# 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer season

The 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer season will be the 30th season of women's varsity soccer in the conference.
The Duke Blue Devils the defending regular season champions. The North Carolina Tar Heels are the defending ACC tournament Champions.

## Changes from 2017
### Pre-Season

* Pittsburgh fired their coach Greg Miller on November 3, 2017. On December 19, 2017 Randy Waldrum was announced as his replacement.
* Miami fired their coach Mary-Frances Monroe on January 15, 2018, after 5 seasons as head coach. On February 27, 2018 Sarah Barnes was announced as the new head coach. Barnes was hired from George Washington University.
* Notre Dame's coach Theresa Romagnolo resigned on January 22, 2018, citing the desire to spend more time with her family. Assistant coach Nate Norman was promoted to head coach on February 20, 2018.

### Post-Season

* Boston College's coach Allison Foley resigned on December 12, 2018 citing the desire to pursue other opportunities.

## 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 Wolfpack | Dail Soccer Stadium | 3,000 |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | Fetzer 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

### Personnel

| Team | Head coach | Captain |
| Boston College Eagles | Alison Foley | Gaby Carreiro Kayla Jennings |
| Clemson Tigers | Eddie Radwanski | Lauren Harkes Kimber Haley Sam Staab |
| Duke Blue Devils | Robbie Church | |
| Florida State Seminoles | Mark Krikorian | Natalia Kuikka |
| Louisville Cardinals | Karen Ferguson-Dayes | Gabby Vincent |
| Miami Hurricanes | Sarah Barnes | |
| NC State Wolfpack | Tim Santoro | |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | Anson Dorrance | |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Nate Norman | |
| Pittsburgh Panthers | Randy Waldrum | |
| Syracuse Orange | Phil Wheddon | |
| Virginia Cavaiers | Steve Swanson | Zoe Morse |
| Virginia Tech Hokies | Charles Adair | |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | Tony da Luz | |

## Pre-season
### Hermann Trophy Watchlist

Prior to the season, seven ACC women's soccer players were named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watchlist.
* Kayla McCoy, Duke
* Deyna Castellanos, Florida State
* Natalia Kuikka, Florida State
* Emina Ekic, Louisville
* Julia Ashley, North Carolina
* Alessia Russo, North Carolina
* Tziarra King, NC State

### Pre-season poll

The ACC women's soccer pre-season poll was determined by a vote of all 14 ACC women's soccer head coaches. The poll was voted on as teams began their pre-season training during the first week of August. The coaches also voted on a pre-season all-ACC team. Results were released on August 6.

#### Pre-season coaches poll

* North Carolina – 183 (4)
* Florida State – 174 (5)
* Virginia – 173 (2)
* Duke – 151 (3)
* NC State – 144
* Clemson – 120
* Notre Dame – 111
* Wake Forest – 104
* Louisville – 75
* Boston College – 72
* Virginia Tech – 66
* Syracuse – 40
* Miami – 34
* Pittsburgh – 23
First Place Votes shown in
Source:

### Pre-season All-ACC Team

| Position | Player | Class | School |
| Goalkeeper | Mandy McGlynn | Junior | Virginia Tech |
| Defender | Sam Staab | Senior | Clemson |
| Defender | Natalia Kuikka | Senior | Florida State |
| Midfielder | Sam Coffey | Sophomore | Boston College |
| Midfielder | Ella Stevens | Junior | Duke |
| Midfielder | Emina Ekic | Sophomore | Louisville |
| Midfielder | Taryn Torres | Sophomore | Virginia |
| Forward | Kayla McCoy | Senior | Duke |
| Forward | Deyna Castellanos | Junior | Florida State |
| Forward | Alessia Russo | Sophomore | North Carolina |
| Forward | Tziarra King | Junior | NC State |
Source:

## Regular season
### Conference matrix

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

### 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 | RV | 11 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 20 | 22 | RV |
| Clemson | RV | RV | | RV | | | RV | | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 25 | RV |
| Duke | 3 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Florida State | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 1 (34) |
| Louisville | | | RV | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | | RV | RV | RV | | |
| Miami | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| NC State | 20 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 21 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 |
| Notre Dame | 14 | 20 | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pittsburgh | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Syracuse | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Virginia | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 |
| Virginia Tech | | | | | | | | RV | | | | | | 21 |
| Wake Forest | RV | | | RV | RV | RV | | RV | | | RV | | | 25 |

#### Top Drawer 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 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Final |
| Boston College | | | | | | | RV | 14 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 22 | 25 | | | | |
| Clemson | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Duke | 7 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Florida State | 9 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 12 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Louisville | | | | | | | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | |
| Miami | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| NC State | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| Notre Dame | 19 | 19 | 17 | 25 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Pittsburgh | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Syracuse | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Virginia | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Virginia Tech | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| Wake Forest | RV | RV | | | RV | RV | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | |

