By Javier Serna, Staff Writer
Raleigh News & Observer
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/
December 8, 2008
North Carolina's Casey Nogueira, center left, celebrates with her teammates after scoring the winning goal against Notre Dame during the NCAA college soccer finals at the 2008 NCAA Women's College Cup in Cary, N.C on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008. North Carolina won 2-1 over Notre Dame.(AP)
CARY - Casey Nogueira had to think about it for a moment.
"I'm not sure anymore," said the UNC junior forward of the winning cross she sent up that turned into a shot, however unsure she might have been about her intent.
It didn't matter.
Notre Dame goalkeeper Kelsey Lysander had no chance at getting to the bending path of the ball off Nogueira's left foot, not after Nogueira had floated left inside the box and delivered it to the right corner of the net with just over two minutes left in the game.
With her second goal of the game and 25th of the season, Nogueira lifted the Tar Heels to a 2-1 victory over the Irish on Sunday and the UNC program's second national title in three years in the NCAA Women's College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park.
The game, however, did not start out UNC's way.
In the opening seconds, Notre Dame midfielder Courtney Rosen got the ball over UNC's back line to forward Kerri Hanks, who had UNC goalie Ashlyn Harris off balance for a quick strike from about 8 yards out.
The goal, 16 seconds into the contest, was Notre Dame's quickest goal in school history.
"It was a missed clearance," said Harris, who had trouble locating Hanks' shot with the sun in her face. "With the wind, it just died on her foot. ... I had to come out and make myself as big as I could."
It only made UNC more determined.
"I'm especially proud of a team that never gave up," said UNC coach Anson Dorrance.
"We just went at them," Harris said. "We were sacrificing our bodies left and right."
And Notre Dame wasn't able to generate that same pace of attacking for much of the game.
"That definitely was our game plan," said Hanks, a senior. "We scored early and that was good for our team. We just tried to keep doing it and just couldn't get it done. I think we played a good game, but that's how it goes. That's the game of soccer."
UNC missed opportunities in the first half but kept up its trademark attacking pressure for much of the game. The Heels outshot their opponents 18-7.
Dorrance acknowledged he was concerned about the experience of his front line against a Notre Dame squad that entered the game undefeated and untied. Aside from phenom Nogueira, his two other starting forwards, Jessica McDonald and Courtney Jones, are freshmen.
But both created opportunities. In fact, it was McDonald's attack, when she was flanked by four defenders and fouled, that set up the tying free kick for Nogueira in the 52nd minute.
From outside the arc on top of the 18-yard box, Nogueira sent a powerful free kick past the wall of defenders and to the left corner of the net, another shot Lysander had little chance at getting to.
"The two goals she struck today were world-class finishes," Dorrance said. "If both those goals were scored in a premiership game, you would be seeing both of those goals on a highlight reel at the end of the week."
With the win, UNC added another chapter to its rivalry with a school that's come as close as any to claiming away supremacy from the Tar Heels in women's college soccer.
Notre Dame knocked off UNC in the third round of last year's tournament and scored a 1-0 win this season in September, UNC's only loss of the year.
"I think we remembered that and brought that as part of our motivation," Nogueira said.
UNC's previous national title, in 2006, came against Notre Dame. And UNC is now undefeated against Notre Dame in five NCAA finals.
"We didn't quit, and that's what I respect most about this squad," Harris said.
"A lot of teams would have curled up and died. We got scored on in the first minute of the game.
"That shows how strong we are. We didn't stop."
javier.serna@newsobserver.com or 919-836-4953
Heels get kick out of winning
By Edward G. Robinson III, Staff Writer
Raleigh News & Observer
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/
December 8, 2008
North Carolina's Anne Rodenbough (00) celebrates with the 2008 NCAA Women's College Cup trophy after winning the 2008 NCAA Women's College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008. North Carolina won 2-1 over Notre Dame.(AP)
CARY - There were days when North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance struggled to start practice amid the raucous chatter among his players. He likened it to a sorority rush with players laughing and giggling with each other as if they hadn't talked in years.
That joyous spirit permeated everything the Tar Heels did this season and was one of the main factors players and coaches pointed to in explaining their spectacular season and 2-1 come-from-behind victory over No. 1-ranked Notre Dame on Sunday in the final of the NCAA Women's College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Before the Heels upset the nation's only undefeated and untied team on national TV, Dorrance had to force players out of the locker room. They were too busy dancing to Salt-N-Pepa and Michael Jackson.
"We can't get them to warm up. We can't get them to practice. We can't get them to shut up. They are just having so much fun," said Dorrance, assessing his 30th Heels squad. "That's the way I look at this season. This is one of the most incredibly enjoyable falls I've ever had in my life."
Two goals from junior forward Casey Nogueira -- including the unassisted winner in the 88th minute -- solidified those good times and happy feelings and handed the Heels (25-1-2) their 19th title in 22 final appearances.
As the last few seconds ticked away, the Heels were again laughing and smiling and acting silly, overjoyed with the fact that as one of the few North Carolina teams ever to play under the label "underdogs" they had lived up to the standard set by so many teams before them.
