# 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer season

The 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer season was the 33rd season of women's varsity soccer in the conference.
Florida State and North Carolina are the defending regular season champions. The Seminoles are the defending ACC tournament champions.
The regular season champions were the Virginia Cavaliers. The Florida State Seminoles won the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| Boston College Eagles | Newton Soccer Complex | 2,500 |
| Clemson Tigers | Riggs Field | 6,500 |
| Duke Blue Devils | Koskinen Stadium | 7,000 |
| Florida State Seminoles | Seminole Soccer Complex | 1,600 |
| Louisville Cardinals | Lynn Stadium | 5,300 |
| Miami Hurricanes | Cobb Stadium | 500 |
| NC State | Dail Soccer Field | 3,000 |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | Dorrance Field | 5,025 |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Alumni Stadium | 2,500 |
| Pittsburgh Panthers | Ambrose Urbanic Field | 735 |
| Syracuse Orange | SU Soccer Stadium | 5,000 |
| Virginia Cavaliers | Klöckner Stadium | 8,000 |
| Virginia Tech Hokies | Thompson Field | 2,500 |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | Spry Stadium | 3,000 |
1. ^ Georgia Tech does not sponsor women's soccer

## Coaches
### Head Coaching Records

| Team | Head coach | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | ACC record |
| Boston College | Jason Lowe | 3 | 11–18–3 | 11–18–3 | 2–15–1 |
| Clemson | Eddie Radwanski | 11 | 244–130–37 | 105–65–24 | 44–49–8 |
| Duke | Robbie Church | 21 | 344–180–70 | 256–131–59 | 97–61–33 |
| Florida State | Mark Krikorian | 17 | 364–96–36 | 289–66–33 | 111–32–25 |
| Louisville | Karen Ferguson-Dayes | 21 | 187–168–37 | 187–168–37 | 27–32–10 |
| Miami | Sarah Barnes | 4 | 72–70–20 | 12–29–6 | 5–21–2 |
| North Carolina | Anson Dorrance | 43 | 851–70–38 | 851–70–38 | 208–26–10 |
| NC State | Tim Santoro | 9 | 67–73–15 | 67–73–15 | 19–46–8 |
| Notre Dame | Nate Norman | 4 | 83–60–16 | 25–25–2 | 12–14–2 |
| Pittsburgh | Randy Waldrum | 4 | 419–135–33 | 20–27–4 | 12–26–2 |
| Syracuse | Nicky Adams | 3 | 4–18–2 | 4–18–2 | 2–14–1 |
| Virginia | Steve Swanson | 21 | 433–161–62 | 329–98–51 | 130–46–21 |
| Virginia Tech | Charles Adair | 11 | 126–62–20 | 126–62–20 | 46–43–13 |
| Wake Forest | Tony da Luz | 24 | 313–221–52 | 268-180-50 | 90–106–23 |
Notes
* Records shown are prior to the 2021 season
* Years at school includes the 2021 season

## Pre-season
### Hermann Trophy Watchlist

The Hermann Trophy Watchlist was released on August 19, 2021
| Player | Class | Position | School |
| Megan Bornkamp | Sophomore | DF | Clemson |
| Sophie Jones | Junior | MF | Duke |
| Jaelin Howell | Senior | MF | Florida State |
| Emily Madril | Senior | DF | Florida State |
| Yujie Zhao | Senior | MF | Florida State |
| Claudia Dickey | Senior | GK | North Carolina |
| Rachel Jones | Senior | FW | North Carolina |
| Lia Godfrey | Sophomore | MF | Virginia |
| Haley Hopkins | Graduate Student | MF | Virginia |
| Alexa Spaanstra | Senior | FW | Virginia |

### Pre-season poll

The 2020 ACC Preseason Poll was announced on September 8, 2021. The defending regular season champions, Florida State and North Carolina were voted in first and second place, respectively. The leagues 14 head coaches also voted on a preseason All-ACC team. Full results for the coaches poll and preseason team are shown below.