### Players of the Week

| Week | Offensive Player of the week | Defensive of the week |
| Week 1 - Aug. 21 | Maisie Whitsett, Louisville | Julia Ashley, North Carolina |
| Week 1 - Aug. 21 | Maisie Whitsett, Louisville | Mandy McGlynn, Virginia Tech |
| Week 2 - Aug. 28 | Kia Rankin, NC State | Brooke Heinsohn, Duke |
| Week 3 - Sep. 4 | Yujie Zhao, Florida State | Nonie Frishette, Wake Forest |
| Week 4 - Sep. 11 | Rebecca Jarrett, Virginia | Brooke Bollinger, Florida State |
| Week 4 - Sep. 11 | Rebecca Jarrett, Virginia | Brianna Westrup, Virginia |
| Week 5 - Sep. 18 | Rachel Jones, North Carolina | Taylor Otto, North Carolina |
| Week 6 – Sep. 25 | Jenna Bike, Boston College | Alexis Bryant, Boston College |
| Week 6 – Sep. 25 | Mariana Speckmaier, Clemson | Alexis Bryant, Boston College |
| Week 7 – Oct. 2 | Alessia Russo, North Carolina | Mandy McGlynn (2), Virginia Tech |
| Week 8 - Oct. 9 | Sam Coffey, Boston College | Alexis Bryant (2), Boston College |
| Week 8 - Oct. 9 | Sam Coffey, Boston College | Sandy MacIver, Clemson |
| Week 9 – Oct. 16 | Taylor Racioppi, Duke | Sydney Wootten, NC State |
| Week 10 - Oct. 23 | Deyna Castellanos, Florida State | Natalia Kuikka, Florida State |
| Week 10 - Oct. 23 | Deyna Castellanos, Florida State | Brooke Bingham, North Carolina |
| Week 11 – Oct. 30 | Mariana Speckmaier (2), Clemson | Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Miami |

## Postseason
### ACC tournament

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | North Carolina | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Clemson | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Clemson | 0 | 1 | North Carolina | 2 |
| | | | 7 | Florida State | 3 |
| 7 | Florida State | 3 | 7 | Florida State | 3 |
| 3 | Virginia | 1 | | | |

### NCAA tournament

An NCAA record 10 ACC teams were selected to the 2018 Women's Soccer Tournament. Additionally, two teams received No. 1 seeds and five total teams were seeded.
| Seed | Region | School | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |
| 1 | Tallahassee | Florida State | W 1–0 vs. Loyola Chicago – (Tallahassee, FL) | W 3–1 vs. South Florida – (Tallahassee, FL) | T 1–1 (5–4 PKs) vs. USC – (Tallahassee, FL) | W 1–0 vs. Penn State – (Tallahassee, FL) | W 2–0 vs. Stanford – (Cary, NC) | W 1–0 vs. North Carolina – (Cary, NC) |
| 1 | Cary | North Carolina | W 4–0 vs. Howard – (Cary, NC) | W 4–1 vs. Kansas – (Cary, NC) | W 3–0 vs. Virginia Tech – (Cary, NC) | T 2–2 (4–2 PKs) vs. UCLA – (Cary, NC) | W 1–0 (OT) vs. Georgetown – (Cary, NC) | L 0–1 vs. Florida State – (Cary, NC) |
| 3 | Washington D.C. | Virginia | W 2–0 vs. Monmouth – (Charlottesville, VA) | T 0–0 (4–2 PKs)vs. Texas Tech – (Washington, D.C.) | L 1–2 vs. Baylor – (Waco, Texas) | | | |
| 4 | Stanford | Boston College | L 1–4 vs. Hofstra – (Chestnut Hill, MA) | | | | | |
| 4 | Washington D.C. | Duke | W 1–0 vs. Rutgers – (Durham, NC) | W 3–0 vs. Lipscomb – (Washington, D.C.) | L 1–4 vs. Georgetown – (Washington, D.C.) | | | |
| | Stanford | Clemson | L 1–2 vs. Ole Miss – (Clemson, SC) | | | | | |
| | Stanford | Louisville | L 1–2 vs. Tennessee – (Knoxville, TN) | | | | | |
| | Cary | NC State | W 1–0 vs. Northwestern – (Raleigh, NC) | T 1–1 (5–4 PKs) vs. Santa Clara – (Cary, NC) | L 0–5 vs. UCLA – (Los Angeles, CA) | | | |
| | Chapel Hill | Virginia Tech | W 1–0 vs. Texas – (Austin, TX) | W 1–0 vs. Arkansas – (Cary, NC) | L 0–3 vs. North Carolina – (Cary, NC) | | | |
| | Tallahassee | Wake Forest | W 1–0 vs. Ohio State – (Winston-Salem, NC) | T 2–2 (6–5 PKs) vs. West Virginia – (Morgantown, WV) | L 0–1 vs. Penn State – (Morgantown, WV) | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 7–3 (.700) | 4–0–3 (.786) | 1–5–1 (.214) | 1–0–1 (.750) | 2–0 (1.000) | 1–1 (.500) Total: 16–9–5 (.617) |

