Maybe, but probably not for the defense. my memory of the defense last year was that it was more or less set before ACC play even began, and it was only disrupted when Armstrong was away for international duty. Gagne with Gaetino and Armstrong centering Alvarez and Elgin was a standard set very early. On the other hand, the fact that we keep seeing new defensive combinations in late September and into October is ... jarring. I can't help but agree with @WellHeeled that Alvarez shifted because of her prowess in the air, but the down side of that is that you limit Munson's recovery speed to one side of the field. She covered a ton of ground tonight, especially in the first half. I hope her injury isn't serious, because it mostly looked like she was needing to get stretched out for cramps. We've gotten to the point of the season that Nahas really shouldn't be changing things up even if you think a combination would work better than the current one. You've got to give this defense time to gel and get used to how they play with one another, especially since most of them aren't playing in their typical positions. Alvarez was solid as an outside back. Munson as well but has been used heavily as a CB this year. Gaetino obviously has that history in midfield that her and Nahas tried hard to find a fit early in the season. And Devey is the furthest thing from a defender out there on the back half of the formation for UNC, but I think Nahas is banking on her offensive capability translating into the wide and late runs ... something we see so often with attacking players being converted into outside backs.
I agree about gelling the defense. I also think that players on the same flank need time playing together to establish an understanding. I can see the advantages of using Munson's speed and desire to attack as a full-back, and I thought Thomas has played well in a left sided attacking midfield role (which seems a bit narrow to be classified as a true winger), but this is a very different left side from what we were trying a couple of games ago. I also wonder to what extent Nahas is still puzzling about how to make the most of Ullmark's undeniable talents? I also wonder if we would have a more confident and reliable passing game if the other players had a settled sense of where our playmaker operates, game in and game out. There's time for things to settle, and I'm in favor of experimenting rather than persisting with a plan that's been shown not to bear the hoped for fruit. But at this stage, the only players that seem fixed to certain starting roles are: Gaetino at centerback, Dellarose at defensive midfield, Faasse in attack on the right, and Devey at right back (although I don't think we'd be all that surprised to see her start at left back in any game.)
While I'm not overly confident about this season for UNC (they have a chance to win it all), I feel much better seeing the 2026 and 2027 recruiting classes. The number 1 2027 recruit just committed to UNC this week. She's headed to Morocco with the U17s. Lots of great attacking midfielders and forwards in both classes. And one of the goalies headed to Morocco is headed to UNC next year, too. There is always the chance that a few of them go pro, but I feel players are a little more cautious about it and are opting to go to college for a bit and/or go early.
For me, our biggest positive is that Faasse and Thomas are both scoring regularly — I think that we haven't had such an in-form strike force since the Russo era. And the goals they are scoring are fantastic. Thomas's hit from the free kick (s/o Munson for drawing the foul), Faasse's first, and Thomas's cross for Faasse's second were all technically brilliant. In the absence of the results that we'd have liked, it's a consolation to see such beautiful moments of soccer.
While I certainly agree with the view of Wellheeled and lhs25 regarding UNC's young women are doing. It will be interesting to see if the 2025 record is won or lost by the attackers or defense (or both.) I personally think that a good defense is what leads to winners. Front runners have good and bad days, where as the defense is typically pretty steady once they have played with the same defenders enough that they know how to handle as a well trained group. So I am hoping that a constant 4 will be a good unit by November, but without Riley and Lauren for the better part of a month it will might be wasted. .... Having said this, I am always hopeful that good things happen and the team will be stronger than we might know.
From a National Championship perspective, it looks like UNC's defense needs to be a little better. In 12 games so far, they've given up 12 goals, for a 1.00 average per game. The poorest full-season GAA to win a National Championship is 0.81 (UNC last year).
This afternoon yielded a 3-1 win for the Heels. Seemed to be mirroring the previous game with BC... get a goal in the first half, then in the second half give up a goal to the opposition, followed by 2 goals from UNC to clench the game. This afternoon Thomas was involved in all three goals: 2 close in assists for Ullmark and Malsom, and a solo score for herself beating the keeper with a clean shot into the right netting.
Addendum: Concerned that senior Tessa Dellarose left after 33 minutes today in the first half and did not return. She was slowly adding minutes for the last 7 games going starting at 15 minutes for each half playing Milwaukee and working up to Boston College at 36 minutes per half. For the last three years Tessa has developed (last year) into a stalwart in the midfield and we were certainly looking forward to her getting fully healed. ....Hope that she can return healthy and finish this year.
Fingers crossed that Dellarose's withdrawal was precautionary and she's fully fit within a month. Her composure and experience are critical for our season, and as a senior presumably aiming to go pro, I hope she can showcase her full potential (and we can give her enough postseason games to do so!)
Yes indeed! "Composure and Experience". Not only has Tessa been a great midfielder -cleanly deposing the ball from the opposition, and then left and right keeping the ball close in until the right pass or shot. (Reminds me of Tobin Heath.) The other skill the team is missing is Tessa taking the corner kicks where she is really good at lofting the balls just right to the scorer (as the winning goal in the NCAA tournament last year against Penn State where a perfectly placed corner kick to a rushing Kate Fassee arriving at the goal line in a set play.)
