# 2021 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team

The 2021 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2021 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. It was the 45th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by 45th year head coach Anson Dorrance and played their home games at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
They finished the season 12–3–3, 5–2–3 in ACC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. Only six teams qualified for the ACC Tournament and the Tar Heels lost the tiebreaker to Wake Forest and did not qualify for the tournament. This was the first time in program history that North Carolina missed out on the ACC Tournament. They received an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament where they lost to South Carolina in the First Round. Their First Round exit was the earliest exit of any NCAA Tournament they had participated in.

## Previous season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACC played a reduced schedule in 2020 and the NCAA Tournament was postponed to 2021. The ACC did not play a spring league schedule, but did allow teams to play non-conference games that would count toward their 2020 record in the lead up to the NCAA Tournament.
The Tar Heels finished the fall season 11–1–0, 8–0–0 in ACC play to finish in first place. As the second seed in the ACC Tournament, they defeated Virginia Tech, and Virginia, before losing to Florida State in the final. The Tar Heels finished the spring season 4–0 and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. As the second seed in the tournament, they defeated Denver in the Second Round, Washington in the Third Round, and Texas A&M in the Quarterfinals before losing to Santa Clara in the Semifinals to end their season.

## Squad
### Roster

    As of September 8, 2021
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 0 | GK | USA | Claudia Dickey |
| 1 | FW | USA | Sam Meza |
| 2 | DF | USA | Abby Allen |
| 3 | MF | ENG | Ruby Grant |
| 4 | DF | USA | Paige Tolentino |
| 5 | MF | USA | Mary Elliot McCabe |
| 6 | MF | USA | Emerson Elgin |
| 7 | DF | USA | Julia Dorsey |
| 8 | FW | USA | Emily Moxley |
| 9 | MF | USA | Rachel Dorwart |
| 10 | MF | USA | Rachel Jones |
| 11 | MF | USA | Lauren Wrigley |
| 13 | FW | USA | Isabel Cox |
| 14 | MF | USA | Kai Hayes |
| 15 | FW | USA | Avery Patterson |
| 16 | FW | USA | Aleigh Gambone |
| 17 | GK | USA | Marz Josephson |
| 18 | MF | USA | Bella Sember |
| 19 | MF | USA | Emily Colton |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | MF | USA | Libby Moore |
| 21 | FW | USA | Ally Sentnor |
| 22 | DF | USA | Tori Hansen |
| 23 | MF | USA | Madi Pry |
| 24 | FW | USA | Talia DellaPeruta |
| 25 | DF | USA | Maycee Bell |
| 26 | FW | USA | Hallie Klanke |
| 27 | MF | USA | Makenna Dominguez |
| 28 | MF | USA | Maggie Pierce |
| 29 | MF | USA | Meilin Gregg |
| 31 | MF | FIN | Annika Huhta |
| 32 | GK | USA | Emmie Allen |
| 33 | MF | USA | Riley Quinlan |
| 35 | FW | IRL | Emily Murphy |
| 39 | FW | USA | Asha Means |
| 71 | FW | USA | Mollie Baker |
| 82 | MF | USA | Carly Wetzel |
| 98 | FW | USA | Anna Priborkina |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Athletic Director | Bubba Cunningham |
| Head coach | Anson Dorrance |
| Associate head coach | Damon Nahas |
| Assistant Coach | Chris Ducar |
| Assistant Coach | Heather O'Reilly |
| Director of Operations | Tom Sander |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 9 5:00 p.m. | No. 3 | UNCW | W 3–1 | – | Dorrance Field (812) Chapel Hill, NC |
| August 12 7:00 p.m. | No. 3 | at High Point | W 6–1 | – | Bryan Park Browns Summit, NC |
| Non-conference Regular season ||||||
| August 19 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 3 | No. 19 Washington | W 4–1 | 1–0–0 | Dorrance Field (2,186) Chapel Hill, NC |
| August 22 1:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 3 | No. 13 Arkansas | W 1–0 | 2–0–0 | Dorrance Field (1,532) Chapel Hill, NC |