#### Pre-season Coaches Poll

| Predicted finish | Team | Points (1st place) |
| 1 | Florida State | 167 (11) |
| 2 | North Carolina | 155 (2) |
| 3 | Virginia | 148 (1) |
| 4 | Duke | 129 |
| 5 | Clemson | 124 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 104 |
| 7 | Virginia Tech | 85 |
| 8 | Louisville | 77 |
| 9 | Wake Forest | 72 |
| 10 | NC State | 71 |
| 11 | Pittsburgh | 57 |
| 12 | Boston College | 45 |
| 13 | Syracuse | 24 |
| 14 | Miami | 16 |
Source:

#### Pre-season All-ACC Team

| Position | Player | Class | School |
| Goalkeeper | Hensley Hancuff | Senior | Clemson |
| Defender | Maycee Bell | Junior | North Carolina |
| Defender | Delaney Graham | Senior | Duke |
| Midfielder | Megan Bornkamp | Sophomore | Clemson |
| Midfielder | Sophie Jones | Junior | Duke |
| Midfielder | Jaelin Howell | Senior | Florida State |
| Midfielder | Yujie Zhao | Senior | Florida State |
| Midfielder | Lia Godfrey | Sophomore | Virginia |
| Forward | Rachel Jones | Senior | North Carolina |
| Forward | Amanda West | Sophomore | Pittsburgh |
| Forward | Alexa Spaanstra | Senior | Virginia |
Source:

## Regular season
### Conference Matrix

The table below shows head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team plays ten matches. Each team does not play every other team.
| | Boston College | Clemson | Duke | Florida State | Louisville | Miami | NC State | North Carolina | Notre Dame | Pittsburgh | Syracuse | Virginia | Virginia Tech | Wake Forest |
| vs. Boston College | – | 4–1 | – | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | – | 2–1 (OT) | 4–1 | 3–0 | – | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. Clemson | 1–4 | – | – | 4–1 | 1–1 (2OT) | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 (2OT) | 0–2 | 0–8 | – | 0–1 | – |
| vs. Duke | – | – | – | 0–1 | 0–1 | – | 2–1 (2OT) | 0–1 | 1–0 (OT) | 0–5 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 (2OT) | 0–2 |
| vs. Florida State | 1–4 | 1–4 | 1–0 | – | 0–3 | 1–4 | – | 2–2 (2OT) | – | 0–5 | 0–5 | 1–1 (2OT) | 0–2 | – |
| vs. Louisville | 2–1 | 1–1 (2OT) | 1–0 | 3–0 | – | 2–3 (2OT) | 2–1 | – | 3–0 | – | 1–2 | 4–1 | – | 1–2 (OT) |
| vs. Miami | 0–1 | 1–0 | – | 4–1 | 3–2 (2OT) | – | – | 4–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | – | 6–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 (2OT) |
| vs. NC State | – | 1–2 | 1–2 (2OT) | – | 1–2 | – | – | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. North Carolina | 1–2 (OT) | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 (2OT) | – | 0–4 | 1–0 | – | 1–2 (2OT) | 0–1 | – | 0–0 (2OT) | 2–2 (2OT) | – |
| vs. Notre Dame | 1–4 | 1–2 (2OT) | 0–1 (OT) | – | 0–3 | 0–5 | 1–2 | 2–1 (2OT) | – | – | 0–4 | 2–1 | – | 0–2 |
| vs. Pittsburgh | 0–3 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 5–0 | – | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | – | – | 2–4 | – | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| vs. Syracuse | – | 8–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | – | 3–0 | – | 4–0 | 4–2 | – | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| vs. Virginia | 0–3 | – | 0–1 | 1–1 (2OT) | 1–4 | 1–6 | 1–2 | 0–0 (2OT) | 1–2 | – | 0–5 | – | – | 0–1 |
| vs. Virginia Tech | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 (2OT) | 2–0 | – | 0–5 | 0–1 | 2–2 (2OT) | – | 1–2 | 1–2 | – | – | 4–3 |
| vs. Wake Forest | 0–1 | – | 2–0 | – | 2–1 (OT) | 1–2 (2OT) | 0–1 | – | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–4 | – |
| Total | 1–9–0 | 6–3–1 | 7–2–1 | 7–1–2 | 3–6–1 | 1–9–0 | 4–6–0 | 5–2–3 | 7–3–0 | 4–6–0 | 0–10–0 | 8–0–2 | 5–3–2 | 6–4–0 |

