2025 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer season

2025 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportSoccer
DurationAugust 17, 2025 – October 30, 2025
Number of teams17
Regular season
Season MVPOffensive:
Midfielder:
Defensive:
Tournament
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
Boston College  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 2 – 0 – 0   1.000
No. 3 Florida State  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 2 – 0 – 0   1.000
Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 2 – 0 – 0   1.000
No. 2 Stanford  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 2 – 0 – 0   1.000
No. 15 Virginia Tech  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 2 – 0 – 0   1.000
No. 10 Wake Forest  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 2 – 0 – 0   1.000
No. 1 Duke  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 0 – 0   1.000
No. 17 Virginia  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 0 – 0   1.000
California  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 0 – 1   .750
Clemson  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 0 – 1   .750
No. 7т Notre Dame  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 0 – 1   .750
Louisville  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 1 – 0   .500
Miami (FL)  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 1 – 0   .500
No. 12 North Carolina  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 1 – 0   .500
SMU  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 1 – 0   .500
Syracuse  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 1 – 1 – 0   .500
NC State  ‍‍‍ 0 – 0 – 0   – 0 – 1 – 1   .250
† – Conference champion
‡ – 2025 ACC Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament
As of August 19, 2025
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll
Source: The ACC

The 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer season will be the 36th season of women's varsity soccer in the conference. The season will begin in August. Conference play will begin in September and conclude in October. The 2025 ACC women's soccer tournament will be held from November 2 through November 9 at campus sites and at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.[1]

The Duke Blue Devils finished as regular season champions with a record of 9–0–1. They were unable to prevail in the ACC tournament as third-seed Florida State are the defending tournament champions. North Carolina prevailed over Wake Forest in the NCAA tournament final.[2] This was the second straight year and third time in the last four years a team from the ACC has won the National Title.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

1. ^ Georgia Tech does not sponsor women's soccer

Coaches

Head coaching changes

Two ACC teams entered the season with four new coaches:

  • Duke head coach Robbie Church retired after twenty-four season as head coach of the program.[3] Kieran Hall was hired as his replacement in January 2025.[4]
  • NC State head coach Tim Santoro was fired after twelve seasons in charge of the program on November 8, 2024.[5] Garry Higgins was hired from East Carolina to be the new head coach on December 12, 2024.[6]
  • Damon Nahas was made the permanent head coach at North Carolina after serving in an interim role during the 2024 season.[7]
  • Randy Waldrum was elevated to Technical Director of the Pittsburgh Panthers program on May 22, 2025. Ben Waldrum was promoted from associate head coach to head coach on the same day.[8]

Head coaching records

Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school ACC record
Boston College Chris Watkins 2 91–38–18 12–5–2 4–4–2
California Neil McGuire 19 235–180–49 191–111–43 5–4–1
Clemson Eddie Radwanski 15 288–154–51 149–89–37 63–64–14
Duke Kieran Hall 1 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0
Florida State Brian Pensky 4 239–116–53 54–5–8 24–4–2
Louisville Karen Ferguson-Dayes 24 211–198–51 211–198–51 38–55–16
Miami Ken Masuhr 2 5–8–4 5–8–4 1–6–3
North Carolina Damon Nahas 1 22–5–0 22–5–0 7–3–0
NC State Gary Higgins 1 110–48–28 0–0–0 0–0–0
Notre Dame Nate Norman 8 140–77–29 82–42–16 38–21–6
Pittsburgh Ben Waldrum 1 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0
SMU Nicole Nelson 4 27–19–8 27–19–8 2–6–2
Stanford Paul Ratcliffe 23 447–106–48 392–62–41 5–4–1
Syracuse Nicky Adams 7 105–73–31 24–61–10 3–48–6
Virginia Steve Swanson 25 488–176–74 384–113–63 152–56–29
Virginia Tech Charles Adair 15 169–89–30 169–89–30 65–59–18
Wake Forest Tony da Luz 28 364–241–64 319–200–62 110–120–29

Notes

  • Records shown are prior to the 2025 season
  • Years at school includes the 2025 season

Pre-season

Hermann Trophy Watchlist

The Hermann Trophy preseason watchlist was released on August 14, 2025. Nine ACC players were selected the preseason watchlist, including the winner of the 2024 award, Kate Faasse.[9]

Player Class Position School
Mia Bhuta Junior MF Stanford
Tessa Dellarose Senior MF North Carolina
Jordynn Dudley Junior MF Florida State
Izzy Engle Sophomore FW Notre Dame
Kate Faasse Senior FW North Carolina
Heather Gilchrist Senior DF Florida State
Leah Klenke Senior DF Notre Dame
Cameron Roller Junior DF Duke
Mia Oliaro Junior FW Duke

Pre-season poll

The pre-season poll and pre-season all conference teams were voted on by the league's 17 head coaches. The results of the poll were released on August 7, prior to the season starting.

