Both the UNC men’s and women’s soccer teams were playing out west Sunday. The women used a penalty kick goal to beat Arizona State 1-0 in Tempe, while the men battled to a 2-2 draw against Cal in Berkeley.

On the women’s side, the Tar Heels and Sun Devils combined for just seven total shots and three shots on goal through the 90 minutes of play. Carolina’s break came in the 34th minute, when Scottie Antonucci dribbled across the Arizona State penalty area and was fouled from behind, giving the Tar Heels a penalty kick. Summer Denigan stepped to the spot and fired it into the top corner to put UNC in front. It marked Denigan’s fifth consecutive match with a goal, and the Georgia transfer is now responsible for six of the team’s 19 in total on the year so far.

That would be all on offense for UNC, which didn’t manage a single shot on target in the second half. Keeper Peyton Trayer saved Arizona State’s only effort early in the second half, preserving the team’s fourth clean sheet of the season.

The Tar Heels are now 5-1 on the season and 3-0 in road matches. UNC needs just one more win away from Dorrance Field to match its total from the entire 2025 season. Up next, Carolina will return to Chapel Hill and begin a four-match homestand when it hosts Cal in the ACC opener Thursday at 7 p.m.

There was plenty of offense in the men’s game that evening in Berkeley. The Tar Heels got off to a positive start with a goal from Riley Berge in the 18th minute and controlled much of the possession in the first half. But the final five minutes swung momentum toward Cal, as the Bears scored twice in the span of 2:20 to take a 2-1 lead heading into halftime. UNC was able to salvage a result in the match’s final 10 minutes, as Joschi Schelb deflected in a long range effort to even the score at 2-2. Schelb had initiated the set piece which led to Berge’s goal in the first half.

Both teams had chances to break the tie after Schelb’s equalizer. Bertil Rygaard Hansen fired a shot on the Cal net less than a minute later which was saved, and Tar Heel keeper Alan Rutkowski made the last of his three saves in the 86th minute to deny Cal’s Callen Lewis.

UNC has won just one of its four matches so far this year with a record of 1-1-2 overall and 0-0-1 in league play. Up next, the Tar Heels will host No. 1 Stanford at Dorrance Field Friday at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications

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