North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer


The North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I soccer. The team has won 23 of the 27 Atlantic Coast Conference championships, and 21 of the 38 NCAA national championships.

History

The UNC women's soccer team began as a club team established by students looking for high level competition. In 1979, they petitioned the UNC Athletic Director, Bill Cobey, to take the club to the varsity level. Cobey asked Anson Dorrance, then the UNC men's soccer coach to assess the club's ability to transition to varsity status. Dorrance was impressed enough by the club, then coached by Mike Byers, to recommend that the school form a women's soccer team. Cobey agreed and hired Dorrance as head coach, with Byers as an assistant, for the 1978 season. That year, the Tar Heels played an essentially club schedule, including games against high school teams. However, in 1979, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, at the prompting of Dorrance and University of Colorado coach, Chris Lidstone, established a national women's soccer program. At the time, UNC had the only varsity women's soccer team in the Southeast and this allowed Dorrance to recruit the top talent in the region. In 1981, he recruited one of the most talented freshman squads in the history of women's soccer. Eight of those recruits won starting positions and took the team to the first, and only, AIAW national championship. This group would set the tone for Tar Heels soccer for down through its history. As Dorrance recalls it, "These were the true pioneers. They were given nothing. They were accustomed to taking things and so they weren't as genteel as the sort of young ladies we can recruit now... They were the sort of girls who would go downtown, burn it to the ground,... But then, they were on time for every single practice and in practice they worked themselves until they were bleeding and throwing up. They had a tremendous commitment to victory and to personal athletic excellence. And for that I admired them because they were a tremendous group. And even though, off the field, I think they all hated each other. But once the game began, there was a collective fury that just intimidated everyone they played against." Building on that competitive drive, the Tar Heels went on to win the first three NCAA championships, and dominate the sport for years to come.

All-time record

Year Head Coach Overall ACC ACC Tournament NCAA Tournament
1979 Anson Dorrance 10–2–0–––
1980 Anson Dorrance 21–5–0––AIAW Semifinals
1981 Anson Dorrance 23–0–0––AIAW Champions
1982 Anson Dorrance 19–2–0––Champions
1983 Anson Dorrance 19–1–0––Champions
1984 Anson Dorrance 24–0–1––Champions
1985 Anson Dorrance 18–2–1––Runner Up
1986 Anson Dorrance 24–0–1––Champions
1987 Anson Dorrance 23–0–13–0–0–Champions
1988 Anson Dorrance 18–0–31–0–1Runner UpChampions
1989 Anson Dorrance 24–0–14–0–0ChampionsChampions
1990 Anson Dorrance 20–1–14–0–0ChampionsChampions
1991 Anson Dorrance 24–0–04–0–0ChampionsChampions
1992 Anson Dorrance 25–0–04–0–0ChampionsChampions
1993 Anson Dorrance 23–0–04–0–0ChampionsChampions
1994 Anson Dorrance 25–1–15–1–0ChampionsChampions
1995 Anson Dorrance 25–1–07–0–0ChampionsSemifinals
1996 Anson Dorrance 25–1–07–0–0ChampionsChampions
1997 Anson Dorrance 27–0–17–0–0ChampionsChampions
1998 Anson Dorrance 25–1–07–0–0ChampionsRunner Up
1999 Anson Dorrance 24–2–07–0–0ChampionsChampions
2000 Anson Dorrance 21–3–04–3–0ChampionsChampions
2001 Anson Dorrance 24–1–07–0–0ChampionsRunner Up
2002 Anson Dorrance 21–2–44–1–2ChampionsSemifinals
2003 Anson Dorrance 27–0–07–0–0ChampionsChampions
2004 Anson Dorrance 20–1–29–0–0Runner UpThird Round
2005 Anson Dorrance 23–1–19–1–0ChampionsQuarterfinals
2006 Anson Dorrance 27–1–010–0–0ChampionsChampions
2007 Anson Dorrance 19–4–19–1–0ChampionsThird Round
2008 Anson Dorrance 25–1–29–0–1ChampionsChampions
2009 Anson Dorrance 23–3–19–3–0ChampionsChampions
2010 Anson Dorrance 19–3–29–3–0SemifinalsThird Round
2011 Anson Dorrance 13–5–26–3–1QuarterfinalsThird Round
2012 Anson Dorrance 15–5–36–3–1QuarterfinalsChampions
2013 Anson Dorrance 20–5–010–3–0SemifinalsQuarterfinals
2014 Anson Dorrance 14–4–29–0–1SemifinalsThird Round
2015 Anson Dorrance 15–5–17–3–0SemifinalsSecond Round
2016 Anson Dorrance 17–4–46–2–2Runner UpSemifinals
2017 Anson Dorrance 17–3–28–0–2ChampionsThird Round
2018 Anson Dorrance 21–4–210–0–0Runner UpRunner Up
2019 Anson Dorrance 24–1–29–0–1ChampionsRunner Up

Current Roster

Updated August 14, 2019

Individual honors

National Coach of the Year:
ACC Coach of the Year:
won numerous awards with the Tar Haeels
Hermann Trophy:
ACC Player of the Year:
ACC Defensive Player of the Year:
, ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2006
ACC Offensive Player of the Year:
ACC Rookie of the Year:
NCAA Tournament MVP:
Offensive Player of the NCAA Tournament:
Defensive Player of the Tournament:
First Team All-America Selection: As of 2011, North Carolina had 70 players gain first-team All-American recognition. The next two schools with the greatest number of All-Americans were tied with twenty-two each.

Notable Alumnae