'Phenomenal': Bella Sember and Tessa Dellarose set tone for UNC women's soccer

Damon Nahas isn't surprised by much. 

But since the interim head coach took the reins of the UNC women's soccer team — leading them to a 6-0 start, the best starting record through six games since 2021 — one thing has shocked him: how fast his players have come together. 

“Until you get them together, you just don't know,” Nahas said. “They have been extremely coachable. They've been fun to be around. They work.”

On Sunday, with 10 new starters and a different back line, No. 5 UNC put its chemistry on display in its 2-0 victory over Seton Hall. Through well-timed passes that allowed the Tar Heels to dominate possession, North Carolina worked as a unit, outshooting the Pirates 23-6. Following goals from junior defender Tessa Dellarose and senior midfielder Bella Sember, UNC earned its third straight shutout win at Dorrance Field. 

And while Nahas sees areas his team could clean up, he owes this early season success to two players: Sember and Dellarose. 

“They were two of the players that really kind of corralled the young ones,” Nahas said. 

After losing 21 players from the 2023 roster, Sember and Dellarose were thrust into their co-captain roles.

Although both players have been at UNC for their entire collegiate careers, they started just four games combined last season. Among the both of them, Sember and Dellarose only recorded four goals during last year's campaign. 

But even with the atypical stat line to accompany captains, they crafted a mission in June as two of the more experienced players on the team: to balance the rigidity of the UNC women's program with an emphasis on integration.

During the summer, after strenuous workouts and practices, Sember and Dellarose proposed team-wide dinners and hangouts. Nahas said the duo ensured newcomers never felt out of place. 

By July, earlier than anyone imagined, the Tar Heels began to develop chemistry. 

“I think something that has surprised me is just how connected that we have all gotten so quickly,” Sember said. “We've only had a short amount of time to kind of build that bond and grow together. We're so close to each other off the field, and we just love each other so much that it shows on the field.”

Even with the retirement of former head coach Anson Dorrance four days before the start of the season and falling behind Colorado 2-1 in the 74th minute earlier in August, the Tar Heels have developed a perseverance that has carried them through their perfect start. 

Sure, this grit has been built into the program by Dorrance, but this season's never-give-up mentality is different. Through roster turnover, role changes and coaching shifts, every player, no matter the experience, has been challenged to take on a bigger role. 

“[We've overcome] a lot of different things,” Dellarose said. “Being down a goal, this and that, so [we] always make sure that we're confident in ourselves and bouncing back.”

And through the togetherness that Sember and Dellarose have curated, North Carolina has morphed into a cohesive unit. 

In Sunday's game, with the task of cleaning up anything that came her way on a corner kick, Dellarose stood near the left corner of Seton Hall's goal.

She watched the ball go over junior midfielder Kate Faasse's head and worked to get a body part on the ball. Initially blocked by a Pirate defender, Dellarose rebounded, extending her foot to send it just far enough to roll over the line. Goal North Carolina. 

Building on the momentum in the second period, Sember worked her way into the box, looking to pass to Faasse. After a Seton Hall defender closed the lane down, the senior brought it back to her left foot to hit it into the back of the net. 2-0 lead cemented. 

Through their six starts, both goal scorers have already matched their stats from last season. Dellarose's eight points in 2024 double that of 2023. Sember's three goals equal her total goals from last year. 

And as the season continues and the Tar Heels become even closer, Dellarose and Sember will continue to be at the heart of it all. 

“[They] have kind of set the tone for who we wanted to be, not even soccer wise, just as human beings,” Nahas said. “They deserve all the success they're getting right now. They've been phenomenal.”

@_emmahmoon

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