Tar Heel women win 2024-25 Capital One Cup

UNC women's soccer players celebrating as a group after national title on field. Players are wearing national championship T-shirts over their jerseys and hats, and one player is holding the trophy. — Carolina women’s soccer, which won its 23rd national championship in December, was one of four teams to contribute to the Tar Heels’ point total. (GoHeels)

Carolina is the winner of the 2024-25 Capital One Cup, awarded to the women’s athletics program that accumulated the most points in a combination of NCAA championships and major poll finishes.

Capital One will award Carolina $250,000 for athletic scholarships.

“We applaud the UNC Tar Heels women’s athletics program for an outstanding year of competition, marked by drive and resiliency,” said Stephanie Mosley, senior director of brand sponsorships and experiential marketing at Capital One. “We are proud to continue our Capital One Cup program, which has awarded over $5 million in student-athlete scholarship fund donations.”

Carolina edged Stanford and Texas to win the competition. Other top-10 finishers included Southern California, Northwestern, UCLA, Penn State, Connecticut, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Four teams contributed points toward the Tar Heels’ total: women’s lacrosse and women’s soccer, which finished first in their respective final polls; field hockey, which tied for third in the NCAA championship; and women’s tennis, which ranked fourth in the final poll.

Lacrosse went 22-0 and won head coach Jenny Levy’s and the program’s fourth NCAA championship with a 12-8 win over Northwestern in May.

Soccer beat Wake Forest, 1-0, in December to claim its 23rd national championship and the first under head coach Damon Nahas.

Field hockey, led by head coach Erin Matson, won its school-record 27th ACC championship and advanced to the Final Four for an unprecedented 28th time.

Women’s tennis won its second straight ACC title and 13th overall. Head coach Brian Kalbas’ Tar Heels competed in the national semifinals for the fifth time in the last six NCAA championships.

Fourteen of Carolina’s 15 women’s teams qualified for NCAA postseason play, securing two national championships, five top-10 finishes and 11 top-25 finishes.

This is the 14th year of the Capital One Cup. Carolina and the men’s winner, Ohio State, will be recognized July 16 during ESPN’s ESPY Awards, presented by Capital One. The ESPYs will air at 8 p.m. on ABC and be streamed on ESPN+.

Carolina is represented in three categories at the ESPYs. The women’s lacrosse team is on the ballot for Best Team. Chloe Humphrey, the most valuable player at the women’s lacrosse Final Four and national player of the year, is a nominee for Best Breakthrough Athlete. Kate Faasse, women’s soccer’s national player of the year, is a nominee for Best Collegiate Athlete – Women’s Sports.