The Tar Heels are back in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, though not in the way many thought.

Carolina earned at-large bid to the tournament field Monday afternoon and will play at No. 3 seed Tennessee in Knoxville in the tournament’s first round Friday.

The matchup is an ironic one for the Tar Heels, who opened the season by traveling to Knoxville as the preseason No. 1 team in the nation. However, the unranked Lady Vols sprang a 2-0 upset that night, starting an eventual fall completely out of the rankings for Carolina by season’s end. As for the Lady Vols, they enter the tournament ranked No. 14 in the latest national polls.

UNC finished the regular season 12-6 overall and failed to qualify for the ACC Tournament for just the second time in program history. The conference tournament only features the league’s top six finishers, and the Tar Heels finished seventh. Carolina finished 6-4 in ACC play, but did not beat any of the teams which finished ahead of it in the standings.

The ACC is well-represented in the tournament field. The league accounts for three of the four No. 1 seeds, including No. 1 overall seed Notre Dame. Virginia and Stanford also snagged top seeds. Elsewhere in the field are No. 2 seed Duke, No. 3 Florida State, No. 6 Louisville, No. 7 Wake Forest and No. 8 Clemson. For a full look at the tournament bracket, click here.

This year marks UNC’s 44th appearance in the NCAA Tournament – and also the NCAA Tournament’s 44th year of existence. The Tar Heels have never missed out on the tournament field. Carolina is also seeking its 23rd NCAA title, which would make it the first program to win back-to-back championships in women’s soccer since 2009 – when the Tar Heels did.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications

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