| August 26 9:00 p.m., BTN | No. 2 | at Illinois | W 5–1 | 3–0–0 | Demirjian Park (833) Urbana-Champaign, IL |
| August 29 1:30 p.m., BTN | No. 2 | at Ohio State | W 2–0 | 4–0–0 | Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium (1,320) Columbus, OH |
| September 2 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 2 | Northwestern | W 2–0 | 5–0–0 | Dorrance Field (1,734) Chapel Hill, NC |
| September 5 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 2 | No. 10 Stanford | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 6–0–0 | Dorrance Field (2,756) Chapel Hill, NC |
| September 9 7:00 p.m., SECN+ | No. 2 | at Florida | W 7–1 | 7–0–0 | James G. Pressly Stadium (493) Gainesville, FL |
| September 12 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 2 | at No. 17 UCF | Canceled due to weather | | UCF Soccer and Track Stadium Orlando, FL |
| ACC Regular Season ||||||
| September 17 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 2 | No. 4 Duke Rivalry | L 0–1 | 7–1–0 (0–1–0) | Dorrance Field (5,301) Chapel Hill, NC |
| September 23 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | Virginia Tech | T 2–2 $^{2OT}$ | 7–1–1 (0–1–1) | Dorrance Field (2,157) Chapel Hill, NC |
| September 26 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | No. 22 Clemson | W 3–0 | 8–1–1 (1–1–1) | Dorrance Field (1,885) Chapel Hill, NC |
| October 3 1:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 5 | No. 2 Virginia | T 0–0 $^{2OT}$ | 8–1–2 (1–1–2) | Dorrance Field (2,222) Chapel Hill, NC |
| October 7 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 5 | at Pittsburgh | W 1–0 | 9–1–2 (2–1–2) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,531) Pittsburgh, PA |
| October 10 1:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 5 | at Boston College | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 10–1–2 (3–1–2) | Newton Campus Soccer Field (853) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| October 16 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 3 | at NC State Rivalry | L 0–1 | 10–2–2 (3–2–2) | Dail Soccer Field (1,234) Raleigh, NC |
| October 21 8:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 7 | No. 1 Florida State | T 2–2 $^{2OT}$ | 10–2–3 (3–2–3) | Dorrance Field (1,447) Chapel Hill, NC |
| October 24 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 7 | No. 15 Notre Dame | W 1–2 $^{2OT}$ | 11–2–3 (4–2–3) | Dorrance Field (2,248) Chapel Hill, NC |
| October 28 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 7 | at Miami (FL) | W 4–0 | 12–2–3 (5–2–3) | Cobb Stadium (706) Coral Gables, FL |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 13 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | (2) No. 10 | South Carolina First Round | L 0–1 | 12–3–3 | Dorrance Field (2,390) Chapel Hill, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Maycee Bell | Preseason All-ACC Team | August 12 |
| Rachel Jones | Preseason All-ACC Team | August 12 |
| Claudia Dickey | Preseason Hermann Trophy Watchlist | August 19 |
| Rachel Jones | Preseason Hermann Trophy Watchlist | August 19 |
| Claudia Dickey | ACC Defensive Player of the Week | August 31 |
| Avery Patterson | ACC Co-defensive Player of the Week | October 5 |
| Maycee Bell | All-ACC First Team | November 4 |
| Sam Meza | All-ACC Second Team | November 4 |
| Claudia Dickey | All-ACC Third Team | November 4 |
| Emily Colton | ACC All-Freshman Team | November 4 |
| Emily Murphy | ACC All-Freshman Team | November 4 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| United Soccer | 3 (3) | 2 (4) | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 (1) | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | Not released | Not released | Not released | 14 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 17 |

## 2022 NWSL Draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Claudia Dickey | OL Reign | 2 | 20 | GK |
Source: