Summary

• UNC Women’s Soccer enters a new era in 2025 with a young, talented core—65% of the roster are underclassmen
• Sophomores like Linda Ullmark, Bella Gaetino, and Aven Alvarez and veterans like Kate Faasse and Olivia Thomas are poised to lead the team.

The University of North Carolina women’s soccer team is entering 2025 with a very young core and a fresh new identity—after decades under Head Coach Anson Dorrance and a turbulent couple of seasons.

Dorrance, who had built the Tar Heels into a powerhouse over several decades, retired in August 2024 just weeks before a new season began, along with three assistant coaches. Twenty-one players left the team—nearly 75% of the roster—including nine who transferred and three rookies who opted to go pro. And last season’s winning team again faces losing several players to graduation, the pros or the transfer portal.

But with a promising group of underclassmen, the team is rebuilding from a position of strength. Ten sophomores and seven freshmen make up a staggering 65% of the 26-player roster. For a program long defined by dominance, continuity, and the winningest coach in NCAA history, these changes mark a sharp turning point. Now, the 2025 season signals a moment to solidify North Carolina’s new identity.

Leading the charge is sophomore Linda Ullmark, who entered college ranked No. 6 in her class and wasted no time living up to it. She was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Freshman Best XI first team and the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament team last year and was one of just five Tar Heels to start all 27 matches of the season. Her five assists were second-best on the team and marked her as a critical piece of the midfield moving forward.

Bella Gaetino is another sophomore on the tail end of a summer before her highly anticipated second season with North Carolina. Her stellar defensive presence during year one solidified her spot on the 2024 ACC All-Freshman team, and she also made Top Drawer Soccer’s Freshman Best XI second team. With a demonstrated defensive wisdom beyond her years, Gaetino was instrumental in UNC’s championship run, playing all but eight minutes during the NCAA tournament.

As a go-to player off the bench last year, sophomore Aven Alvarez played in every match last season and even started 13, earning trust as a reliable option on the backline. Her experience with multiple U.S. Youth National Teams, where she won a bronze medal with the U-19 team at the 2023 Pan American Games and earned a call-up to the U-20 camp in July 2024, suggests she may cement herself permanently in the starting lineup this season.

Among the newcomers, the Utah duo of Bella Devey and Hope Munson bring both talent and familiarity. Devey, a prolific high school forward, tallied 50 goals and 36 assists while leading her team to back-to-back state championships as a junior and senior. She was the 2023 Utah Girls Soccer Player of the Year and has participated in multiple U.S. Youth National Team camps. Despite her young age, her clear leadership abilities as a high schooler will help her transition to the college game and likely make her an option as a starter up top.

Munson, a freshman defender and Devey’s club teammate with Utah Avalanche, boasts national team camp experience of her own. She was also named to the ECNL National Training Camp Best XI and played in the ECNL National Selection Game. The pair’s time together from club soccer could offer UNC a unique edge as they bring their chemistry into the college game and potentially the starting lineup.

With Mac Hermann Trophy winner Kate Faasse returning for her senior season alongside standout veteran forward Olivia Thomas, an experienced leadership will be balanced by an eager group of youngsters looking to bring home a second consecutive national title.

What They’re Building After

Until last year, Dorrance had coached all 21 of UNC’s national championship teams. And he wasn’t just successful at the collegiate level, leading the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team for eight years, including to its first Women’s World Cup victory, in 1991. Naturally, his departure created questions as to whether North Carolina’s legacy would continue, especially when players left too.

Among the departures were midfielders Kai Hayes and Melina Rebimbas and forward Mia Oliaro; the latter two ranked in the top 20 of the 2023 recruiting class. First-year defender Savy King and All-American midfielder Ally Sentnor also bypassed the college game to begin their pro campaigns early, a move that proved to be a smart choice as both have since joined the senior U.S. Women's National Team player pool.

Such a large roster turnover would normally result in an off year. Instead, UNC won another championship.

A New Normal: Turnover and Transfers

Last year’s win was the team’s first NCAA title since 2012, and Damon Nahas, hired as Interim Head Coach, was soon given the full title. That championship was the program’s 22nd overall and the first not won under Dorrance. The Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest 1-0 in the title match; it was a feat that few could have predicted just months earlier.

Still, the challenges facing college programs like UNC are far from over. The transfer portal is now unrestricted in terms of eligibility and has redefined roster building across all NCAA sports. As of last year, a player can enter the transfer portal as many times as they want without sacrificing any eligibility, whereas previously, a transfer would cost a year of sitting out unless an athlete got a waiver. It’s not uncommon now for players to enter the portal multiple times over the course of their college career, a shift that has created both opportunity and instability for top teams.

Complicating matters even more is the rise of early professionalization. In 2025, a growing number of National Women’s Soccer League players are under the age of 22, including recent UNC alumni like King and Sentnor, as well as teenagers Alex Pfeiffer and Melina Rebimbas. The possibility of signing professional contracts has become normalized, with athletes recognizing the opportunity to grow their game even faster in a professional environment while also gaining national team exposure. Compare this to just four years ago when Olivia Moultrie became the first teenager to sign with the NWSL, and national team players Mallory Swanson and Lindsey Heaps were still the only stars to have skipped out on the college soccer experience.

Despite the turnover, expectations are rising once again in Chapel Hill. With a settled staff and a clearer path forward, the Tar Heels are ready to prove that success is still their standard in 2025.

The team will move forward this season without Evelyn Shores and Maddie Dahlien, who signed with Angel City FC and Seattle Reign respectively and forewent their final years of NCAA eligibility. Shores, who scored a game-winning goal for the U.S. U-23 national team against Germany this summer, is one of several young stars who saw professional opportunities too valuable to wait for. Dahlien has already had notable success as a pro, notching 3 goals and 2 assists as a member of the Reign this season.

As Faasse, Thomas and the next generation of bright underclassmen take the field this fall, they carry with them the pressure of the past and the promise of a new beginning. And for the first time in over 40 years, the future of UNC women’s soccer won’t be written by Anson Dorrance. It will be written by those who came after and those who chose to stay.