2023 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer season

The 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer season was the 35th season of women's varsity soccer in the conference.

North Carolina and were Florida State the defending regular season champions. Florida State was the defending ACC tournament champions.

Florida State successfully defended its regular season and ACC tournament title. They finished 9–0–1 in ACC play and won both of their games in the ACC Tournament. Florida State would go on to win the national championship, and complete an undefeated season. They were the first team to finish undefeated since Stanford in 2011.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Team Stadium Capacity Boston College Eagles Newton Soccer Complex 1,800 Clemson Tigers Riggs Field 6,500 Duke Blue Devils Koskinen Stadium 7,000 Florida State Seminoles Seminole Soccer Complex 2,000 Louisville Cardinals Lynn Stadium 5,300 Miami Hurricanes Cobb Stadium 500 NC State Dail Soccer Field 3,000 North Carolina Tar Heels Dorrance Field 4,200 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Alumni Stadium 2,500 Pittsburgh Panthers Ambrose Urbanic Field 735 Syracuse Orange SU Soccer Stadium 1,500 Virginia Cavaliers Klöckner Stadium 7,100 Virginia Tech Hokies Thompson Field 2,500 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Spry Stadium 3,000

1. Georgia Tech does not sponsor women's soccer

Coaches

Head coaching records

Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school ACC record Boston College Jason Lowe 5 23–36–9 23–36–9 4–31–3 Clemson Eddie Radwanski 13 264–142–43 125–77–30 54–55–12 Duke Robbie Church 23 375–189–74 287–140–63 110–65–36 Florida State Brian Pensky 2 202–114–48 17–3–3 8–2–0 Louisville Karen Ferguson-Dayes 22 200–183–41 200–183–41 33–45–11 Miami Sarah Barnes 6 81–90–23 21–49–9 8–37–3 North Carolina Anson Dorrance 45 883–78–42 883–78–42 221–30–13 NC State Tim Santoro 11 83–89–23 83–89–23 25–58–10 Notre Dame Nate Norman 6 114–69–21 56–34–7 26–19–1 Pittsburgh Randy Waldrum 6 444–147–36 45–39–7 21–35–4 Syracuse Nicky Adams 5 103–92–29 16–37–6 3–30–4 Virginia Steve Swanson 23 467–168–67 363–105–56 144–48–25 Virginia Tech Charles Adair 13 148–75–24 148–75–24 55–51–16 Wake Forest Tony da Luz 26 338–234–55 293–193–53 99–116–24

Notes Records shown are prior to the 2023 season Years at school includes the 2023 season

Pre-season

Hermann Trophy Watchlist

The Hermann Trophy preseason watchlist was released on the first day of the season August 17, 2023.

Player Class Position School Megan Bornkamp Junior DF Clemson Jody Brown Senior FW Florida State Leah Freeman GK Duke Eva Gaetino DF Notre Dame Lia Godfrey MF Virginia Taylor Huff Junior Florida State Sam Meza Senior North Carolina Cristina Roque GK Florida State

Pre-season poll

The pre-season poll and pre-season all conference teams were voted on by the league's 14 head coaches. The results of the poll were released on August 10, 2023.

Pre-season Coaches Poll

1 North Carolina 166 (10) 2 Florida State 146 (2) 3 Virginia 139 (1) 4 Notre Dame 134 5 Duke 126 (1) 6 Clemson 104 7 Pittsburgh 103 8 Wake Forest 87 9 Virginia Tech 81 10 NC State 62 11 Louisville 47 12 Syracuse 35 13 Miami 24 14 Boston College 20

Source:

Pre-season All-ACC Team Position Player Class School Goalkeeper Cristina Roque Senior Florida State Defender Maycee Bell North Carolina Megan Bornkamp Clemson Eva Gaetino Notre Dame Midfielder Hal Hershfelt Graduate Student Clemson Sam Meza Senior North Carolina Ally Sentnor Sophomore Forward Jody Brown Senior Florida State Maggie Cagle Sophomore Virginia Jameese Joseph Senior NC State Kat Rader Sophomore Duke Amanda West Graduate Student Pittsburgh

Source:

Regular season

Conference Matrix

The table below shows head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team plays ten matches. Each team does not play every other team.   Boston CollegeClemsonDukeFlorida StateLouisvilleMiamiNorth CarolinaNC StateNotre DamePittsburghSyracuseVirginiaVirginia TechWake Forestvs. Boston College – 2–0 2–0 6–0 1–1 DNP 1–1 DNP 3–1 2–0 DNP 1–1 2–1 1–1vs. Clemson 0–2 – 0–1 4–2 0–3 0–5 DNP DNP 2–0 0–1 1–5 1–1 0–1 DNPvs. Duke 0–2 1–0 – 4–0 1–0 DNP 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–1 DNP 1–1 0–1 DNPvs. Florida State 0–6 2–4 0–4 – 0–2 0–2 3–3 0–5 1–4 2–3 2–3 DNP DNP DNPvs. Louisville 1–1 3–0 0–1 2–0 – 1–0 DNP DNP 3–0 2–3 1–2 1–1 DNP 1–0vs. Miami DNP 5–0 DNP 2–0 0–1 – 1–0 0–0 7–2 DNP 1–2 1–0 3–0 2–0vs. North Carolina 1–1 DNP 1–1 3–3 DNP 0–1 – 0–4 1–1 DNP 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–1vs. NC State DNP DNP 0–0 5–0 DNP 0–0 4–0 – 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–2 4–1 1–1vs. Notre Dame 1–3 0–2 1–2 4–1 0–3 2–7 1–1 0–1 – 1–1 DNP DNP DNP 1–3vs. Pittsburgh 0–2 1–0 1–2 3–2 3–2 DNP DNP 0–2 1–1 – 0–6 DNP 1–2 1–4vs. Syracuse DNP 5–1 DNP 3–2 2–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 DNP 6–0 – 4–0 4–0 2–2vs. Virginia 1–1 1–1 1–1 DNP 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–1 DNP DNP 0–4 – 0–3 2–0vs. Virginia Tech 1–2 1–0 1–0 DNP DNP 0–3 1–0 1–4 DNP 2–1 0–4 3–0 – 2–0vs. Wake Forest 1–1 DNP DNP DNP 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 3–1 4–1 2–2 0–2 0–2 –Total 0–6–4 7–2–1 2–5–3 9–0–1 3–5–2 2–7–1 5–0–5 2–5–3 7–1–2 6–3–1 0–9–1 3–3–4 4–6–0 4–2–4

Rankings

United Soccer + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week

  Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Final Boston College Clemson 25 19 11 9 8 8 8 9 7 8 8 7 3Duke 4 4 10 14 15 16 17 22 23 RV 25т Florida State 6 2 2 5 4 3 (1) 2 2 1 (8) 1 (7) 1 (8) 1 (8) 1 (8)Louisville Miami North Carolina 2 3 4 3 2 1 (7) 1 (8) 1 (8) 3 3 3 13 8NC State RV Notre Dame 3 12 15 11 13 10 10 11 11 12 11 9 16 Pittsburgh 14 21 21 22 RV RV RV 17 18 20 11 6 Syracuse Virginia 5 5 12 18 20 22 Virginia Tech RV RV RV Wake Forest RV RV 25 17 RV RV 25

Top Drawer Soccer + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week   Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Final Boston College Clemson 14 16 9 8 12 10 6 9 5 4 3 3 3Duke 8 7 10 12 8 7 19 Florida State 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Louisville Miami North Carolina 2 3 5 5 4 3 2 2 4 7 8 14 12 11 6 6 6NC State Notre Dame 7 10 11 8 16 12 11 11 10 12 9 6 7 6 17 17 17 Pittsburgh 15 14 13 11 15 11 18 14 11 9 13 10 9 8 5 5 5 Syracuse Virginia 6 6 7 7 10 15 Virginia Tech Wake Forest 25

Players of the Week

Week Offensive Player of the week Defensive Player of the week Reference Week 1 – August 22 Taylor Huff – Florida State Savy King – North Carolina Week 2 – August 29 Sarah Schupansky – Pittsburgh Sam Meza – North Carolina Week 3 – September 5 Meredith McDermott – Virginia Savy King (2) – North Carolina Week 4 – September 12 Avery Patterson – North Carolina Halle Mackiewicz – Clemson Week 5 – September 19 Carina Lageyre – Duke Maycee Bell – North Carolina Week 6 – September 26 Ally Sentnor – North Carolina Mackenzie Duff – Clemson Week 7 – October 3 Kiki Van Zanten – Notre Dame Laurel Ansbrow – Wake Forest Week 8 – October 10 Ellie Ospeck – Notre Dame Ran Iwai – Florida State Week 9 – October 17 Onyi Echegini – Florida State Makenna Morris – Clemson Week 10 – October 24 Renee Lyles – Clemson Makenna Morris (2) – Clemson Onyi Echegini (2) – Florida State Week 11 – October 31 Emma Hiscock – Louisville Lauren Flynn – Florida State

Postseason

ACC Tournament

NCAA tournament

Seed School Region 1st Round 2nd Round Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship 1 Florida State Florida State W 5–0 vs. – (Tallahassee, FL) W 1–0 vs. – (Tallahassee, FL) W 5–0 vs. – (Tallahassee, FL) W 3–0 vs. No. 11 Pittsburgh – (Tallahassee, FL) W 2–0 vs. No. 7 Clemson – (Cary, NC) W 5–1 vs. No. 3 – (Cary, NC) 1 Clemson Clemson W 2–0 vs. – (Clemson, SC) W 2–1 vs. – (Clemson, SC) T 1–1 (5–3 PKs) vs. – (Clemson, SC) W 2–1 vs. No. 5 – (Clemson, SC) L 0–2 vs. No. 1 Florida State – (Cary, NC) 3 North Carolina BYU W 3–1 vs. – (Chapel Hill, NC) W 1–0 vs. No. 24 – (Lubbock, TX) W 1–0 @ No. 4 – (Lubbock, TX) L 3–4 @ No. 6 BYU – (Provo, UT) 3 Notre Dame Florida State W 2–0 vs. – (Notre Dame, IN) L 2–3 vs. No. 8 – (Fayetteville, AR) 7 Pittsburgh Florida State W 6–0 vs. – (Pittsburgh, PA) W 4–3 @ No. 10 – (Fayetteville, AR) W 3–0 vs No. 8 – (Fayetteville, AR) L 0–3 vs. No. 1 Florida State – (Tallahassee, FL) W–L (%): Total:

