The 2026 fall campaign is just about to begin for UNC men’s soccer, with a preseason exhibition this Sunday and the season opener August 20. How is the team getting ready for the upcoming season? What can fans expect as the Tar Heels look to build on last year’s NCAA second-round appearance? And what does the ever-changing landscape of college athletics mean for soccer, specifically?

Aaron welcomes UNC head coach Carlos Somoano to the studio for an extended conversation ahead of the 2026 season.

97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.

You can also listen to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” on Spotify. Click here to follow Aaron and listen to all his segments, from local news to fun features to hard-hitting interviews.

Listen:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
On Air Today: David Routh on UNC's Campaign for Carolina
UNC Vice Chancellor for Development David Routh joins 97.9 The Hill's Brighton McConnell to discuss the Campaign for Carolina on Thursday, January 13. With the fundraising effort hitting its ambitious goal a year earlier than anticipated, what comes next? Routh also shares thoughts on what the variety of donations means for the state's relationship with the university and the vision for these private gifts.
UNC's Morehead-Cain Foundation Receives $10 Million Gift
The Morehead-Cain Foundation received its largest ever single donation from an alumnus in September. The $10 million gift from an anonymous donor will help the foundation keep providing scholarships to more UNC students for years to come. The gift did not come with any conditions or requests to alter the scholarship program in any way, […]
UNC Fundraising Leader Set to Leave After Record-Breaking Year, Staff Dissatisfaction
UNC announced on Wednesday Vice Chancellor for University Development Michael Andreasen will depart after more than three years in the job.
UNC Announces Plans of 'Free Tuition' for Certain Undergraduate Students
UNC’s flagship campus announced another step to improve affordability and access to North Carolinians, sharing plans to provide free tuition and fees to certain undergraduate students beginning in 2024. UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz sent a message to the campus community on Friday afternoon, saying students from North Carolina whose families make less than $80,000 a […]
UNC Officially Begins Business School Expansion, Shares Concept Art
Work to expand UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School officially got underway Thursday morning, as a groundbreaking ceremony was hosted in the school’s plaza area. While plans and fundraising work to create an expansion to the nationally-recognized school have been ongoing for years, the $150 million renovation earned the formal stamp of approval from Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz. […]
UNC Providing Emergency Aid, Internet Supplements to Students Amid Remote Semester
As many UNC students began the semester remotely, and even more transitioned to the method halfway through August, the university has been working to help. Students have received more than $12 million in special aid from UNC since the summer and the need continues into the fall. According to Director of the Office of Scholarships […]
Paintings Worth $12.1 Million Donated to the Ackland Art Museum
Three paintings valued at $12.1 million dollars have been donated to the Ackland Art Museum‘s permanent collection of post-war and contemporary art. The donation comes from longtime supporter of UNC and parent of three Carolina graduates, Jane Roughton Kearns. The three paintings bequeathed to the Ackland consist of two by Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) and one by Milton Avery […]
Donation Made to Construct Stallings-Evans Sports Medicine Complex on UNC Campus
In 2010, the Stallings family made the primary gift that led to the Stallings-Evans Sports Medicine Center on UNC’s campus. On Saturday, the university announced the family would once again be donating to grow it further. Don and Billie Stallings and their family all stood at the center of the Dean Smith Center at halftime […]
UNC's Blue Sky Scholars Program Seeks to Assist Middle-Income Students
UNC announced its launch of a $20 million scholarship initiative earlier this month called the Blue Sky Scholars program, which is aimed at assisting middle-income undergraduate students from North Carolina. The Blue Sky Scholars program is meant, in partnership with the Carolina Covenant program, to make studying at UNC a realistic goal for all North […]
On Air Today: Talking UNC Men's Soccer, with Head Coach Carlos Somoano
Aaron welcomes UNC men's soccer head coach Carlos Somoano to the studio, ahead of the start of the 2026 season.
›