Dec 2, 2022; Cary, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Anson Dorrance hugs Ally Sentnor (21) after the game at WakeMed Soccer Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Anson Dorrance’s Career as UNC Women’s Soccer Head Coach

Originally posted on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI
By Jeremiah Artacho | Last updated Aug 1, 2025 7:57 AM ET

Damon Nahas took over as the interim head coach of the UNC women's soccer team to the 2024 national championship where it met Wake Forest. By the end of the night on Monday, December 9, the Tar Heels were victorious, courtesy of then-sophomore Olivia Thomas' goal that sealed the deal, en route to a 1-0 final score.

However, before Coach Nahas had the keys and before officially becoming the head coach of the program, Anson Dorrance, the name of which the field in Chapel Hill is named after, spearheaded the program for years on end as the first ever head coach.

GoHeels told more about Dorrance's eventful career as the UNC women's soccer head coach:

"The 2024 season will mark Anson Dorrance’s 48th year as a head coach at UNC, including 46 seasons as the women’s head coach – the only head coach in program history.

A 1974 Carolina graduate, Dorrance has won a combined 1,106 games at his alma mater while coaching the men and women. Heading into the 2024 season, he owns a career record of 1,106-152-74, including a 934-88-53 mark as the women's head coach.

His 934 victories as head coach of the UNC women’s program are the most in the sport’s history.

He won his 1,000th game as a collegiate head coach, including 172 wins as UNC’s men’s head coach from 1977-88, when the Tar Heels defeated Ohio State on August 18, 2018. It was his 828th victory as the UNC women’s coach. Dorrance captured his 900th win as Carolina’s women’s coach against Notre Dame in the 2021 home finale on Oct. 24.

Dorrance was presented with the prestigious Werner Fricker Builder Award in 2016 from United States Soccer, given to an individual who has dedicated at least 20 years of service to the sport, working to establish a lasting legacy in the history and structure of soccer in the United States.

He was inducted in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in August 2008 on the “Builders of the Game” ballot, being inducted in his first year of eligibility.

In 2012, Dorrance led Carolina to its 20thNCAA Championship, making him the first coach in NCAA history to win 20 NCAA championships in a single sport. He is the all-time leader in Division I NCAA championships in any sport and tied for second across all NCAA divisions in all-time titles with 21.

Dorrance is now retired after his tenured career in the sport of soccer, women's at that, and he has left a lasting impact which lives within the walls of the field, inside the locker room, and it is up to Coach Nahas to now continue the success in his own way. Fortunately, he is off to a positive start, to say the leas

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This article first appeared on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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