CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – North Carolina men’s soccer will play its home opener on Friday at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts VCU in a non-conference match-up on Dorrance Field at Play2Dream Legacy Stadium. The Heels and Rams have met 13 times with Carolina holding a 9-2-2 advantage. This will be the first meeting between the two programs since they met in Chapel Hill in 2021, drawing 1-1. The Friday evening match is a Carolina Fever game with the first 500 students receiving a Heeligans koozie.

Game Info

Who: Carolina vs. VCU

Where: Chapel Hill, N.C. – Dorrance Field at Play2Dream Legacy Stadium

When: Friday, Aug. 28 – 7:30 p.m.

Tar Heel Tidbits


Carolina opened the 2026 season earning a 1-1 draw at No. 5 Georgetown last Thursday. The Heels then traveled to Memphis and fell 3-2 in what was a wild match that saw five goals in the first half and none in the second.
Head Coach Carlos Somoano is in his 16th season at the helm of Carolina soccer (25th overall). He holds a career record of 185-69-56.
Carolina opened the season in the ‘Others Receiving Votes’ category of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and was ranked No. 25 by TopDrawerSoccer.
Carolina’s transfer class of Nick Lockermann, Nico Loebus, Joschi Schelb and Ryan Zellefrow was ranked No. 2 by TopDrawerSoccer, while its incoming freshman class was ranked 14th.
Luca Nikolai was drafted by NYCFC, but made the decision to return to Carolina to finish off his college career leading the Tar Heels. He was a third-team All-South Region and second-team All-ACC selection last year.
Carolina had six players listed on the Hermann Trophy Watch Lists. Lockermann earned a spot with the defenders, while Evans Dapaah, Loebus, Nikolai, Schelb and Zellefrow were listed on the midfielders list, although Schelb will play as a forward this season.
After four years with Andrew Cordes in goal, Alan Rutkowski has taken over the goalkeeping duties. The Elmwood, N.J. native served as Cordes’ understudy last season after playing his club football with the New York Red Bulls. 

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