The No. 2 UNC women’s soccer team finished out the regular season in fine form Thursday night, taking down Louisville on the road 2-0. With the win, Carolina clinched a share of the ACC regular season title, and a bye into the semifinals of next week’s ACC Tournament. The Tar Heels will be the No. 1 seed in that event.

Carolina now has 25 ACC regular season titles in program history. Its last title came in 2020, when the crown was shared with Florida State. The Tar Heels began the day in a three-way tie with the Seminoles and Notre Dame at 7-2 in conference play. Because UNC has a head-to-head tiebreaker over Florida State, the win clinched a Top 2 finish, and thus a bye to the semifinals of the conference tournament (six teams participate in the tournament, with the top two seeds receiving byes). Notre Dame tied with Duke on Thursday, ensuring Carolina would have the top seed in the tournament.

The Tar Heels struggled to break through for much of Thursday’s match against a stubborn Louisville side. The Cardinals played Carolina to a scoreless tie through the first 45 minutes and nearly matched the Tar Heels on shots at 5-4. UNC nearly found itself behind in the 53rd minute, as a hectic Louisville break resulted in a shot just deflecting off the left goalpost. Carolina goalkeeper Emmie Allen had saved the initial shot, but the rebound bounced right into the foot of another Cardinal attacker.

The Tar Heels finally edged in front in the 66th minute. After several UNC shots were blocked, sophomore midfielder Ruby Grant corralled the loose ball inside the Cardinal six-yard box and escorted it into the back of the net for her first goal of the season. Barely two minutes later, Isabel Cox, who was credited with the assist on Grant’s goal, headed in a goal of her own off a corner kick. It was the second goal of the season and 15th in the career of the senior from Greensboro.

Carolina finishes the regular season 15-3 overall and 8-2 in ACC play. The Tar Heels are currently on a six-match winning streak, with the final three of that streak coming on the road.

UNC will now await the winner of No. 4 seed Virginia and No. 5 seed Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. While the opening round will be played at campus sites, the semifinals and final will be played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. The first semifinal will kick off on Thursday, November 3 at 5:30 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

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