Pre-season Coaches Poll

Predicted finish Team Points (1st place)
1 North Carolina 246 (10)
2 Notre Dame 229 (2)
3 Florida State 225 (4)
4 Duke 208
5 Standford 201
6 Wake Forest 172
7 Virginia 169 (1)
8 Virginia Tech 162
9 Clemson 132
10 California 124
11 Pittsburgh 111
12 SMU 83
13 Boston College 81
14 Louisville 67
15 Miami 44
16 NC State 40
17 Syracuse 18

Source:[10]

Pre-season All-ACC Team

Position Player Class School
Goalkeeper Teagan Wy Senior California
Defender Heather Gilchrist Florida State
Leah Klenke Notre Dame
Cameron Roller Junior Duke
Midfielder Tessa Dellarose Senior North Carolina
Mia Oliaro Junior Duke
Linda Ullmark Sophomore North Carolina
Forward Maggie Cagle Senior Virginia
Jordynn Dudley Junior Florida State
Izzy Engle Sophomore Notre Dame
Kate Faasse Senior North Carolina
Andrea Kitahata Redshirt Senior Standford
Mia Minestrella Junior Duke
Olivia Thomas North Carolina

Source:[10]

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 College California Clemson Duke Florida State Louisville Miami North Carolina NC State Notre Dame Pittsburgh SMU Stanford Syracuse Virginia Virginia Tech Wake Forest
vs. Boston College – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. California 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Clemson 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Duke 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Florida State 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Louisville 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Miami 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. North Carolina 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. NC State 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Notre Dame 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Pittsburgh 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. SMU 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Stanford 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Syracuse 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Virginia 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0
vs. Virginia Tech 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0
vs. Wake Forest 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 –
Total 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–0

× – Matchup not played in 2025

Rankings

Main article: 2025 NCAA Division I women's soccer rankings
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
 Wk 12
 Wk 13
 Wk 14
 Wk 15
 Wk 16
 Final
Boston College USC Not released
TDS
California USC RV Not released
TDS
Clemson USC RV RV Not released
TDS
Duke USC 4 1 (3) Not released
TDS 5 3
Florida State USC 3 3 (2) Not released
TDS 4 2
Louisville USC Not released
TDS
Miami USC Not released
TDS
NC State USC Not released
TDS
North Carolina USC 1 (8) 12 Not released
TDS 1 6
Notre Dame USC 2 7т Not released
TDS 3 8
Pittsburgh USC Not released
TDS
SMU USC Not released
TDS
Stanford USC 7 2 (3) Not released
TDS 2 1
Syracuse USC Not released
TDS
Virginia USC 15 17 Not released
TDS 24
Virginia Tech USC 14 15 Not released
TDS 10 9
Wake Forest USC 10 10 Not released
TDS 18 17

Players of the Week

Week Date Awarded Offensive Player of the week Defensive Player of the week Reference
1 August 19 Mia Minestrella – Duke Elise Evans – Stanford [11]
Valentina Amaral – Wake Forest

Postseason

ACC Tournament

Semifinals Final
      
 
 
 
 
 
 

NCAA tournament

Seed School Region 1st Round 2nd Round Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship
W–L (%): 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) Total: 0–0–0 (–)

Awards and honors

ACC Awards

2025 ACC Women's Soccer Individual Awards
Award Recipient(s)
Coach of the Year
Offensive Player of the Year
Midfielder of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Goalkeeper of the Year
Freshman of the Year
2025 ACC Women's Soccer All-Conference Teams
First Team Second Team Third Team All-Freshman Team

All-Americans

2025 United Soccer Coaches All-Americans
First Team Second Team Third Team Fourth Team

References

  1. ^ "Sites and Dates Announced for 2025-26 ACC Championships". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. July 2, 2025. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  2. ^ "North Carolina beats Wake Forest to win Women's College Cup". ESPN. Associated Press. December 9, 2024. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  3. ^ Howell, Maria (November 16, 2024). "How Duke women's soccer delivered a comeback season in coach Robbie Church's last dance". ncaa.com. NCAA. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  4. ^ "Duke Selects Kieran Hall As Next Head Women's Soccer Coach". collegiatesportsassociates.com. Collegiate Sports Associates. June 25, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  5. ^ "NC State women's soccer program parts ways with head coach Tim Santoro". soccerwire.com. Soccer Wire. November 12, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  6. ^ "HIGGINS NAMED HEAD COACH FOR WOMEN'S SOCCER". gopack.com. NC State University Athletics. December 12, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  7. ^ Swanson, Shelby (December 8, 2024). "UNC women's soccer coach draws praise in leading Tar Heels back to national title game". The News & Observer. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  8. ^ "Pitt's Ben Waldrum elevated to women's soccer head coach". Yahoo!Sports. The Tribune-Democrat. May 22, 2025. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  9. ^ Wilburn, Sarah (August 14, 2025). "2025 Women's Hermann Trophy Watch List Announced". United Soccer Coaches. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  10. ^ a b "North Carolina Selected 2025 ACC Women's Soccer Preseason Favorite". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 7, 2025. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
  11. ^ "ACC Announces Women's Soccer Player of Week Honors". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 19, 2025. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
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