Losing to Duke is always painful but that was probably the worst I've ever seen us play. I'm a big Nahas fan but that was another failed formation and personnel change. Are we always reacting to our opposition or do we have a preferred formation? As well as our formation shifting, we aren't giving individuals opportunities to settle into particular positions. For example, does Alvarez have the skillset to play as a defensive midfielder? Undoubtedly—her technique and soccer brain make her ideal for that position—but it is a role that requires a lot of experience to perfect. If that's where we want her, then we should have been playing her since game 1. Instead, her versatility has led her to feature in that position, right back, left back, and central defense. I couldn't understand why at 2-0 down with 25 minutes to go, we were persisting with a 4-3-1-2 that clearly wasn't creating us chances. An obvious change was to rejig things so that we could press Duke when they played out from defense against the wind. Have our players not been trained how to press as a unit, so this switch wasn't an option on game day? Instead, we just had Faasse and Thomas applying light pressure to their backline — enough to reduce timewasting but not enough to regularly force turnovers. I found it bizarre that when Dellarose needed to rest, we created an entirely untried central defense pairing by putting Brown there for the first time alongside Mara (who has only played there a bit). It seemed a much better option to put Brown at right back, where she has at least played a bit, and bring Alvarez into central defense. Needless to say, we soon gave up a third and, but for the televised review, would have given up a fourth. I don't think anyone would have been that surprised if we had ultimately lost 5-0.
Yes, to get one top-corner belter of a goal in a game is always a bonus and doesn't happen too often. But to get 3 in one big match is rar. Impressive shooting. Duke's swarming defense really made it hard for UNC to get quality shots in the match.
Going into the Duke game, it was certain to me that Duke would have the advantage. Their home based fans would be rowdy, and the Heels were down three would-be starters (Shaela Bradley out for the season, and Lauren Malsom and Riley Kennedy gone to Qatar for the remainder of the regular season.) In contrast, Duke had most every player ready to go and they do have a deep and skillful team. The first half (with no scoring) seemed to be, in one manner, pretty even. Duke had more shots than the Heels, but most of them sailed over the bar or outside the left post (8 shots with only one needing to be saved.) In the second half Duke's three goals were truly amazing... all three (in my view) were from about 24, 30, and then 22 yards out into the gusty 15 mph wind and all were to the upper left corner. Wow! Moving forward, I do hope that the Heels will find enough effort to win the final four games in the schedule. I do not know if that would mean that the Heels might make the ACC tournament, depending on how other teams in the middle finish out. The team really does need to get things organized for the rest of the season, and I am looking forward with eagerness. Go Heels!
I just watched LOU equalizes late against UVA and that result has thrown the door wide open for UNC. Math isn't my strong suit, but I'm pretty sure UNC controls their destiny now because a couple of teams they're currently "chasing" still have to play each other, namely UVA vs FSU and FSU vs CAL. I doesn't matter who wins those games, the result of those games will mean that enough teams can't match the UNC point total in the standings if they win out.
Florida State just gave up two goals late and dropped points at home vs CAL. That result and a game still needed to be played between UVA and FSU means we're no longer talking about just making the ACC tournament, but potentially getting a #3 or #4 seed. Have to take care of business against Miami, Syracuse, and NC State, but UNC looks more and more likely to get another shot at a ranked opponent before the NCAA tournament, which could do wonders to our seeding.
Babs, I appreciate your last two up-lifting posts for UNC. I hope that your predictions come true. Our two starters playing international may not be returning until until the ACC tournament is finished,which means that the Heels will have to play consistently well. ... Go Heels!
Keeping track of Lauren Malsom and Riley Kennedy who are playing for the US U17 team in Morocco... both starting. Riley is doing well in the midfield and Lauren is doing very well on the front line. Good play is also coming from FSU players with keeper Evan O'Steen and midfielder Nyanya Touray. The last game with China both Lauren and Nyanya scored 2 goals each (with an assist from Lauren to Nyanya.) Each of them lead with goals with 3 each so far. Future Tarheel Maddie DeMaria (2027) also scored a goal. (The score for the game was 5-2. That's 4 goals from the ACC and one who will be in the ACC.) ...And keeping track of home-bound Heels is going well. In the SMU game Tessa Dellarose placed 2 corner kicks with precision near the far post while Caitlin Mara headed both of the Dellarose serves neatly into the netting. Tonight the Heels are at Miami. ... Go Heels!
With the loss to Miami today, can the Heels still get in the ACC tournament if they beat Syracuse and NC State?
Mathematically it is possible, but it looks unlikely. UNC can get 18 points. There are six teams who are likely to exceed this: 1 Stanford already have more than 18 2 Notre Dame already have more than18 3 Louisville 17 and playing SMU 4 FSU 17 and playing Wake Forest 5 Duke 15 and playing Clemson and NC State 6 Virginia 14 and playing Pitt and Boston College
Duke would have the tiebreaker with the head to head win over UNC even if they do manage to lose one of their remaining games. Have to hope that LOU or UVA blow a tire in their final game(s), certainly tonight shows it could happen.
I think that the statistic that defines our season is our away results: we have won 3 and lost 5 (including upsets to Tennessee, Georgia, and Miami). At home, we have won 7 and lost 1 (to FSU).
Assuming Duke win tonight or on Thursday, I think this is the only way we can get to the ACC tournament: - we beat NC state - Louisville loses at home to SMU - Cal loses or draws against Stanford The Wake Forest vs FSU game doesn't affect things. One team is guaranteed to have fewer points than us, and one team is guaranteed to overtake us: If FSU draw or win, then they have at least as many points as us and beat us on the "head to head" tiebreaker. If Wake win, then they finish on the same points as us and beat us on the "Most wins in overall conference game results among common opponents" tiebreaker. Our common opponents are Miami, Virginia Tech, Duke, NC State, Pitt, Notre Dame, and Florida State. Assuming we beat State, we would have 3 wins against those common opponents, and Wake already has 4 wins.