The 2025 North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2025 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. This was the 49th season of the university fielding a program, all of which had been played in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels were led by second-year head coach Damon Nahas and played their home games at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The Tar Heels began the season ranked number one overall in the United Soccer Coaches poll, but lost their season opener at . Despite winning their other game during opening week, they fell to 12th in the poll. They lost their third match of the season at . This saw them drop to 22nd overall. They won their next five games, and only allowed one goal over that span. The only Power 4 opponent they defeated in that stretch was . They fell to 23rd at the end of the non-conference season, but rose to 19th to start ACC play. They defeated Virginia Tech but fell to 7th ranked Florida State and 2nd ranked Notre Dame. They rebounded with defeats of Boston College and Pittsburgh before losing their rivalry match at 14th ranked Duke. They won three of their last four ACC games, with the lone defeat coming at Miami. They finished the regular season unranked.
The Tar Heels finished the season 13–6–2 overall and 6–4–0 in ACC play to finish in seventh place. They finished one place out of qualifying for the ACC Tournament. It was only the second time in their history that they did not qualify for the tournament. The Tar Heels received an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament, where they were an un-seeded team in the Vanderbilt Bracket. They avenged a season opening loss to third-seed and 14th ranked in the first round. They advanced over sixth seed and 18th ranked in a penalty shoot-out in the second round. They fell to second seed and 5th ranked in another penalty shoot-out in the Round of 16 to end their season.
Previous season
The Tar Heels finished the regular season 14–4–0 and 7–3–0 in ACC play to finish in fourth place. As the fourth seed in the ACC Tournament, they hosted fifth seed and twelfth ranked Virginia Tech in the first round and defeated them 2–0. They faced-off against rival Duke for the third time in the season, and got their first win 2–1 to make the finals. The final was a regular season rematch between the Tar Heels and Florida State. The Tar Heels again lost, this time 3–2, to finish as runners up. The Tar Heels received an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament, where they were the second-seed in the Florida State bracket. They defeated in the first round, in the second round, and sixth-seed in the Round of 16. Upsets elsewhere in the bracket saw the Tar Heels host in the quarterfinals. The Tar Heels won 2–1 in overtime to advance to the College Cup. Their semifinal match-up was a fourth meeting in the season with Duke. The Tar Heels won this one 3–0, making the record in the season 2–2, with Duke winning both regular season matches, and the Tar Heels winning both postseason matches. They faced off against Wake Forest in the final, and defeated them 1–0 to win their twenty-second national title and first in twelve years. The Tar Heels' final record was 22–5–0.
Offseason
Departures
Departures 0 GK 6'0" Orono, Minnesota Graduated; signed professionalcontract with Kansas City Current 2 MF 5'9" Atlanta, Georgia Signed professionalcontract with Angel City FC 3 DF 5'6" Frisco, Texas Signed professionalcontract with San Diego Wave FC 5 FW 5'9" Edina, Minnesota Signed professionalcontract with Seattle Reign FC 6 DF 5'7" Franklin Lakes, New Jersey Graduated; signed professionalcontract with Gotham FC 11 MF 5'3" Sierra Madre, California Graduated 16 DF 5'4" Isle of Palms, South Carolina Graduated 18 FW/MF 5'7" Centerport, New York Graduated; signed professionalcontract with KIF Örebro 19 MF 5'3" Herndon, Virginia Graduated; signed professionalcontract with Utah Royals 22 DF 5'10" Chapel Hill, North Carolina Graduated 39 DF/MF 5'7" Charlotte, North Carolina Graduated 44 DF/MF 5'7" Chapel Hill, North Carolina Graduated
Incoming transfers
Incoming transfers 0 GK 5'9" Eugene, Oregon Washington State 12 DF 5'8" Laguna Niguel, California Princeton 15 GK 6'1" Bevergern, Germany Otero College 43 MF 5'5" La Center, Washington Rutgers
Recruiting class
Name Nationality Hometown Club TDS rating Ponte Vedra, Florida Jacksonville FC Draper, Utah Utah Avalanche Los Angeles, California Slammers FC HB Koge Raleigh, North Carolina North Carolina Courage (ECNL) Eindhoven, Netherlands PSV Eindhoven N/A Marietta, Georgia FC Prime Atlanta, Georgia Concorde Fire SC Holladay, Utah Utah Avalanche
Squad Roster
Team management Athletic director Bubba Cunningham Head coach Damon Nahas Assistant coach/general manager Chris Ducar Assistant coach Tracey Bates Leone Director of operations Tom Sander Assistant director of operations Corey Emerick
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Schedule
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!colspan=6 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=6 style=""| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=6 style=""| ACC regular season
!colspan=6 style=""|
Awards and honors Tessa Dellarose Pre-season All-ACC Team August 7 Kate Faasse Olivia Thomas Linda Ullmark Kate Faasse Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI First Team August 12 Tessa Dellarose Olivia Thomas Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI Second Team Linda Ullmark Bella Devey Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI Freshman Team Tessa Dellarose Hermann Trophy Preseason Watchlist August 14 Kate Faassee Olivia Thomas ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week – Week 8 October 7 Olivia Thomas All-ACC First Team November 5 Kate Fassse All-ACC Third Team Linda Ullmark Hope Munson ACC All-Freshman Team
Rankings
References