The 2026-27 college sports seasons is officially underway and one of the first sports to get going was women’s soccer. This past Thursday, the North Carolina Tar Heels got their season going. So far, they’re two games in, and things have gone quite well. It’s only been two games, and neither of which came against likely College Cup teams, but so far in 2026, the Heels have two wins and have outscored their opponents by a combined 12-0.
The season opener was last Thursday as UNC welcomed Fairfield to town. Just over four minutes into the game, Hope Munson got the game and the season started on a good note with an early goal. She doubled the lead later in the first half, and Bella Devey scored two of her own in the second half, giving Carolina a 4-0 win to kick off the new year.
Then this past Sunday, Quinnipiac visited Chapel Hill, and that game got even more ridiculous. Devey and Munson again combined for four goals between them, with Devey picking up a hat trick. Except in this case, they did that in just the first 15 minutes alone. Devey scored the first goal just over nine minutes in, and they added three more in the next couple minutes, with the third and fourth goal coming less than a minute apart. UNC padded their lead further, adding another four goals in the second half. Summer Denigan scored two of those as the Tar Heels put in a 8-0 beatdown victory.
UNC began the season ranked eighth in the country according to the United Soccer Coaches poll. Following those two wins, they did move up one spot in Tuesday’s new poll. Now, as mentioned, neither opponent so far is likely to contend for a national title or anything last year. That being said, Fairfield lost only two games last year, it just happened that one of them was their conference championship game, keeping them out of the NCAA Tournament, so they’re probably not bad for their level. Quinnipiac wasn’t as good, but they still finished with a winning record. On an individual level, Devey was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week for her five goals.
Now, we’ll see UNC face some genuine tests, though. Next up is Arkansas on the road against a Razorbacks team that was ranked #10 preseason by the USC poll. Then comes a game against Michigan State, who was #7. That being said, if the first two games are any indication, UNC could very well be on their way towards an excellent season.
