UNC Women's Soccer 2026-2027
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Another fine showing by our student athletes
“Probably should’ve been a goal for them”
was called a foul on the field. A nice header, but unless you are UCLA, you can’t block the goalie
was called a foul on the field. A nice header, but unless you are UCLA, you can’t block the goalie
Did anyone have Izzi Stratton playing the 9 on their bingo card?
They were preseason No. 10 but were blown out by unranked Baylor to start the season.
Makes sense. We pretty much dominated the whole game so I feel good.
They were taller and very physical. This was a good win. It showed our women do have some grit and toughness about them. I was kind of worried that someone was going to get injured with some of the rough play that was going on. There was a skirmish near the end. Gaetino and some Arky player. I liked the way the ref handled that situation. Damon will need to work on his sub pattern moving forward; especially in the first half and especially when the heat index is off the charts. He only sub once during the entire first half. I thought our young women were kind of out of gas some near the end of the first half. He did a better job of subbing in the second half. This is how injuries can occur. The Arky coach sub multiple times in the first half. The heat was a major factor. I am glad we won. Go Heels!
There were some really nasty moments in that match - the difference in skill and speed was so obvious that Arky had to resort to thug play- the Heels handled it pretty well- now have to regroup for tough match against Sparty on Sunday
Really similar play on one of our goals where we had contact with their keeper on a corner. They called our goal good, and cancelled out theirs (I understand the initial call on the field was different). All I was saying was if the ref was consistent it PROBABLY should’ve been a goal for them. We were the far better team and deserved the win. Not sure why you anonymously quoted me.
I read elsewhere that there were 19 shots?
There was a lot to like about this performance. Their composure despite getting leveled on every challenge. Pennie, Kennedy and Strawn were great. The 3 back was a bit of a risk with the style that Ark was playing. They almost got burned a couple of times. But the defense held. And the shot selection was pretty good. It was a good mix of crosses, bangers and in-the-box, but they've gotta finish. Nineteen shots with nothing to show for it isn't going to work.
There was a lot to like about this performance. Their composure despite getting leveled on every challenge. Pennie, Kennedy and Strawn were great. The 3 back was a bit of a risk with the style that Ark was playing. They almost got burned a couple of times. But the defense held. And the shot selection was pretty good. It was a good mix of crosses, bangers and in-the-box, but they've gotta finish. Nineteen shots with nothing to show for it isn't going to work.
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I thought Damon should have put Stratton in during the 1st half along with Martinez. As someone stated, I was disappointed that Damon did not put Martinez in at all. We almost got burned IMO was due to some of our players being tired and gassed because of the heat, etc. This was the perfect time that Damon should have had Stratton, Martinez, and Miller in the game. I was glad to see Bradley play for the fist time since she got hurt last year. She played 25 minutes. Someone needs to tell Damon that he will need to play Martinez and Miller some. Both of these players are good enough to play and they both have international experience. Damon cannot, must not do what he did last year by playing the starters all 90 minutes a game. He needs to play Stratton, Martinez, and Miller more. Also when Manning and Deus come back, he will need to play them as well. These are five players that he should sub in during the first and second half of each game to help give the starters rest to that he will not burned them out once we begin ACC play. They are too good to not be playing. Otherwise, he will lose them to the transfer portal if he does not play them. Stratton did not transfer in to be on the bench. She needs more than 10 minutes. She is a defensive player who started and play all 90 minutes at BYU, plus she is a senior. She is also tall, big body, and does a lot of good things on the defensive side of the ball. I noticed when he did put her in, the Arkansas players could not body her around and be aggressive and physically with her because she threw the physicality right back at them. Overall, I thought we had better talent and I was glad that we one. The teams are going to tougher now with Michigan State coming in. I expect them to be the same as Arkansas as far as being physical and aggressive. They probably have more talent than Arkansas. Manning and Dues should be back for this game. I expect Damon to sub in the following players on Sunday to give the starters some rest so that they can close the game out. These players are Bradley if she is not starting, Dues, Manning, Martinez, Miller, Seally, and Stratton. I expect to see them in the first and second half on Sunday. Damon has to play them because in a few weeks, he will lose three players when they have to report for the U-20 USA team. Go Heels!
