Tomorrow will begin the REAL test for the Heels as they travel to Tallahassee to take on the Seminoles who whose last 5 games are evidence of peaking. ....That is, going from a 3 point loss, then a 1 point loss, then a 1 point win, then a 4 point win, and last Sunday a 7-1 pasting of Pittsburgh. Yikes!!! It looks like the mass of Noles talent have got it together! ....Then after returning home, the Heels will face #1 Duke who have at this time amassed a 12 game winning streak with a 45-5 scoring record. (Hmm. That reads: "for every 9 goals we make, we'll allow you 1.") Not that the Heels don't have a chance of making it close... but they certainly need to be at their best. We certainly will miss center back Trinity Armstrong, who at this time is the only amateur starter for the US team playing in the U17 FIFA World Cup. Otherwise I trust that everyone on the Heels roster will be able to play. I will be traveling and will be crossing my fingers that when I am able to see what the results from tomorrow night will be. Go Heels!
What about Travers - who has started and played just about every minute and currently plays for an ECNL team in CA? She's an amateur starter for the US and not even in college yet.
Yeah, I think perhaps Armstrong is the only collegian on the team? There are a few pros and many/most who are in HS/club teams (including a couple FSU commits).
Long (Duke), Scott (Penn St) and Padelski (Alabama) also reclassified and play college soccer. But, yes, Trinity has started all three games (along with pros Barcenas, Fuller, McCammon, Ascanio) and amateur Travers.
Sure, and there are handful of others, too. But Puerta isn't with the U17WWC squad rt now. Scott, Armstrong, Padelski and Long are.
UNC Social Media accounts today marked World Stroke Awareness Day by noting that Olivia Migli had a stroke in June and avoided significant brain damage due to the keen observations of a nurse. We like to speculate on why players are missing time but I hesitate on this one. It's an awful thing to suggest that Migli might have had another stroke and that's why she's missing time, but the reality is that once you've had one, you're at higher risk of having more for the rest of your life. I hope I'm wrong and Migli is just dealing with a minor muscle injury.
The word "Stroke" evokes horrible consequences like a 60+ MPH head on collision in car wreck. Like car wrecks, strokes come in many different sizes and types. I would assume hers was a minor bump pulling into or out of a parking space. If not, she wouldn't be practicing and playing. Hope her health is good!
Good game yesterday. Fair 2-0 score with VT 0 shots on goal and UNC 5. The game was physical, but the referee handled it very well. Three yellow cards for VT one for NC. (see below)
Masterful Referee... I first saw Corey Rockwell referee the NCAA women's championship game in Texas in 2009 when UNC was playing Stanford. At that time I found my cold self on the bleachers constantly talking to my wife about how excellent this referee was by annoying her with descriptions of his running movement to angles so as to always be close and in the right spot to see fouls. I didn't know is name then but he sure stuck in my mind of how skillful someone could be at that job. As far as I could tell he made no mistakes and he had a wonderful way of talking to players, coaches, and fans to explain what he saw etc. He seemed to be following regulations to the "T" and was very consistent. See foul...instantly whistle foul or instantly indicate Play On if the fouled had an advantage. None of this nonsense of letting fouls go. See legs taken down from behind, the appropriate card is shown immediately on the spot. After a red card a trot to the bench to explain and pacify the coaches seemed to work well. Well, some years later (2023) at Chapel Hill at a game with Southern Cal, I watch a referee run like heck to position himself and am thinking I've seen this ref before. Late in the second half it dawns that this ref is moving just like the ref did at the championship game 14 years ago. This dude looks older and shorter than I remembered, but he certainly was a good ref. No complaints by either side with the 4-1 result. So as soon as we got home I'm looking at the PDF box score for both 2009 and 2023 and low and behold one Corey Rockwell was the ref. So at the UNC vs VT game on Sunday I see Corey Rockwell for the third time running like heck from box to box and putting himself in the right positions. Yea, he does look like he's 50, but dang, he is obviously in good shape and so was his demeanor -friendly but firm. Had a good example in the waning minutes of the game when a foul was called on a UNC player an the VT fans on the north side went howling that it should have been a card. So when the VT medics were on the field to make the exam, Rockwell trots over to the VAR screens and comes out making the motions that the VAR showed that a card was not required. He then turned to the benches (and we fans) to explain a bit abut lack of elbows, tripping, no excessive force, etc and the benches were quiet (and the fans were pleased) and then ran over to the north side to the VT agrievers and told them the same, and they seemed to be satisfied with no further complaints. (The downed girl walked off the field just fine.) When we got home, I decided to look up this referee. It turns out that he has a 40 hour job, married and 2 children, been on the FIFA panel of referees for 17 years and worked many international games including a Gold Cup final (as a assistant referee.) He also has been a referee for the MLS for almost 2 decades with 360 games (+) on the field. No wonder he is able to calm the fervor and be a good ref. I hope that in his "retirement" from big time soccer he can still referee women's college games. It certainly is refreshing to know that good refereeing is out there.
I too like Corey Rockwell. I think he' s the most consistent ref I've seen. That's all a coach or fan can ask for.
Wow! Congrats on beating your biggest rival and making it to the ACCCG. You guys are a different team with Trinity Armstrong! She is a total stud! At first blush, she looks like a future (not too distant) USWNTer! Good luck Sunday and may we both come out of it w/o further injuries. BTW, I think Nahas has to be in the convo for national coach of the year along with Church and a couple others I'm not familiar with.
Wow! Nahas has done a terrific job under the circumstances and should be a no-brainer for the permanent Head Coaching position as the team has performed admirably under his tutelage. They are so much more fun to watch then last years group and a lot of what wrong last year on the field has been corrected in 2024.
