UNC Women's Soccer 2026-2027

[3397char]

After notching 4500 in attendance vs Dook last week, we followed up with 3900 today. Outstanding!

 

[3397char]

talking about the defense yesterday:

Notre Dame has an elite front line. Our best defense was preventing ND from ever building though the midfield to create many chances. Credit Antonnucci, Pennie, Kennedy, Munson, etc.. for that wall.

ND’s only offense was long balls in the counterattack. And they did create pressure at times. I thought Alvarez andO’neilin particular had a great game managing that. Perhaps O’Neil’s best game as a Heel, considering who she was marking.

on the one goal conceded, Gaetino made an error that lead to a quick change of possession. Then ND was awarded a penalty on a pretty questionable call.(nahas agreed, he earned a card arguing it.) they eventually scored on a second penalty that immediately followed.

on that set piece the player Manning marked got completely free for the header. that was a whiff. As good as Manning is on offense, the young gun has some other skills to work on.

 

[Chris13x]

Really liked our offense and I may be Manning’s #1 fan. But PLEASE, play those over the top long balls better. They scare me to death.

I feel like this is a choice again I’m not a huge soccer fan so I don’t know the tactics that well but it seems like we play aggressively and look to score and the weakness of that is that we are vulnerable to these kind of long balls, and we only play with three defenders in the back as far as I can tell. Someone that knows more about soccer and about this team and tactics feel free to correct me again these are just sort of impressions from watching a few games.

 

[THEericstrattonrushchairman]

^Unc attacks, attacks, attacks. Would you rather win 4-1 or 1-0.? more scoring grows the women’s game

 

[Jriv23]

They talked about UNC’s injuries and absences all game as well, past and present.

speaking of which, they confirmed this was the last game for Stanislaus and Manning.

also confirmed that Trayer’s issue is illness.

Yeah that was only in the fourth quarter. They talked about ND the whole entire game. That is what I am referring too. ND this and ND that the whole entire game.

 

[Jriv23]

talking about the defense yesterday:

Notre Dame has an elite front line. Our best defense was preventing ND from ever building though the midfield to create many chances. Credit Antonnucci, Pennie, Kennedy, Munson, etc.. for that wall.

ND’s only offense was long balls in the counterattack. And they did create pressure at times. I thought Alvarez andO’neilin particular had a great game managing that. Perhaps O’Neil’s best game as a Heel, considering who she was marking.

on the one goal conceded, Gaetino made an error that lead to a quick change of possession. Then ND was awarded a penalty on a pretty questionable call.(nahas agreed, he earned a card arguing it.) they eventually scored on a second penalty that immediately followed.

on that set piece the player Manning marked got completely free for the header. that was a whiff. As good as Manning is on offense, the young gun has some other skills to work on.

I agree but that is also a sign that she was tired and that Damon should have taken her out for some needed rest. She played the whole entire 90 minutes. Pennie on the other hand can run all down long. She does not get tired at all. She can play all 90 minutes.

 

[E27599]

I agree but that is also a sign that she was tired and that Damon should have taken her out for some needed rest. She played the whole entire 90 minutes.

Perhaps, but the ND goal occurred only 20 minutes in. It's unusual to sub anyone out that early.

 

[Chris13x]

^Unc attacks, attacks, attacks. Would you rather win 4-1 or 1-0.? more scoring grows the women’s game

I love the way they play. I feel like they’ve kept the core DNA of the program from Anson, which is to be aggressive and attack, but they’ve updated it with Damon’s point of view and experiences and for the transfer portal era

 

[UNCBullMarket]

^Unc attacks, attacks, attacks. Would you rather win 4-1 or 1-0.? more scoring grows the women’s game

This is a little bit of an oversimplification. Many teams would love to play attacking soccer all the time but don't have that choice available to them.....your tactics have to match the personnel / talent you have available on the roster. It's not a matter of trying to grow the womens game or be more entertaining....at the end of the day, you are just trying to win, and 1-0 counts the same as 4-1. Damon currently has a wealth of talent, and great midfielders and attackers, so he can play this way....you also have to have players who you trust in the back to only play 3 back there. Again, he has that.....UNC is much more fortunate when it comes to this (compared to their competitors) than almost any other soccer team is in any high level league. The parity is getting to make things more even as the years go by in womens soccer, but UNC is still a blue blood.....much like a program like Alabama in football. They have high school All American level talent at every single position, and depth as well.

Most teams that are playing with less talent will sit back in a low or mid block, and just look to counterattack with long balls to try to catch their opponents with lots of numbers pushed forward. And many times, it is very effective. I have lost count of the games I've seen one team completely dominate possession and shots taken, but lose the game because their opponent convert one or two of the very small amount of chances they got. It's just not feasible for a lot teams to think they are going to play possession soccer and have 3 in the back against UNC. They might as well just forfeit the game to us. But if they play in a way that really clogs up things for our attack, they have at least a chance to steal a game.