It was enough to make senior Yael Averbuch -- who had played in her final game after 105 consecutive starts -- lie on the ground a few yards away from the center circle and flap her arms playfully in the grass. She could see the moon in the clear sky and the WakeMed Soccer Park scoreboard still showing the final score.
Long after the bundled crowd of 7,102 had dispersed, Averbuch stayed there cheesing, soon joined by teammates Caroline Boneparth and Ali Hawkins.
"I'm not ready to leave this field," said Boneparth, as her teammates took pictures with the trophy.
Before long, junior defender Whitney Engen was diving on the ground next to Averbuch.
"We are the spoilers," Engen said, knowing the Irish had dealt her team the only loss of the season on Sept. 5 and came into the final with what many saw as the strongest team in the nation led by dynamic senior forward Kerri Hanks.
Next to hit the ground was midfielder Tobin Heath and then goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris as the row of players grew to 12, all of them soaking in the thrill of accomplishing their ultimate goal.
"I'm pretty convinced that every single player on our team has the mentality of a 13-year-old boy," Engen said. "We find things so funny. We find ways to break out and dance in the middle of airports."
Across the field from the players on the ground, senior goalkeeper Anna Rodenbough carried one of the team's assistant coach's sons around her neck. She had done her part by collecting two saves in the second half against a motivated Irish team.
Like her teammates, Rodenbough had listened to Dorrance's halftime talk and decided to stick to the philosophy that "soccer is fun," a mantra they cheered throughout the season. And it was the belief that teams play their best soccer when they are calm, loose and confident.
Dorrance, trusting in a team that had carried itself with a low-maintenance, freewheeling attitude, said he wasn't worried about trailing 1-0 at the break.
"I said, 'Who's better?,' " Dorrance said of his halftime speech. "And all of the kids responded, 'We are.' I thought we were better. It didn't mean that was going to deliver us into the promised land. We had to do something."
The Tar Heels did it by playing the most physical soccer of the season against one of the most physical teams they faced.
Launching 11 second-half shots, they played, Dorrance said, as they had all year with a "wonderful kind of joyous anarchy."
edward.robinson@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4781
Tar Heels -- playing the rare role of spoiler -- come back to beat Notre Dame for NCAA title
By MIKE POTTER : The Durham Herald-Sun
http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/sports/
mpotter@heraldsun.com
Dec 8, 2008
Jim Bounds/AP
North Carolina's Casey Nogueira (54) celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Notre Dame during NCAA Women's College Cup Final on Sunday.
CARY -- With all the 1-0 scores that held up during the NCAA Women's College Cup, it looked for the longest time as if Sunday's final was going to finish just like that.
And it wasn't going North Carolina's way.
But then Casey Nogueira took over the game with both feet.
She scored her 24th and 25th goals of the season, both spectacular and the last one with 2:06 to play, to give UNC a 2-1 victory at WakeMed Soccer Park and spoil Notre Dame's shot at a perfect season.
The win gave the Tar Heels (25-1-2) their 19th NCAA title and 20th national championship including one from the old AIAW. It marked the fifth time UNC has beaten the Irish -- who have won two NCAA titles -- in the championship game. And it avenged a 1-0 loss to the Irish (26-1-0), Notre Dame's second straight win over UNC, back on Sept. 5 in Chapel Hill.
"What our attitude coming into this one was our route to a championship was to beat two undefeated teams. ..." said UNC's 30th-year coach Anson Dorrance. "Do you know how rare it is for us to come into an environment as a spoiler? ... There was no pressure on us, no expectation, the old 'Everyone thinks we suck' thing."
The Irish scored a shocker just 16 seconds in. Courtney Rosen fed the ball to Kerri Hanks, who tipped the ball high to the right post just out of Ashlyn Harris' reach for her 20th goal of the season.
"Courtney played the ball through, I just made a run and was lucky to finish it," Hanks said.
Said Harris, "Right after they scored, we just went at them. It's probably the hardest I've seen our team play the entire year, and some might not have thought we could do it. We were sacrificing our body left and right ... we gave it all we could."
UNC tied it with 38:52 left when Nogueira, the junior out of Raleigh Broughton, slammed a free kick with her right foot from 19 yards out inside the left post. The kick was awarded after UNC's Jessica McDonald was fouled.
"I just hit it as hard as I could, and thank goodness it went in," Nogueira said.
The winner was better. Nogueira juked a defender with some fancy footwork, then used her left foot for a rocket to the right wall for her second unassisted goal of the day.
"I think they were waiting for me to cut inside like I always do, and then I saw a couple players there," she explained. "So I just cut outside and I was trying to get to the end line, then I realized that she was going to catch up to me so I just hit it across and it hit somebody and went in."
NOTES -- Nogueira was most outstanding offensive player of the tournament, while the Irish's Carrie Dew won the defensive honor. UNC's Yael Averbuch and Tobin Heath were all-tournament along with teammates Whitney Engan and Brittani Bartok; Notre Dame's Hanks, Courtney Barg and goalie Kelsey Lysander; UCLA's Lauren Cheney; and Stanford's Christen Press.