Antonucci easily could have been out for the year with that cleat to her ankle. It looked grisly. The announcer opined it probably should be a red card. But the ref, who actually reviewed it with video and had all the time in the world to assess gave no card at all.
Really bad call. the cards exist for player safety.
UNC is a very small, fast, skilled team. Virtually everyone we play is going to resort to brutish tactics. I have been very impressed with how many of our young players try to play through contact and not just go down for the penalty. Devey, Antonucci, Pennie, etc... are playing to win despite their size.
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There was definitely one play that simply should have been a goal for Arky, we got beat bad. Great save by Trayer in open field though. There was also a cross that was about 2 inches from a deadly header. With that said, UNC got a ton more quality shots than Arky did. the correct team won.
FWIW our team play went down, not up, when subs played a long stretch in the 2nd half. you could notice the absence of Kennedy and Denigan; Arky had much more comfortable possession and UNC had far fewer attacks. The play of Devey and Munson through 3 games speaks for itself too.
I have no issue with late second half substitutions. I am generally for it. But it appears as of right now our team is better when starters are in. That equation will obviously change some when Stanislaus and Manning return while Alvarez, Munson and Strawn leave.
I have no issue with late second half substitutions. I am generally for it. But it appears as of right now our team is better when starters are in. That equation will obviously change some when Stanislaus and Manning return while Alvarez, Munson and Strawn leave.
No card on that play in the box was absurd. As you said, calling fouls and handing out yellow and even red cards are there to protect the players. This ref was either blind or incompetent throughout the entire game given what she refused to call. Soccer, like basketball, is a much more beautiful game when there is much less "thuggery" and rough play allowed. I hope the people in charge recognize that neither sport is American football, nor should they be.
Yeah, I agree. Scotty could have gotten hurt and been lost for the year or missed a ton of games. Damon will need to sub more IMO. I am afraid that if he doesn't then we may lose some of our best players to injury moving forward. We already know the game plan when teams play us moving forward. They are gone to play aggressive and very physical. To cut down on injuries, Damon must play Martinez, Miller, Deus, Manning, Bradley, Sealey, Stratton. These seven are good enough to play and those seven should give seven of our starters needed rest through the game so that they can close the games at the end.
My reading of the rule is that the ref, upon reviewing the play, could have decided to give a red card, but could not have given a yellow card, where no card was originally issued. Rule 5.7.3.7
This makes sense.
I think a red would have been a little harsh but still justified. The Arkansas player did get Antonucci's ankle with the entire bottom of her boot after all. Definitely should have been a yellow on the field at least. Ridiculous that Damon had to challenge to get the penalty.
Thanks for the clarification; definitely did not know the yellow was off the table.
UNC commit D’Maria with a hat trick vs Canada
Wow, she is tall and big already at 17. Is she coming in January of 2027? I thought I read something that said that.
Big game today.
A few thoughts:
-Still do not understand Gaetino at outside back and Alvarez at CB. Gaetino's best year by a mile was her first year when she anchored the CB position and was a massive piece of the national title team. I have heard rumors she's lobbied to play farther up the field in the past, I suppose she may feel 'bored' just always playing in the back. But CB is where she belongs, that is where she could best help this team. Alvarez is terrific and I even can understand why Damon may trust her a little more at CB than Gaetino. Bella can make a few questionable choices, Alvarez is much better in distribution (BG plays WAY too many long balls to no one). But BG is way better in the air on headers than Alvarez, and this is going to be problematic once we have to deal with a top team with big forwards that play crosses into the box (and also on corner kicks). We just don't have a lot of size to begin with and teams that play direct and put high crosses into our box are going to create issues for this team. Note: I am tough on Gaetino, only because I think she could be GREAT. After her freshman year, I honestly thought she'd be a sure fire All American or gone to the pros by now. So much potential there, has the physical ability, has the toughness, has the skill...needs to get better at the details and the mental part of the game.
-Absolutely love Antonucci so far, she is really impressive. She will help fill in the loss of Ulmark in at CMF. Future pro, doesn't look phased by stepping in as a freshman in D1 college soccer at all.