Trinity Armstrong saved the game with a goal line play (also a wonderful slide save before that) and then won it with a magnificent header out of the chaos. She reportedly sold burritos at halftime as well.
I don't necessarily disagree with this take, but the timing it implies is wrong. Nahas has done a terrific job since he's been with the team, not just since he's been the head coach. I would agree that this team has played better than last years team, but it feels less about tactics and strategies implemented by Nahas and more about the dynamics of this team. There were a LOT of amazing players on last years team that Nahas had play, or at least tried to have play, the same way he has this team playing. It was something about the team makeup that just created an unpleasant environment last year, and that obviously came to a head in the offseason. I think it's safe to say that there were some bad apples, and the Heels are benefiting from their departure more than if they had stayed and helped UNC's depth this year. Duke represents how good this UNC team can be if everybody can get healthy and be available. In game #1 we had Trinity Armstrong and a fantastic back line that was just coming together, and even then we only lost that game on an unfortunate bounce. That game felt destined to end in a draw otherwise. In that game we didn't have Olivia Thomas, Maddie Dahlien, or Evelyn Shores. In game #2 last week Trinity Armstrong was away with the U17's winning a bronze medal, but we had those aforementioned attacking players back. While it was nice to see the contributions of those attacking players, the defense wobbled with Armstrong gone and the backline in flux with Gaetino and Migli being recently sick/injured and becoming unavailable or on limited minutes. Game #3 tells the story. While I think both units need a few more games under their belt to reach their full potential, the game against Duke really showed us what this team, with everybody available, can do. If not for an unnecessary lunge for the ball for a PK (in a 1v2 scenario well away from being dangerous) this defense essentially shut Duke out. Sure Gagne was busy enough and had to come out and punch or grab balls before they became SoG's, but she wasn't the star of this game like she was vs FSU. The defense was the star of this game. Goal line clearances, blocks, give and go interceptions, recovery runs... they were all amazing. Elgin, Gaetino, the wingers, Nagai with a goal line clear, Dahlien with several strips. This was an incredible defensive performance. Everybody is talking about Trinity Armstrong and rightly so, but I think Aven Alvarez had an other worldly performance against Ella Hase, a week removed from #3 torching her consistently in 1v1's. FSU worries me. They are a horrible match-up for us. It's not just that they're a really good team capable of beating anybody and everybody, but their strength's are directly related to this UNC team's few weakness'. UNC has had a tendency to give up possession in bad spots on the field, and their isn't a team in the country more capable of exploiting turnovers from those same bad spots. They're unavoidable at this point for the ACC Championship, but I'm hoping they lose before we have to play them in the NCAA's. In previous years I would relish a chance to play them at full strength ... but this year I would like nothing more to see them bomb out in the first round.
UNC's team culture is much better this year. The whole may be better than the sum of the parts. That was not the case last year. I have to chuckle with your take on FSU. The latter part of your take is exactly how I have felt about UNC for many many years! Welcome to the club
Wow. It's hard to be upset with how UNC played in the Championship game. That was as near perfect a first half of soccer I've seen UNC play against FSU ... ever? They limited FSU's chances off turnovers to *one* ... ONE. It just goes to show how perfect you do have to play against FSU less they punish it ruthlessly. I've said that I think UNC matches up poorly against them because they tend to be prone to making bad turnovers in midfield, but ... they played a near perfect game with almost no mistakes and still lost. Who exactly in the country can play a full 90 against FSU with fewer mistakes than what we saw from UNC in this game? They didn't exactly collapse in the second half and continued to be the better team. It just took a sequence of silly and unnecessary fouls by UNC defenders. 4 in row, and you can go back and look at all of them and ask why the challenges were made. UNC had support in every situation. In a blink, UNC went from controlling the game to being down 3-2, and it completely changed the dynamic of the game. You can't ask for a better game from UNC otherwise. They did so well in this game and it's so frustrating to see how the bounces went. You can look at each FSU goal and it's just bad bounce after bad bounce. Tar Heel defenders in great positions making touches on the ball and it just kept falling kindly for FSU. A rebound out after a well defended corner, a 1v1 touch that went right back to Dudley before she drew the PK. A defender got a head on the ball on the service in before the game winner. The soccer gods were cruel and unust against UNC in this game. No real issues with officiating in this game, at least not out of the ordinary. She was consistent and all the crucial calls that she made looked correct. I do think she made a few mistakes here and there, but officials are humans and none of them felt impactful. Gave out yellow cards at the right clip, I think. Dudley was Dudley again, committing two yellow card offenses but getting away with it while her teammate, Washington, pretty much made the same kind of challenge right after her and got a yellow. If anything Dudley's challenge was worse, essentially throwing Armstrong to the ground *after* the initial foul. I just ... don't understand how Dudley avoids being punished at all in these games. She's a menace and will continue to be because the officials let her do it.
Does anyone have any information on what’s going on with head coaching position? This is getting a little ridiculous. Clearly they are not going with Nahas otherwise don’t you think they would have made that announcement at this point? Interested to see who it is.
it’s pretty insulting to him imo. Did anyone see Sean Nahas’ instagram story after the Duke game? He wrote “It’s very simple - remove the interim tag”. Pretty bold for a NWSL head coach to come out and say that (granted it’s his brother but still!)
I am not in instagram but I do follow his wife on Facebook and saw that Tracey bates and Anson’s daughter both commented something about giving him the title already. I was hoping maybe it happened and hasn’t been announced but when I saw the comments on her post it’s clear people are frustrated.
begs the question what’s the holdup? Are they waiting to see how they perform in the NCAAT? Even if they lost in the first round it doesn’t diminish (IMO) what they’ve done this year. Watch them hire outside and he takes the NC State job….