When UNC needed a savior, Chloe Humphrey delivered. What else is new?
Syracuse contained North Carolina to just five first-half goals. But in the final 30 minutes, Chloe Humphrey ended SU's upset bid with three points. Eli Schwartz | Asst. Photo Editor
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Chloe Humphrey does things at her own pace. When North Carolina’s offense has possession, all eyes turn to the sophomore cutting toward the eight-meter arc. When one of its defenders is pushing upfield, fans shift to see where No. 2 is positioned.
And when Humphrey is late to a postgame press conference, as she was Friday, questions come to a halt. As soon as she sits down, reporters begin firing off again.
If Humphrey’s not there, North Carolina probably doesn’t go 22-0 last season en route to its fourth national title. If she’s not there, there would still be zero freshmen who have ever won the Tewaaraton Award. And if she wasn’t on the JMA Wireless Dome turf Friday, UNC likely suffers its first loss in 24 games, dating back to May 10, 2024.
But Humphrey was, and despite a slow first half, she became hard to miss in the second. The sophomore attack picked up five points and a hat trick, scoring two of her goals in the final 30 minutes to build No. 1 UNC (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) out of an unfamiliar hole and lift it to a 13-9 victory over No. 14 Syracuse (0-2, 0-1 ACC).
As the quarterback of North Carolina’s offense, there have been few times Humphrey doesn’t come through. She opened her season with seven points against James Madison, and has probably given SU head coach Regy Thorpe nightmares over the past few months after eliminating his Florida squad in the Final Four with a seven-goal performance.
Last season, paired with her sister, Ashley Humphrey, the two were a menacing duo. Now on her own, Humphrey is the one who’s called upon when UNC needs a savior.
“She’s a huge factor in that offense,” SU goalie Daniella Guyette said of Humphrey. “She’s gonna draw a lot of attention. But then, (North Carolina’s) offense is so multifaceted where anyone can really score.”
That’s the problem. Humphrey would be the best player on every other team in the country. And she’s surrounded by players who could say the same.
Kate Levy’s performance Friday (three goals, two assists) will go overlooked because Humphrey was on the same field. No one will mention Betty Nelson’s putrid 30.8% save percentage because Humphrey bailed her out.
Everyone focuses on Humphrey guiding North Carolina to the nation’s top scoring offense (17.45 goals per game) in 2025, and rarely calls on Sam Forrest, who led a stifling Tar Heels defense to the No. 1 rank in the country. In that regard, Syracuse is no different.
“She’s tough. She’s gritty. She can beat you off the dribble, off the dodge,” Thorpe said of Humphrey Wednesday. “She just pushes and pushes and pushes in transition, so we certainly gotta keep an eye on her and play inside out on her.”
Chloe Humphrey was the Tewaaraton Award winner, a First-Team All-American and the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in North Carolina’s run to the national championship last season. Eli Schwartz | Asst. Photo Editor
SU limited Humphrey as much as it could have early. She was without a point in the first 15 minutes — with three missed shots and a turnover — spurring Syracuse’s 3-1 lead. It was both SU’s first advantage of the year and the Tar Heels’ first deficit.
The Orange were loving it. Why wouldn’t they?
“There’s only so much I can do. And heck, if I can get a piece on it, I’m gonna do a cartwheel. I’m gonna celebrate that whatever way I can,” Guyette said.
Syracuse defender Kaci Benoit attended Darien High School (Connecticut) with Humphrey, and Humphrey said their dads, who are still close friends, sat together to watch Friday’s duel.
Because of Benoit’s experience, she was SU’s best option at keeping Humphrey quiet. But even she knows it’s a near-impossible task. All she told her team throughout the week was, “It’s gonna be a good fight all around.”
Coco Vandiver touched on how Humphrey is growing the women’s game, but reiterated that North Carolina has more than one good player. At the time, it looked like a statement Syracuse couldn’t back up. Instead, it shut her out.
“Anytime you’re playing against a zone, it neutralizes individual play,” UNC head coach Jenny Levy said postgame. “You really have to work hard to involve more as a unit … If they’re gonna hone in on Chloe, then the other people have to step up.”
With Humphrey relatively silent, her teammates battled until she reclaimed her rhythm to deal Syracuse the finishing blow in the second half. SU had its head above the water at halftime, leading 6-5. If Humphrey played as she normally does, it would’ve been drowning.
But just over a minute into the second half, the Humphrey that Syracuse had worked all week to silence emerged. Addison Pattillo received a pass outside the eight-meter arc. Mackenzie Salentre inched toward her, freeing up Humphrey for her second score to tie the game at 6-6.
It was one of the shots Guyette said postgame she had a slim chance of reaching. Humphrey wasn’t done, though. As UNC held a 9-8 lead, just its third of the game, Humphrey handed the Orange their first multi-goal deficit of the afternoon.
Against that zone defense Levy despises, Humphrey raced past Mileena Cotter. She leapt over Izzy Lahah’s reach and buried a shot into the bottom left corner. The score gave the Tar Heels a 10-8 lead, which eventually grew to a four-goal advantage.
“We knew Syracuse was gonna be a tough game, and we weren’t gonna go away,” Humphrey said. “Every team (struggles) to hang with us for four quarters, so I think that was really what we saw today.”
Syracuse won’t see a better player than Humphrey. And for three quarters, it kept her — and the rest of UNC’s offense — relatively silent. But Humphrey can never be contained for long.
Because sooner or later, the game will return to her pace. It always does.