-While both are very good players in their own ways, I think the pairing of Pennie and Kennedy at the 6 is a weakness. Both are fantastically technical players and good at keeping possession, but neither are physically imposing in their build or their mentality. This would have been a good place to try to develop Gaetino, but we need her too much in the back, and frankly, she's not good at playing with her back to the goal (or the defenders) in a wait that suits our style of play. But we could really use someone with her physical strength and aggressiveness at the 6.
-Devey off to a great start scoring goals, but loading up goals on cupcake teams just doesn't tell me much. I hope she can keep it going and can prove to be a threat vs better teams. One thing I criticized her for last year was that she, as a wing player, would cut back in the middle too much instead of getting into the corner and getting crosses in. So maybe playing in the middle suits her style/mentality better than playing out wide. We don't have a lot of options at the 9 though, so she seems like the best bet early on. Would be nice to see some of the younger attackers get some chances.
-Damon just has to sub more. I'm not saying he's got to go all out Anson and sub to that extreme...but that Arkansas game approach concerned me. It was an extreme heat index game, and he basically didn't sub the entire first half (I think he made one very late one). We can't rely on 11-12 players this year for a number of reasons:
-they will not hold up playing that much over an entire season
-we are going to have to do without a number of key players due to national team duty....need to get some of these other girls some meaningful playing time ahead of that
-we are going to have to deal with injuries at some point...again, either develop depth or get ready to put young players into key ACC games in the coming weeks that may not be ready
A few thoughts:
-Still do not understand Gaetino at outside back and Alvarez at CB. Gaetino's best year by a mile was her first year when she anchored the CB position and was a massive piece of the national title team. I have heard rumors she's lobbied to play farther up the field in the past, I suppose she may feel 'bored' just always playing in the back. But CB is where she belongs, that is where she could best help this team. Alvarez is terrific and I even can understand why Damon may trust her a little more at CB than Gaetino. Bella can make a few questionable choices, Alvarez is much better in distribution (BG plays WAY too many long balls to no one). But BG is way better in the air on headers than Alvarez, and this is going to be problematic once we have to deal with a top team with big forwards that play crosses into the box (and also on corner kicks). We just don't have a lot of size to begin with and teams that play direct and put high crosses into our box are going to create issues for this team. Note: I am tough on Gaetino, only because I think she could be GREAT. After her freshman year, I honestly thought she'd be a sure fire All American or gone to the pros by now. So much potential there, has the physical ability, has the toughness, has the skill...needs to get better at the details and the mental part of the game.
-Absolutely love Antonucci so far, she is really impressive. She will help fill in the loss of Ulmark in at CMF. Future pro, doesn't look phased by stepping in as a freshman in D1 college soccer at all.
-While both are very good players in their own ways, I think the pairing of Pennie and Kennedy at the 6 is a weakness. Both are fantastically technical players and good at keeping possession, but neither are physically imposing in their build or their mentality. This would have been a good place to try to develop Gaetino, but we need her too much in the back, and frankly, she's not good at playing with her back to the goal (or the defenders) in a wait that suits our style of play. But we could really use someone with her physical strength and aggressiveness at the 6.
-Devey off to a great start scoring goals, but loading up goals on cupcake teams just doesn't tell me much. I hope she can keep it going and can prove to be a threat vs better teams. One thing I criticized her for last year was that she, as a wing player, would cut back in the middle too much instead of getting into the corner and getting crosses in. So maybe playing in the middle suits her style/mentality better than playing out wide. We don't have a lot of options at the 9 though, so she seems like the best bet early on. Would be nice to see some of the younger attackers get some chances.
-Damon just has to sub more. I'm not saying he's got to go all out Anson and sub to that extreme...but that Arkansas game approach concerned me. It was an extreme heat index game, and he basically didn't sub the entire first half (I think he made one very late one). We can't rely on 11-12 players this year for a number of reasons:
-they will not hold up playing that much over an entire season
-we are going to have to do without a number of key players due to national team duty....need to get some of these other girls some meaningful playing time ahead of that
-we are going to have to deal with injuries at some point...again, either develop depth or get ready to put young players into key ACC games in the coming weeks that may not be ready
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Quick turnover, Bella pushed too far up and completely out of position (see my prior post about her issues with making questionable decisions and wanting to push forward). Easy goal for MSU.
