The 2023 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represented the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

during the

2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season The 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season was the 42nd season of NCAA championship women's college soccer. The season began on August 17, 2023, and concluded in November 2023. It will culminate with the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer ...

. It was the 47th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by 47th year head coach

Anson Dorrance Albert Anson Dorrance IV (born April 9, 1951) is a retired American soccer coach (sport), coach. He was the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer, women's soccer program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Uni ...

and played their home games at

Dorrance Field Dorrance Field is the on-campus stadium at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The venue is home to the North Carolina Tar Heels North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer, men's ...

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

. The Tar Heels started off the season as the 2nd ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. They would draw two of their three opening games, one against tenth-ranked and another against unranked . They would then play four more ranked teams during their non-conference schedule, defeating number 24

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, number 8 and number 10 and drawing with number 12 . They finished their non-conference season 5–0–3 and played seven Power 5 opponents. Their ACC season started with two wins before a draw against number three

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. Two more wins were followed by three draws. The Tar Heels finished the season with a dominant 6–1 win against

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and a disappointing draw with last-place

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

. The Tar Heels finished the season 13–2–8 and 5–0–5 in ACC play to finish in fourth place. As the fourth seed in the ACC Tournament, they hosted

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in the first round and were upset 1–2 in

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

. They received an at-large bid to the

2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament The 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament was the 42nd edition of the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament, a postseason tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's college soccer. The College Cup was pl ...

where they were the third-seed in the BYU Bracket. They defeated in the first round, six-seed Alabama in a second-round rematch, and second-seed in the Round of 16. They then had to travel to

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to face one-seed BYU in the Quarterfinals. The Tar Heels raced out to a 3–0 lead in the first twenty minutes of the match, but surrendered four goals, three in the last ten minutes to lose 3–4 to end their season.

Previous season

The Tar Heels finished the season 20–5–1 and 8–2–0 in ACC play to finish in a tie for first place. As the first seed in the ACC Tournament, they hosted rival

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in the semifinal after receiving a first-round bye and drew 0–0. The Tar Heels won the ensuing

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

7–6 to advance to the final where they lost to

. They received an at-large bid to the

2022 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament The 2022 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament was the 41st edition of the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament, a postseason tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's college soccer. The College Cup was pl ...

where they were the second seed in the Notre Dame Bracket. They defeated in the first round, seven-seed in the second round, and six-seed BYU in the Round of 16. They then had to travel to Notre Dame to face one-seed Notre Dame. The Tar Heels advanced with a 2–0 win to the College Cup, where they would face Florida State again. The Tar Heels won the rematch of the ACC Tournament Final 3–2 and advanced to the national title game against . North Carolina lost a tight match 3–2, with UCLA scoring goals in the 80th and 89th minutes to force

and scoring the game winner in the 107th minute.

Offseason

Departures

Incoming Transfers

Recruiting class

Source:

Squad

Roster

Team management

Source:

Schedule

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Awards and honors

Rankings

2024 NWSL Draft

North Carolina had six players selected in the 2024 NWSL Draft. The six players tied the NWSL record for number of selections from a single school in a draft. North Carolina also had the first and second overall picks for the second time in school history.

References

{{North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer navbox

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

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North Carolina women's soccer