## Awards and honors
### All-Americans

2018 United Soccer Coaches All-Americans :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
| Sam Coffey - Midfielder - Boston College Kayla McCoy - Forward - Duke Alessia Russo - Forward - North Carolina | Emina Ekic - Midfielder - Louisville Yujie Zhao - Midfielder - Florida State Deyna Castellanos - Forward - Florida State | Juila Ashley - Defender - North Carolina Natalia Kuikka - Defender - Florida State Sam Staab - Defender - Clemson Taylor Otto - Midfielder - North Carolina |

### ACC Awards

2018 ACC Women's Soccer Individual Awards :
| Award | Recipient(s) |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Alessia Russo - North Carolina |
| Coach of the Year | Anson Dorrance - North Carolina |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Sam Staab - Clemson |
| Midfielder of the Year | Sam Coffey - Boston College |
| Freshman of the Year | Yujie Zhao - Florida State |
2018 ACC Women's Soccer All-Conference Teams :
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team | All-Freshman Team |
| Sam Coffey, So., M, Boston College Sam Staab, Sr., D, Clemson Kayla McCoy, Sr., F, Duke Deyna Castellanos, Jr., F, Florida State Yujie Zhao, Fr., M, Florida State Emina Ekic, So., M, Louisville Emily Fox, So., D, North Carolina Taylor Otto, R-So., M, North Carolina Brianna Pinto, Fr., M, North Carolina Alessia Russo, So., F, North Carolina Mandy McGlynn, Jr., GK, Virginia Tech | Mariana Speckmaier, So., F, Clemson Taylor Racioppi, Sr., F, Duke Ella Stevens, Jr., M, Duke Jaelin Howell, Fr., M, Florida State Natalia Kuikka, Sr., D, Florida State Phallon Tullis-Joyce, R-Sr., GK, Miami Julia Ashley, Sr., D, North Carolina Tziarra King, Jr., F, NC State Ricci Walkling, Jr., M, NC State Phoebe McClernon, Jr., D, Virginia Bayley Feist, Sr., M, Wake Forest | Sandy MacIver, Jr., GK, Clemson Miranda Weslake, R-Sr., F, Clemson Malia Berkely, R-So., D, Florida State Brooklynn Rivers, Jr., F, Louisville Courtney Petersen, R-Jr., D, Virginia Dorian Bailey, Sr., M, North Carolina Karin Muya, Gr., F, Notre Dame Alexa Spaanstra, Fr., F, Virginia Taryn Torres, So., M, Virginia Kelsey Irwin, R-Jr., D, Virginia Tech Peyton Perea, Sr., M, Wake Forest | Kayla Duran, Fr., D, Boston College Delaney Graham, Fr., D, Duke Sydney Simmons, Fr., M, Duke Jaelin Howell, Fr., M, Florida State Yujie Zhao, Fr., M, Florida State Brianna Pinto, Fr., M, North Carolina Rachel Jones, Fr., F, North Carolina Rebecca Jarrett, Fr., F, Virginia Alexa Spaanstra, Fr., F, Virginia Emily Gray, Fr., M, Virginia Tech Giovanna Demarco, Fr, M, Wake Forest |

## Draft picks

The ACC had 9 players selected in the 2019 NWSL Draft. This was the most selections in the draft from a single conference. The ACC had three players selected in the first round, three in the second round and three in the fourth round.
| FW | Forward | MF | Midfielder | DF | Defender | GK | Goalkeeper |
| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position | School |
| Sam Staab | Washington Spirit | 1 | 4 | DF | Clemson |
| Julia Ashley | Sky Blue FC | 1 | 6 | DF | North Carolina |
| Dorian Bailey | Washington Spirit | 1 | 8 | MF | North Carolina |
| Betsy Brandon | Houston Dash | 2 | 16 | MF | Virginia |
| Bayley Feist | Washington Spirit | 2 | 17 | MF | Wake Forest |
| Kayla McCoy | Houston Dash | 2 | 18 | FW | Duke |
| Alexandra Kimball | Utah Royals FC | 4 | 32 | MF | North Carolina |
| Sabrina Flores | Sky Blue FC | 4 | 34 | DF | Notre Dame |
| Kaycie Tillman | North Carolina Courage | 4 | 36 | MF | Florida State |