The North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which is part of NCAA Division I soccer.
North Carolina is one of the most successful women's college soccer teams, having won 22 of the 36 Atlantic Coast Conference championships, and 23 of the 43 NCAA national championships. The team has participated in every NCAA tournament.
Contents
History
The UNC women's soccer team began as a club team established by students looking for high level competition. In 1979, they petitioned the UNC Athletic Director, Bill Cobey, to take the club to the varsity level. Cobey asked Anson Dorrance, then the UNC men's soccer coach to assess the club's ability to transition to varsity status. Dorrance was impressed enough by the club, then coached by Mike Byers, to recommend that the school form a women's soccer team. Cobey agreed and hired Dorrance as head coach, with Byers as an assistant, for the 1978 season. That year, the Tar Heels played an essentially club schedule, including games against high school teams. However, in 1979, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, at the prompting of Dorrance and University of Colorado coach, Chris Lidstone, established a national women's soccer program.
At the time, UNC had the only varsity women's soccer team in the Southeast and this allowed Dorrance to recruit the top talent in the region. In 1981, eight of those recruits won starting positions and took the team to the AIAW national championship.
Players
Current roster
As of February 3, 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Team Honours
National
NCAA Division I tournament (22): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2024
Conference
Atlantic Coast tournament (22): 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2017, 2019
Individual honors
National Coach of the Year
Anson Dorrance – 1982, 1986, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006
ACC Coach of the Year
Anson Dorrance – 1982, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2018, 2019
Hermann Trophy
Shannon Higgins – 1989
Kristine Lilly – 1991
Mia Hamm – 1992, 1993
Tisha Venturini – 1994
Cindy Parlow – 1997, 1998
Cat Reddick – 2003
Crystal Dunn – 2012
Kate Faasse – 2024
ACC Player of the Year
Lori Henry – 1987
Shannon Higgins – 1989
Mia Hamm – 1990, 1992, 1993
Kristine Lilly – 1991
Tisha Venturini – 1994
Cindy Parlow – 1998
Lorrie Fair – 1999
Lindsay Tarpley – 2003
ACC Defensive Player of the Year
Whitney Engen – 2009
Crystal Dunn – 2013
ACC Offensive Player of the Year
Heather O'Reilly – 2005
Yael Averbuch – 2006
Casey Noguiera – 2008
Crystal Dunn – 2013
Alessia Russo – 2018
ACC Midfielder of the Year
Ally Sentnor – 2023
ACC Rookie of the Year
Tisha Venturini – 1991
Debbie Keller – 1993
Cindy Parlow – 1995
Laurie Schwoy – 1996
Lindsay Tarpley – 2002
Megan Buckingham – 2014
Bridgette Andrzejewski – 2016
Alessia Russo – 2017
Maycee Bell - 2019
NCAA Tournament MVP
April Heinrichs – 1984 (last year overall MVP named)
First Team All-America Selection
As of 2011, North Carolina had 70 players gain first-team All-American recognition. The next two schools with the greatest number of All-Americans were tied with twenty-two each.
Retired numbers
19 – Mia Hamm, forward, 1989–1993. Number retired in 19941.
1 Although the university retired Hamm's #19 in 1994, it was later unretired and given to other players since.