Alvarez has to be vocal as the CB about unmarked forwards. If we are going to only play 3 in the back, our outside backs CANNOT be going forward, or we are going to get countered to death this year.
Alvarez has to be vocal as the CB about unmarked forwards. If we are going to only play 3 in the back, our outside backs CANNOT be going forward, or we are going to get countered to death this year.
Great answer after giving up that goal. Denigan was such a huge transfer pickup.
Nothing in that at all. Inadvertent...when you go in head first and are moving in any direction other than jumping straight up, that kind of thing is going to happen sometimes. That's why it takes certain toughness and courage (or just being taller than anyone else) to be good in the air. Hope she is ok. Looks like maybe a broken nose the way she reacted.
Mara in at CB, Alvarez moves to her natural outside back position. Mara stepped in admirably last year. She's not the fastest player in the world, but she proved she could be relied on last season. Great in the air. Do wonder if we go to a 4 back lineup though at some point if Bella has to miss extended time (that would be a huge loss, although I don't expect her to be out too long).
Great hustle by Mara and O'Neil to prevent MSU's speedy forward from getting another easy goal on a counter. We probably need someone marking her all over the field, she's the only player that has been dangerous for them.
Damon just has to sub more. I'm not saying he's got to go all out Anson and sub to that extreme...but that Arkansas game approach concerned me. It was an extreme heat index game, and he basically didn't sub the entire first half (I think he made one very late one). We can't rely on 11-12 players this year for a number of reasons:
-they will not hold up playing that much over an entire season
-we are going to have to do without a number of key players due to national team duty....need to get some of these other girls some meaningful playing time ahead of that
-we are going to have to deal with injuries at some point...again, either develop depth or get ready to put young players into key ACC games in the coming weeks that may not be ready
I agree totally with you. I do not know why he is not playing Stratton in the fist. half. She is 6 feet tall, has tons of experience starting and playing at BYU. With her size and body alone she can neutralize some of the other taller physical players on the opposing teams. He needs to play Manning, Martinez, and Miller too. I starting to wonder if he knows how to sub as well as prepare for the three players that will be leaving for the USA 20 team. He cannot wait until someone gets hurt or when ACC plays start to try to play them. They need to gain all the experience they can gain now. Someone need to tell him this. I do not live in the area to do myself; however, if he does not start to play this young talented depth, then I am afraid they are going to hit the transfer portal once the season is over, and this will affect recruiting because the young players in high school will start to think that he does not like to play his bench.
-they will not hold up playing that much over an entire season
-we are going to have to do without a number of key players due to national team duty....need to get some of these other girls some meaningful playing time ahead of that
-we are going to have to deal with injuries at some point...again, either develop depth or get ready to put young players into key ACC games in the coming weeks that may not be ready
I agree totally with you. I do not know why he is not playing Stratton in the fist. half. She is 6 feet tall, has tons of experience starting and playing at BYU. With her size and body alone she can neutralize some of the other taller physical players on the opposing teams. He needs to play Manning, Martinez, and Miller too. I starting to wonder if he knows how to sub as well as prepare for the three players that will be leaving for the USA 20 team. He cannot wait until someone gets hurt or when ACC plays start to try to play them. They need to gain all the experience they can gain now. Someone need to tell him this. I do not live in the area to do myself; however, if he does not start to play this young talented depth, then I am afraid they are going to hit the transfer portal once the season is over, and this will affect recruiting because the young players in high school will start to think that he does not like to play his bench.
Also, how in the world did we let one of our own players from the state get out of our state without receiving an offer. The Bell young lady is from Charlotte. She is tall and very fast. Can you image if she was on our team. I love Antonucci, but she does everything very well with the exception of scoring goals. I cannot figure out why she has not scored a goal yet. Is it concentration, too short, trying too hard, etc.?
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