Even with UNC, there are going to be years where maybe we have more of our talent concentrated in the back, and choose to play a 4 person back line to get our 11 best players on the field, and maybe then we aren't pushing as many people forward. It's just like any other sport....in football, if you have a big monster OLine and a mediocre QB, you are probably going to be a running team. But if you have a great QB and loads of speed, you may be a spread offense that mostly passes. It's just hard to say this is how we're going to play always no matter what.....talent drives all of that. Good coaches can adapt to maximize what they have, stubborn coaches who only play one way all the time tend to struggle as soon as a key injury or two happen or as soon as they come across a bad matchup.

I've coached for a long time and I love for my kids to play possession soccer like UNC plays, but it's very rare I actually have to the players to pull it off. Super fun when I do, but sometimes you just have to accept who you are and look to counter if you want any chance of keeping games competitive.

We are just super duper spoiled as UNC fans in this case. Playing the style that we play is a luxury that most just can't replicate because they do not have the players to pull it off.

 

[UNCBullMarket]

As for the ND game....outside of the win vs dook, I thought this was the best game we've played this season. I loved how we were getting the ball into the corners and getting crosses in more consistently, this is when we are at our best. As we keep saying, Manning is such a weapon down the left side and had a great assist to Blum (credit to Blum for the great hustle to get to that ball and finishing). Our first goal came from the ball coming in wide from Blum to Devey (what a first touch and finish by Devey), our second goal was ultimately from a foul drawn by Manning getting ready to serve another ball in from the left side. Last goal was Blum crossing the ball in from the right side to Denigan.

Devey has really grown into the 9 and looks settled there now, that has helped us a lot as the season has gone on....she's got great speed and a high work rate, and she's been good at finishing the chances she gets. That was a big question mark coming in for us this year and has been answered.

It's also pretty impressive that we can bring in a player off of the bench who was an All-American last year (Denigan)...our midfield is just stacked right now with Antonucci, Blum, Denigan, Pennie, Kennedy, and Manning/Munson on the outsides with their speed. Interested to see how Damon adjusts to losing Manning...thinking maybe Munson moves over to that side (I think she's a left-footed player anyways) and Blum plays on the right with Denigan moving back into the starting lineup.

Still wondering about Stratton. I wish we could get some kind of update on her....is she still sitting out because of some health concern, or is this just a lineup decision at this point? Right now, I still think we'd be better with her in the lineup....the one underappreciated element she gives us is that she is such a weapon on offensive corner kicks for us because of her height. We are not much of a threat on those when either her or Mara aren't out there, we are a small team and not amazing in the air. Stratton helped us score at least 3 goals off of corners that she got a head on during that stretch of games she started. Alvarez looks good back there, and is great on the ball and is very composed, I'd move her to the outside so Stratton could play CB, and as crazy as it seems, I'd put Gaetino on the bench. That'd be a tough decision....she's bigger and stronger and more experienced than O'Neill, but there is something about Gaetino I just don't trust in the back. She has a lot more bad/careless giveaways than she should, and she loses her mark more often than any of the others. Maybe I'm picking on her, but I watch her a lot during games and I just think she plays a little cockier and reckless than she should. I worry that could cost us in a big game that is close in the postseason. The other backs seems to know their roles and play with safety as their first concern.

I trust Damon's judgement though, he's the one who sees them in practice every week....what he's doing so far is really clicking. They really did play great against ND. I will say that ND has been dealing with some key injuries and a couple of their stars are not 100% right now, so I think they will be really dangerous in the postseason. They have some serious talent. But we can only beat who is put in front of us, and we more than handled business.

Also wondering if Trayer's situation will keep her out any more games....at some point, if she's going to be out for many more games....then we may just need to commit to Johann as the GK1 going forward. It's not ideal to bring in a GK late in the year who hasn't been playing for a while, especially when the games become win or go home kinds of affairs. Hopefully she's back soon, but Johann to her credit has made some really nice saves and not made any big gaffes back there...she's been excellent for us off of the bench when called upon. Still think Trayer has a slight edge due to her size/height advantage, but she can be a bit shaky with her feet, so the gap isn't as wide with Johann now.

Feels good to be #1, but another very difficult game awaits on Friday at FSU. They will be a physical/athletic team that gives us a different kind of challenge.

 

[Jriv23]

Perhaps, but the ND goal occurred only 20 minutes in. It's unusual to sub anyone out that early.

She is a freshmen who is still learning and growing. Remember she was gone with the U17 team at the start of the season. Not making any excuses just stating facts here.

