The most decorated program in women’s college soccer history has added another piece of hardware to its already sizable trophy case.
Behind a goal in the 61st minute from Olivia Thomas, North Carolina defeated Wake Forest, 1-0, Monday night in nearby Cary, North Carolina, to win the Division I national championship.
It’s the Tar Heels’ 23rd national title in their distinguished history. The next-closest program, Florida State, has only four.
The championship came under an interim head coach, Damon Nahas, who succeeded Anson Dorrance after the legendary coach retired in August after leading his alma mater for the previous 45 seasons. Under Nahas, the Tar Heels went 22-5 and rebounded after a late slide in which they lost three of their final four regular-season matches.
Despite its storied history, the title is North Carolina’s first since 2012. The Tar Heels had made the national championship game three times since, most recently in 2022, but lost each time.
With the game in a scoreless deadlock with 28 minutes remaining, Thomas struck a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box that curled around the Wake Forest wall and into the side netting.
Monday’s victory capped off a dominant defensive run for North Carolina during the postseason. In six NCAA tournament games, the Tar Heels allowed just one goal, which came in a 2-1 overtime victory against Penn State in the national quarterfinals.
North Carolina was part of an all-ACC College Cup, which also included Duke and Stanford. The Tar Heels rolled past the archrival Blue Devils, the nation’s top-ranked team, 3-0 in the semifinals to earn a date with Wake Forest, which was appearing in the program’s first-ever national title game.
