The 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer championship game (also known as the 2024 NCAA Division I Women's College Cup) was played on December 9, 2024, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, and determined the winner of the 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament, the national collegiate women's soccer championship in the United States. This was the 43rd edition of this tournament organized by the NCAA.
The match featured North Carolina and Wake Forest, both from the ACC. The match was Wake Forest's first appearance in the final, and it was North Carolina's twenty-eighth appearance. North Carolina's head coach Damon Nahas was coaching in his first championship game, as was Wake Forest head coach Tony da Luz. Nahas was in his first season as head coach while da Luz was in his twenty-eighth. The two rivals met during the regular season on September 12, a game which North Carolina won at home 1–0. Both teams entered as the second seed in their respective brackets. Wake Forest was ranked third in the United Soccer Coaches poll, while North Carolina was ranked eighth.
North Carolina prevailed in the final 1–0 by virtue of a sixty-second minute free-kick goal from Olivia Thomas. The win was North Carolina's twenty-second NCAA tournament title, and their twenty-third title overall, as they won one AIAW title. North Carolina won the title despite having twenty-one players leave the team from the prior season, and the retirement of their forty-seven year head coach Anson Dorrance just four days prior to the start of the season. After the game, Clare Gagne was named the tournament Most Outstanding Defensive Player and Olivia Thomas was named tournament Most Outstanding Offensive Player.
Road to the final
The NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's national champion. The tournament has been formally held since 1982, when it was a twelve-team tournament.
North Carolina Round Wake Forest OpponentResultNCAA TournamentOpponentResult 8–0 (H)First round 4–0 (H) 1–0 (H)Second round 3–1 (H) 3–0 (H) Round of 16 1–0 (H) 2–1 (H) Quarterfinal 2–2 (A) Duke 3–0 (N) College Cup Stanford 1–0 (N)
Match details
GK 0 Clare Gagne DF 3 Trinity Armstrong DF 4 Aven Alvarez DF 34 Tessa Dellarose MF 6 Emerson Elgin MF 7 Linda Ullmark MF 8 Bella Gaetino MF 19 Aria Nagai FW 5 Maddie Dahlien FW 13 Kate Faasse FW 33 Olivia Thomas Substitutions: DF 2 Evelyn Shores MF 18 Bella Sember Head Coach: Damon Nahas
GK 1 Valentina Amaral DF 7 Kristin Johnson DF 24 Zara Chavoshi DF 33 Abbie Colton DF 34 Laurel Ansbrow MF 3 Emily Colton MF 9 Caiya Hanks MF 10 Malaika Meena MF 13 Emily Morris FW 19 Sierra Sythe FW 35 Emily Murphy Substitutions: MF 6 Dempsey Brown FW 16 Alex Wood FW 20 Hannah Johnson MF 30 Anna Swanson Head Coach: Tony da Luz
College Cup MVP Offensive: Olivia Thomas Defensive: Clare Gagne
Assistant referees: Katarzyna Wasiak Laura Chambers Waliski (United States) Fourth official: John Rush (United States)Match rules: 90 minutes. 20 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Unlimited substitutes, may not return if subbed out in the first half; may return unlimited times in the second half.
Statistics +Overall NorthCarolina WakeForestGoals scored 1 0Total shots 6 7Shots on target 2 3Saves 3 1Corner kicks 2 4Offsides 4 1Yellow cards 3 3Red cards 0 0
References