earned her ACC Offensive Player of the Week. Pennie has been just as steady, logging 1,453 minutes, second-most on the team, and adding an assist in the season opener against Fairfield.
Antonucci’s place on the All-Freshman Team came after a season that included 13 appearances and 12 starts. She has two assists, 26 shots and 13 shots on goal, while also contributing to seven shutouts.
Manning’s season was shaped in part by U.S. National Team call-ups, but she still made her presence felt.
She played in five ACC matches, and Carolina won all five. Manning also finished with five assists, helping the Tar Heels outscore opponents 32-10 in the games she appeared in.
The full ACC awards list also included Sierra Sythe of Wake Forest as Defensive Player of the Year, Lily Joseph of Notre Dame as Midfielder of the Year, Valentina Amaral of Wake Forest as Goalkeeper of the Year, and Nate Norman of Notre Dame as Coach of the Year.
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