### Rankings
#### United Soccer

Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
* Not ranked previous week
| | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Final |
| Boston College | | | RV | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Clemson | 7 | 9 | 15 | RV | RV | 22 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV |
| Duke | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 (1) | 8 | 6 | 2 (2) | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| Florida State | 1 (11) | 1 (26) | 1 (32) | 1 (29) | 1 (32) | 1 (33) | 1 (33) | 1 (29) | 1 (31) | 1 (31) | 3 (5) | 2 (2) | 1 (29) | 1 (25) |
| Louisville | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Miami | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | 3 (3) | 2 (4) | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 (1) | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 14 |
| NC State | | | | | | | | | | RV | | | | |
| Notre Dame | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 17 | 15 | 22 | RV | RV | 16 |
| Pittsburgh | | RV | 20 | 20 | 19 | RV | | | | | | | | |
| Syracuse | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Virginia | 4 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 | 3 (1) | 7 | 7 | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 1 (26) | 1 (28) | 2 (3) | 8 |
| Virginia Tech | | RV | | | RV | RV | 19 | 17 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV |
| Wake Forest | | | | | | | RV | | | RV | RV | 25 | RV | 25 |

#### Top Drawer Soccer

Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
* Not ranked previous week
| | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Final |
| Boston College | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Clemson | 8 | 7 | 10 | 23 | 21 | 16 | 18 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Duke | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Florida State | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Louisville | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Miami | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 17 |
| NC State | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Notre Dame | | | | | 24 | 22 | 20 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 25 | 23 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 15 |
| Pittsburgh | | 23 | 21 | 22 | 20 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Syracuse | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Virginia | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Virginia Tech | | | | | | | | 25 | | | | | | | | | |
| Wake Forest | | | | | | | | | 23 | | | | | | | | |

### Players of the Week

| Week | Offensive Player of the week | Defensive Player of the week |
| Week 1 – August 24 | Amanda West, Pittsburgh | Jaelin Howell, Florida State |
| Week 2 – August 31 | Linda Boama, Boston College | Claudia Dickey, North Carolina |
| Week 3 – September 7 | Shayla Smart, Wake Forest | Claire Constant, Virginia |
| Week 4 – September 14 | Megan Bornkamp, Clemson | Emily Madril, Florida State |
| Week 5 – September 21 | Tess Boade, Duke | Ruthie Jones, Duke |
| Week 6 – September 28 | Sammi Fisher, Notre Dame | Emily Madril, Florida State (2) |
| Week 6 – September 28 | Diana Ordoñez, Virginia | Alia Skinner, Virginia Tech |
| Week 7 – October 5 | Beata Olsson, Florida State | Melissa Dagenais, Miami (FL) |
| Week 7 – October 5 | Emily Gray, Virginia Tech | Avery Patterson, North Carolina |
| Week 8 – October 12 | Jameese Joseph, NC State | Eva Gaetino, Notre Dame |
| Week 9 – October 19 | Jameese Joseph, NC State | Maria Echezarreta, NC State |
| Week 9 – October 19 | Alexa Spaanstra, Virginia | Maria Echezarreta, NC State |
| Week 10 – October 26 | Tess Boade, Duke (2) | Emily Royson, Duke |
| Week 10 – October 26 | Diana Ordoñez, Virginia (2) | Emily Royson, Duke |
| Week 11 – November 2 | Caroline Conti, Clemson | Ashley Naylor, Notre Dame |

## Postseason
### ACC Tournament

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Virginia | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Clemson | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Clemson | 0 | 1 | Virginia | 0 |
| | | | 2 | Florida State | 1 |
| 2 | Florida State | 2$^{OT}$ | 2 | Florida State | 1 |
| 6 | Wake Forest | 1 | | | |