Awards and honors

Conference end of season awards were released on November 1, 2023, prior to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. Onyi Echegini was named Offensive Player of the Year, Eva Gaetino won Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row, and Brian Pensky was named Coach of the Year. A full list of award winners and All-ACC Teams is shown below.

ACC Awards

2023 ACC Women's Soccer Individual Awards Award Recipient(s) Coach of the Year Brian Pensky – Florida State Offensive Player of the Year Onyi Echegini – Florida State Midfielder of the Year Ally Sentnor – North Carolina Defensive Player of the Year Eva Gaetino – Notre Dame Goalkeeper of the Year Halle Mackiewicz – Clemson Freshman of the Year Jordynn Dudley – Florida State

2023 ACC Women's Soccer All-Conference Teams First Team Second Team Third Team All-Freshman TeamHal Hershfelt – Clemson Halle Mackiewicz – Clemson Makenna Morris – Clemson Jody Brown – Florida State Jordynn Dudley – Florida State Onyi Echegini – Florida State Avery Patterson – North Carolina Ally Sentnor – North Carolina Eva Gaetino – Notre Dame Kiki Van Zanten – Notre Dame Sarah Schupansky – PittsburghKat Rader – Duke Taylor Huff – Florida State Leilanni Nesbeth – Florida State Cristina Roque – Florida State Maycee Bell – North Carolina Savy King – North Carolina Sam Meza – North Carolina Leah Klenke – Notre Dame Maddie Mercado – Notre Dame Amanda West – Pittsburgh Maggie Cagle – Virginia Caiya Hanks – Wake ForestMegan Bornkamp – Clemson Caroline Conti – Clemson Harper White – Clemson Leah Freeman – Duke Beata Olsson – Florida State Lucy Roberts – Louisville Jameese Joseph – NC State Deborah Abiodun – Pittsburgh Landy Mertz – Pittsburgh Samiah Phiri – Pittsburgh Natalie Mitchell – Virginia TechDani Davis – Clemson Tatum Short – Clemson Jenna Tobia – Clemson Cameron Roller – Duke Jordynn Dudley – Florida State Mimi Van Zanten – Florida State Savy King – North Carolina Evelyn Shores – North Carolina Deborah Abiodun – Pittsburgh Charlie Codd – Notre Dame Morgan Roy – Notre Dame Yuna McCormack – Virginia Dempsey Brown – Wake Forest

All-Americans 2023 United Soccer Coaches All-Americans First Team Second Team Third Team Eva Gaetino – Notre Dame Onyi Echegini – Florida State Jordynn Dudley – Florida StateHalle Mackiewicz – Clemson Makenna Morris – Clemson Taylor Huff – Florida State Jody Brown – Florida StateCristina Roque – Florida State Ally Sentnor – North Carolina Avery Patterson – North Carolina

2024 NWSL Draft

The ACC had a conference record nineteen players drafted in the 2024 NWSL Draft. They had the top two picks selected, three of the top five picks, and six overall first round selections. Seven different schools had players selected in the draft.

FW Forward MF Midfielder DF Defender GK Goalkeeper Player Team Round Pick # Position School Ally Sentnor Utah Royals 1 1 MF North Carolina Savy King Bay FC 1 2 DF North Carolina Hal Hershfelt Washington Spirit 1 5 MF Clemson Leilanni Nesbeth Chicago Red Stars 1 10 MF Florida State Makenna Morris Washington Spirit 1 13 DF Clemson Maycee Bell NJ/NY Gotham FC 1 14 DF North Carolina Jameese Joseph Chicago Red Stars 2 15 FW NC State Lauren Flynn Utah Royals 2 16 DF Florida State Sam Meza Seattle Reign FC 2 17 MF North Carolina Avery Patterson Houston Dash 2 19 FW North Carolina Kiki Van Zanten Houston Dash 2 21 FW Notre Dame Natalia Staude North Carolina Courage 2 24 DF Virginia Maddie Mercado Seattle Reign FC 2 27 FW Notre Dame Halle Mackiewicz Kansas City Current 3 32 GK Clemson Cristina Roque Utah Royals 3 33 GK Florida State Caroline Conti Bay FC 3 34 MF Clemson Amanda West Houston Dash 3 36 FW Pittsburgh Julia Dorsey North Carolina Courage 3 40 DF North Carolina Landy Mertz North Carolina Courage 4 52 FW Pittsburgh

References