UNC women’s soccer remains national power, NCAA Tournament No. 2 seed amid major change

The final whistle had barely sounded when, for several Tar Heels, the tears began to fall. North Carolina’s Linda Ullmark knelt on the grass, crying, while Bella Sember sat nearby folded over, struggling to catch her breath. In the middle of the field, the Florida State Seminoles jumped in celebration and held up their fifth consecutive ACC Championship trophy.

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels lingered in silence and shock, sprawled across the field, faces buried in jerseys or resting in their hands. Damon Nahas, UNC’s interim head coach, rubbed his face and ran a hand over his head before joining his players. He began moving between the Tar Heels, patting shoulders, whispering encouragement. Slowly, he motioned for everyone to come in — to gather together and to be reminded of what they’d accomplished, even in defeat.

In a closely-contested ACC Championship game on Sunday, No. 4-seed UNC women’s soccer fell to No. 3-seed Florida State, 3-2, after holding a 2-1 halftime lead. The loss capped a challenging game at WakeMed Soccer Park where UNC battled — playing some of its best soccer of the season — but ultimately couldn’t contain FSU’s determined comeback.

For this Tar Heel squad, though, reaching the ACC title game was an achievement in itself, a testament to their resilience in the face of myriad challenges. Under Nahas’ guidance — following the unexpected retirement of longtime head coach Anson Dorrance days ahead of the Tar Heels’ season opener — the team reforged its identity. Despite losing all but one starter to professional contracts and the transfer portal, the Tar Heels outplayed expectations all season. The team will now look to do the same in the NCAA tournament beginning Friday. UNC captured a No. 2 seed and top-ranked Duke (the Tar Heels upset the Blue Devils in the ACC tournament semifinals) secured the No. 1 overall seed.

“Anyone on the outside world that is brave enough to speak publicly, they would say that this would be a complete down year for the University of North Carolina ... There’s so many different things that most programs would’ve been crippled [by],” Nahas told The News & Observer on Oct. 30. “[But] I knew what we had.”

This season wasn’t just defined by challenges; it was also about embracing change.

In August, Dorrance announced he was retiring after a tenure that saw him build North Carolina into the premier powerhouse in women’s college soccer. But even with the legendary coach no longer at the helm, Nahas — a longtime assistant and recruiting point man — kept the team focused.

“Honestly, it was a very smooth transition just because a lot of the values and things that Anson had done here, Damon still carries out every day,” senior Asha Means said.

That includes traditions like the competitive cauldron (a rigorous, data-driven system that ranks players daily in practice) and Dorrance’s principle-based living idealisms. This system stayed in place amid a complete roster overhaul that saw nine players transfer, 11 go pro and at least three would-be freshmen instead sign with NWSL teams.

The NCAA tournament field only underscores how deep and balanced the ACC has become in recent years and how fierce the competition has been for this brand-new UNC roster. Once dominated by North Carolina, the conference now features formidable opponents in No. 1 seeds Florida State and Duke, and fellow No. 2 seed Wake Forest.

And as Dorrance is fond of pointing out, the latter two of those rosters are populated by former Tar Heels in Duke’s Mia Oliaro and Wake Forest’s Emily Colton and Emily Murphy.

“Of course, those two teams finished [No. 1 and No. 2] in the ACC,” Dorrance told The News & Observer on Sunday. “Now, have we gotten any thank you letters from either Duke or Wake or any other of the teams we’ve sent these fantastic kids to? Not yet, but you know, maybe they should consider it.”

As Dorrance surveyed the Tar Heels from the VIP suite at WakeMed Soccer Park on Sunday, clad in a black UNC letterman jacket but without a whistle, he had to marvel at how much the team had endured and overcome just to be in the ACC Championship.

He credited Nahas’ leadership and pointed to the growth of the players over the course of the past few months — from midfielder Evelyn Shores’ ACL recovery to defender Trinity Armstrong’s impact since returning from international duty with Team USA.

Speaking to the media following UNC’s ACC Championship loss, Nahas carried a similar message. He didn’t harp on his team’s late-game mistakes, but rather spoke to the program’s growth. He reflected on the Tar Heels’ 4-2 loss to the Seminoles in Tallahassee, Florida on Oct. 25. What Nahas saw on Sunday, roughly two weeks later, represented a “complete 180-degree performance.”

“To be able to see those girls potentially raise that trophy is something that I feel they have worked really hard for and would’ve deserved,” he said on Sunday, “but today wasn’t their day.”

Now, with the ACC tournament behind them, the Tar Heels are looking ahead. With a 15-6 record, they’ve already defied expectations.

Means, in her fourth season in Chapel Hill, said this is a testament to the team’s grit.

“There is no limit for this team,” Means said. “You can’t say no to us. Anything that we want, we will go get. And I think that’s something that really separates us from any other team that’s competing in the country right now. It says a lot when you lost almost an entire roster and you get an entirely new roster and you still remain top-2 in the ACC and top-10 for basically the entire regular season.”

It’s been a season of change, and yet, it seems the Tar Heels are still evolving ahead of the NCAA tournament.