### NCAA tournament

| Seed | School | Region | 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |
| 1 | Florida State | Florida State | W 3–0 vs. South Alabama – (Tallahassee, FL) | W 5–1 vs. No. 25 SMU – (Tallahassee, FL) | W 1–0 vs. No. 19 Pepperdine – (Tallahassee, FL) | W 1–0 (OT) vs. No. 9 Michigan – (Tallahassee, FL) | W 1–0 vs. No. 5 Rutgers – (Santa Clara, CA) | T 0–0 (4–3 PKs) vs. No. 13 BYU – (Santa Clara, CA) |
| 1 | Duke | Duke | W 1–0 vs. Old Dominion – (Durham, NC) | W 1–0 vs. No. 18 Memphis – (Durham, NC) | W 7–1 vs. St. John's – (Durham, NC) | L 1–2 vs. No. 12 Santa Clara – (Durham, NC) | | |
| 1 | Virginia | Virginia | W 6–0 vs. High Point – (Charlottesville, VA) | W 2–0 vs. Milwaukee – (Charlottesville, VA) | L 0–1 vs. No. 13 BYU – (Charlottesville, VA) | | | |
| 2 | North Carolina | Virginia | L 0–1 vs. South Carolina – (Chapel Hill, NC) | | | | | |
| 3 | Notre Dame | Rutgers | W 3–0 vs. SIU Edwardsville – (Notre Dame, IN) | T 0–0 (4–3 PKs) at No. 24 Purdue – (Fayetteville, AK) | L 2–3 at No. 7 Arkansas – (Fayetteville, AK) | | | |
| | Clemson | Virginia | L 0–1 vs. Alabama – (Clemson, SC) | | | | | |
| | NC State | Florida State | W 2–0 at South Florida – (Tampa, FL) | L 0–3 vs. No. 19 Pepperdine – (Tallahassee, FL) | | | | |
| | Virginia Tech | Rutgers | W 3–0 vs. Ohio State – (Blacksburg, VA) | L 0–3 at No. 7 Arkansas – (Fayetteville, AK) | | | | |
| | Wake Forest | Florida State | W 3–0 vs. Harvard – (Winston-Salem, NC) | L 0–2 vs. No. 9 Michigan – (Ann Arbor, MI) | | | | |
| W–L (%): | W–L (%): | W–L (%): | 7–2–0 (.778) | 3–3–1 (.500) | 2–2–0 (.500) | 1–1–0 (.500) | 1–0–0 (1.000) | 0–0–1 (.500) Total: 14–8–2 (.625) |

## Awards and honors
### ACC Awards

2021 ACC Women's Soccer Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Diana Ordoñez – Virginia |
| Coach of the Year | Steve Swanson – Virginia |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Emily Madril – Florida State |
| Midfielder of the Year | Jaelin Howell – Florida State |
| Freshman of the Year | Michelle Cooper – Duke |
2021 ACC Women's Soccer All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team | All-Freshman Team |
| Megan Bornkamp – Clemson Michelle Cooper – Duke Tess Boade – Duke Ruthie Jones – Duke Jaelin Howell – Florida State Emily Madril – Florida State Yujie Zhao – Florida State Maycee Bell – North Carolina Sammi Fisher – Notre Dame Lia Godfrey – Virginia Diana Ordoñez – Virginia | Hal Hershfelt – Clemson Sophie Jones – Duke Gabby Carle – Florida State Beata Olsson – Florida State Clara Robbins – Florida State Sam Meza – North Carolina Jameese Joseph – NC State Samar Guidry – Virginia Laurel Ivory – Virginia Alexa Spaanstra – Virginia Emily Gray – Virginia Tech | Renee Guion – Clemson Hensley Hancuff – Clemson Makenna Morris – Clemson Jody Brown – Florida State Claudia Dickey – North Carolina Lulu Guttenberger – NC State Korbin Albert – Notre Dame Olivia Wingate – Notre Dame Amanda West – Pittsburgh Haley Hopkins – Virginia Taryn Torres – Virginia Shayla Smart – Wake Forest | Renee Lyles – Clemson Michelle Cooper – Duke Maria Alagoa – Florida State Mia Justus – Florida State Nina Nicosia – Louisville Emily Colton – North Carolina Emily Murphy – North Carolina Emika Kawagishi – NC State Annika Wohner – NC State Korbin Albert – Notre Dame Nikayla Small – Wake Forest |

## 2022 NWSL Draft

| FW | Forward | MF | Midfielder | DF | Defender | GK | Goalkeeper |
| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position | School |
| Jaelin Howell | Racing Louisville FC | 1 | 2 | MF | Florida State |
| Emily Gray | North Carolina Courage | 1 | 3 | MF | Virginia Tech |
| Diana Ordoñez | North Carolina Courage | 1 | 6 | FW | Virginia |
| Caitlin Cosme | Orlando Pride | 1 | 10 | DF | Duke |
| Sammi Fisher | Chicago Red Stars | 2 | 19 | MF | Notre Dame |
| Claudia Dickey | OL Reign | 2 | 20 | GK | North Carolina |
| Ryanne Brown | OL Reign | 2 | 21 | DF | Wake Forest |
| Jenna Menta | Racing Louisville FC | 3 | 30 | FW | Wake Forest |
| Hensley Hancuff | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 3 | 34 | GK | Clemson |
| Lily Nabet | Angel City FC | 3 | 36 | MF | Duke |