 

[Jriv23]

As for the ND game....outside of the win vs dook, I thought this was the best game we've played this season. I loved how we were getting the ball into the corners and getting crosses in more consistently, this is when we are at our best. As we keep saying, Manning is such a weapon down the left side and had a great assist to Blum (credit to Blum for the great hustle to get to that ball and finishing). Our first goal came from the ball coming in wide from Blum to Devey (what a first touch and finish by Devey), our second goal was ultimately from a foul drawn by Manning getting ready to serve another ball in from the left side. Last goal was Blum crossing the ball in from the right side to Denigan.

Devey has really grown into the 9 and looks settled there now, that has helped us a lot as the season has gone on....she's got great speed and a high work rate, and she's been good at finishing the chances she gets. That was a big question mark coming in for us this year and has been answered.

It's also pretty impressive that we can bring in a player off of the bench who was an All-American last year (Denigan)...our midfield is just stacked right now with Antonucci, Blum, Denigan, Pennie, Kennedy, and Manning/Munson on the outsides with their speed. Interested to see how Damon adjusts to losing Manning...thinking maybe Munson moves over to that side (I think she's a left-footed player anyways) and Blum plays on the right with Denigan moving back into the starting lineup.

Still wondering about Stratton. I wish we could get some kind of update on her....is she still sitting out because of some health concern, or is this just a lineup decision at this point? Right now, I still think we'd be better with her in the lineup....the one underappreciated element she gives us is that she is such a weapon on offensive corner kicks for us because of her height. We are not much of a threat on those when either her or Mara aren't out there, we are a small team and not amazing in the air. Stratton helped us score at least 3 goals off of corners that she got a head on during that stretch of games she started. Alvarez looks good back there, and is great on the ball and is very composed, I'd move her to the outside so Stratton could play CB, and as crazy as it seems, I'd put Gaetino on the bench. That'd be a tough decision....she's bigger and stronger and more experienced than O'Neill, but there is something about Gaetino I just don't trust in the back. She has a lot more bad/careless giveaways than she should, and she loses her mark more often than any of the others. Maybe I'm picking on her, but I watch her a lot during games and I just think she plays a little cockier and reckless than she should. I worry that could cost us in a big game that is close in the preseason. The other backs seems to know their roles and play with safety as their first concern.

I trust Damon's judgement though, he's the one who seems them in practice every week....what he's doing so far is really clicking. They really did play great against ND. I will say that ND has been dealing with some key injuries and a couple of their stars are not 100% right now, so I think they will be really dangerous in the postseason. They have some serious talent. But we can only beat who is put in front of us, and we more than handled business.

Also wondering if Trayer's situation will keep her out any more games....at some point, if she's going to be out for many more games....then we may just need to commit to Johann as the GK1 going forward. It's not ideal to bring in a GK late in the year who hasn't been playing for a while, especially when the games become win or go home kinds of affairs. Hopefully she's back soon, but Johann to her credit has made some really nice saves and not made any big gaffes back there...she's been excellent for us off of the bench when called upon. Still think Trayer has a slight edge due to her size/height advantage, but she can be a bit shaky with her feet, so the gap isn't as wide with Johann now.

Feels good to be #1, but another very difficult game awaits on Friday at FSU. They will be a physical/athletic team that gives us a different kind of challenge.

I think Stratton is out due to concussion protocols. Does anyone know what happened to Trayer? How did she get hurt?

 

[UNCBullMarket]

I think Stratton is out due to concussion protocols. Does anyone know what happened to Trayer? How did she get hurt?

Have heard people speculate about that, but in the game she hit her head she came back in. So it would be odd that she’s missed multiple games because of that, but I don’t know. Would love to hear something more definitive other than message board speculation. She has been on the sidelines and seems fine and had no crutches or anything like that, so concussion protocol seems the most likely explanation. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…such a bummer though, she was playing amazing for us and got what was ultimately the decisive goal vs dook.

 

[E27599]

She is a freshmen who is still learning and growing. Remember she was gone with the U17 team at the start of the season. Not making any excuses just stating facts here.

Of course. She is a huge asset to the team and I have nothing but respect for her. She's like Dahlien toward the end of her time here; when she gets the ball on the left wing, you know something good is going to happen. I just don't think that she needed to be subbed out before the 20 minute mark.

 

[tmatheny]

Have heard people speculate about that, but in the game she hit her head she came back in. So it would be odd that she’s missed multiple games because of that, but I don’t know. Would love to hear something more definitive other than message board speculation. She has been on the sidelines and seems fine and had no crutches or anything like that, so concussion protocol seems the most likely explanation. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…such a bummer though, she was playing amazing for us and got what was ultimately the decisive goal vs dook.

I have worked with several athletes who during course of play sustained a concussion but were able to continue in that game due to due to being in heat of moment and then felt the effects after wards. I myself fell in competition once but adrenaline kicked in and then I felt them the next day when I woke up and missed 10 days of competing/practicing.