Women's soccer to play for NCAA title

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Casey Nogueira delivered for a second time in two seasons for North Carolina against Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament. But Irish head coach Randy Waldrum didn’t even know it was the senior forward that showed his team the exit.

“Did she score the goal tonight?,” Waldrum asked the media. “Well I was going to sit here and tell you I thought we did a really good job on her tonight.”

Nogueira’s goal with just under eight minutes left in the match gave UNC a 1-0 victory in the NCAA semifinals and propels the Tar Heels to the NCAA Championship game against Stanford on Sunday.

UNC and Notre Dame played an even game until Nogueira’s goal. In the first half, the Irish found more open-field opportunities while the Tar Heels won a majority of balls in the air. The second half was much the same. After a 12-4 shot advantage in the first frame, UNC finished with a 26-8 edge in the category. The Tar Heels forced the Irish to make eight saves on the night.

In the 83rd minute, freshman Lucy Bronze fielded a pass from Tobin Heath. Bronze took the ball to the right side of the box and used her right foot to send it to Nogueira, who used her left foot on a one-timer past Irish goal Nikki Weiss for the lone score of the game.

“The defender stepped and she could sense the defender’s momentum was moving towards her and she touched it by her,” UNC head coach Anson Dorrance said of Bronze. I mean that’s an elite move. She made sure the pass that she gave gave us a shot inside four yards with the goalkeeper eliminated.”

Earlier in the season, UNC clobbered the Irish in South Bend, Ind., winning 6-0. But Notre Dame entered Friday night’s contest with a 19-game unbeaten streak and a new game plan installed for Dorrance’s squad. The plan meant the Irish had to keep their priorities straight, with No. 1 as keeping UNC off the board.

“They changed some of their ideas about how they play against us,” Dorrance said. “I think the game plan coming in that Randy and his staff came up with was a very good one to play against us.”

Nogueira’s 13th goal of the season marked her fourth goal against the Irish in their last three meetings. She scored once in the 6-0 victory this season and twice against Notre Dame last year in the NCAA Championship. Nogueira scored two second-half goals against the Irish to help her team capture the title.

“I think around tournament time everyone kinda gets excited and it happens to be me in the lucky place at the right time,” Nogueira said.

While the Tar Heels relished in Friday night’s victory, they must quickly turn their attention to Stanford. The Cardinal, which beat UCLA 2-1 in overtime on Friday, boasts an unblemished 25-0 record heading into Sunday’s noon (central time) match against UNC.

“They’re an impossible matchup,” Dorrance said. “This is a superb Stanford team. Honestly, we’re looking forward to playing them because we think they are an elite team.”