From Fetzer To Finley: Arguably, The Sweetest Of Them All
Carolina's 2008 NCAA women's soccer title was all about goose bumps.
By Dave Lohse
UNC Associate Athletic Communications Director
http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/unc-w-soccer-body.html
Dec. 7, 2008
I will own up to the fact I am an emotionally sensitive person. Certain old movies make me cry. I'm not ashamed to admit that.
But shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 7, 2008, even I felt goose bumps in a way that I have rarely ever experienced. The final of the 2008 Women's College Cup had just concluded and Coach Anson Dorrance's Tar Heels had won their 19th NCAA title in the past 27 seasons.
Ho hum you think. Hardly.
Carolina entered the College Cup as an underdog. That in itself is stunning for a program that went into Sunday's match 672-33-21 in its 30th varsity season.
Carolina ended the regular season ranked fourth in the national coaches poll and it carried a 23-1-2 ledger into the final weekend. The first test came Friday night against a No. 2-ranked UCLA squad that was appearing in its sixth straight "final four" and came in undefeated this season at 22-0-2.
UCLA was as good as advertised and the margin was razor thin, a Yael Averbuch penalty kick goal with less than four minutes left in the first half. It was the first and only penalty kick attempt for the Tar Heels this season.
Then the undefeated and untied Notre Dame Fighting Irish loomed in Sunday's championship tilt. The Irish were 26-0-0 and they sought to become only the fifth college team to finish a season undefeated and untied. The Tar Heels have done it four times, but no one else. The Irish were also trying to match UNC's 27-0 record in 2003, the best record in a single season in the sport's history. On top of that, Notre Dame's 2008 unit was its best ever and simply a great team.
Notre Dame also had UNC's number of late. The Irish had ventured onto UNC's sacred Fetzer Field pitch twice in the last 13 months and emerged victorious. Notre Dame ended Carolina's 2007 season with a 3-2 triumph in the NCAA Round of 16. The Fighting Irish returned on September 5, three months and two days ago, and took down the Tar Heels 1-0. In the finals, they were seeking to become only the second college team in history to beat the Heels three straight times and the first to whip Carolina twice in the same season.
Things looked bleak when just 16 seconds into the match the Fighting Irish caught the Heels flat footed with All-America Kerri Hanks putting one in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. Luckily, UNC had 89:44 to recover.
Notre Dame's Kerri Hanks, left, battles North Carolina's Kristi Eveland (32) for the ball in the first half of their final NCAA soccer game of the 2008 NCAA Women's College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C Sunday, Dec.7, 2008.(AP)
In the second half, a baby-faced soccer phenom on Carolina's side decided she would not let the Tar Heels lose. Casey Nogueira had moved with her family from Wisconsin prior to her sophomore year in high school, settling in Raleigh while attending Broughton High. Nogueira wanted to be close to the Tar Heel program. She knew she wanted to play here. She earned enough credits to graduate from high school a year early and she enrolled at the Chapel Hill campus in August 2006.
With the Tar Heels possessing a deep front line in 2006, Nogueira did not need to be a star right away. But by the time the College Cup rolled around and with Elizabeth Guess nursing an injury, Nogueira was thrust front and center. She scored the game-winner in the semifinals against UCLA in the 84th minute. Two days later, she assisted on Heather O'Reilly's first-half goal and then scored the game-winner less than two minutes into the second half in a 2-1 national title game win over Notre Dame.
While Nogueira became Carolina's leading scorer in 2007 with 29 points, the Heels struggled to score as their 56 goals were the fewest ever scored by a Tar Heel team in history. The season ended with a 19-4-1 mark, the worst winning percentage ever for a Carolina team.
Nogueira emerged in 2008 as possibly the nation's best player, winning NSCAA first-team All-America honors, ACC Offensive Player of the Year accolades and Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Season status. She entered the College Cup with 23 goals and eight assists.
With the Heels down in the championship game, Nogueira then scored what Dorrance called two "world class" goals. She sent a direct kick into the left corner of the frame with laser-like pace and uncanny placement to tie the game at 51:08. She followed that up with only 2:06 left and overtime staring down on both teams with a second highlight reel goal from the left side of the box. Both goals will be viewed on You Tube for years to come.
The Tar Heels won their title minus two of their best players, Nikki Washington and Meghan Klingenberg. They left the team two days after Carolina's ACC Tournament win to play for the U.S. U20 Team in its World Cup in Chile. Both started on that team and Sunday, on an ESPN2 telecast that immediately followed the College Cup final, they experienced a gold medal moment as the U.S. defeated North Korea in the gold medal game 2-1.
The absence of Washington and Klingenberg was never going to be an excuse for the Tar Heels no matter what their NCAA fate might have ended up.
On Sunday, the best of both worlds happened. UNC won its 100th game in NCAA Tournament history, hitting the century mark on national TV in the most important game of the season and clinching a 19th NCAA crown. Thousands of miles away two Tar Heels led the U.S. to a gold medal just two hours later.
Like I said, viewing the world through my Carolina Blue spectacles, there was no way to avoid all those goose bumps. And I would never have tried.
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