COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – Stanford and North Carolina won semifinal matches here at the NCAA Women’s College Cup Friday and advanced to Sunday’s championship match.

While club teams dealt with extreme cold earlier Friday, and the threat of rain and snow hung over the contest during its buildup, the teams were able to play in reasonable conditions including a dry field.

While the two favored teams won Friday, both contests turned out to be very close affairs, with either match having been capable of going either way. On Sunday, the Tar Heels will strive for their 20th national championship and back-to-back titles, while Stanford looks to complete a perfect season and win their first national title.

Stanford 2, UCLA 1 (OT)

An overtime winner from Christen Press maintained the Stanford Cardinal’s perfect season at 25-0-0 and sent UCLA home from the College Cup disappointed for the 7th consecutive year.

Press blasted a low drive into the back of the UCLA net from 22 yards out to set off a wild celebration

“I remember thinking through the whole overtime that as a forward I would have a chance,” Press said. “I had to be ready for my one opening. I felt for a lot of the game I was not getting as involved as I would have liked to. I knew my one chance, when it comes, I had to hit it hard and low.”

O’Hara said her team had no trouble bouncing back after UCLA’s Lauren Cheney had tied the game late in regulation.

“It was a letdown when we let the goal in, but we’ve been in this position before. I thought we were playing well up until that point,” she said. “I think we responded well to it obviously. We went back at them and got a few more chances, and went into overtime feeling the momentum.”

The first scoring chances of the game came in the 9th minute when a Kylie Wright serve into the area found the feet of Kristina Larsen, who had time to turn and shoot, but the effort was well held by Stanford goalkeeper Kira Maker. The Cardinal responded on the other end with a dangerous through pass by Teresa Noyola, forcing UCLA goalkeeper Chante Sandiford to rush off her line and beat Stanford forward Kelley O’Hara to the ball.

Stanford’s Christen Press saw her shot go wide a few minutes later after a good individual effort. Noyola then served a dangerous ball from a free kick, which was headed wide by Alicia Jenkins. On the other end, after Sydney Leroux earned a corner, Jenna Belcher’s service was cleared away with a header from O’Hara.

At the 26 minute mark, Larsen connected well with a shot from 25 yards, forcing Maker to make a leaping save and then pounce on the rebound ahead of an onrushing Leroux to keep the match scoreless. At 32 minutes, Press had a header from a Hillary Heath free kick go over the bar.

UCLA forward Lauren Cheney just missed opening the scoring with a redirect at the near post after good work on the left from Leroux. On the other end, Camille Levin put in some good work on the left and floated a cross into the 6-yard box that O’Hara just missed, with Lauren Barnes nicking it away just in time for the Bruins.

Cheney showed her strength in controlling a pass from Lauren Wilmoth and then advancing into the Stanford area despite the attention of two defenders. Her shot took a deflection and was handled by Maker. She then made a rush into the box before blazing a shot over the bar in the 44th minute.

UCLA had a good chance off a corner in the 55th minute, but Kylie Wright’s headed pass to Cheney was redirected wide. O’Hara rounded the keeper a minute later on the other end, but with two Bruins racing back to guard the goal, the fleet Stanford forward opted to pass instead of try a shot, and the threat was averted.

The next UCLA chance came when a served ball fell to the feet of Chelsea Cline, but her drive went well wide in the 60th minute. Lauren Barnes then had a free kick that hit the outside of the post for the Bruins.

As the match seemed to be turning UCLA’s way, O’Hara collected a ball from Press just outside the area. With her back to the goal, she feigned right and then turned to her left and rocketed a shot with her right foot from 20 yards over Sandiford and under the crossbar to give Stanford a 1-0 lead in the 64th minute, her 26th goal of the season.

Stanford kept pressuring the UCLA goal. Some quick thinking from Sandiford and a high-risk but necessary clearance by Wilmoth over her own goal kept the match at 1-0 as UCLA struggled to gain possession.

The Bruins did create a chance via a nice turn and run by Sydney Leroux, but the resulting shot was right at Maker with 18 minutes remaining. Cheney fed Larsen with a pass shortly afterward, but the shot went well wide of the target.

But the UCLA pressure continued and paid off as Cheney collected a ball from Wright, produced an exquisite, professional turn and drove a shot home to tie the match at 1-1 in the 75th minute.

As regulation time wound down, both Maker in the Stanford goal and Sandiford for UCLA had to make alert plays to snuff out threats. Leroux also nearly snuck in on a ball rolling through the box, but her opportunistic effort went over the bar. On the other end, Lindsay Taylor hit a curling shot that nearly snuck inside the far post. On the ensuing restart, O’Hara chased down a ball and rounded the keeper. With the goal wide open, the superstar forward hit her shot wide of the near post and missed the chance for a dramatic winner, and the match went to overtime.

Just as dramatically, Stanford scored a golden goal. Ali Riley sent in a free kick that UCLA’s Dea Cook won in the air over O’Hara, but the header fell to the feet of Press, who took a touch and then blasted a low drive from 22 yards that beat Sandiford to the far post and put Stanford in the final.

UCLA Lineup
GK: Chantel Sandiford
D: Lauren Wilmoth, Jenna Belcher, Dea Cook, Lauren Barnes
M: Zakiya Bywaters, Chelsea Cline, Kylie Wright, Kristina Larsen
F: Lauren Cheney, Sydney Leroux
Subs: Amelia Mathis, Liz Zadro, Summer Williams, Lucretia Lee

Stanford Lineup
GK: Kira Maker
D: Rachel Quon, Alicia Jenkins, Ali Riley, Alina Garciamendez
M: Hillary Heath, Teresa Noyola, Allison McCann
F: Lindsay Taylor, Christen Press, Kelley O’Hara
Subs: Mariah Nogueira, Camille Levin, Courtney Verloo


North Carolina 1, Notre Dame 0

A late goal from Casey Nogueira proved the difference and the Tar Heels advanced, but the game was night and day from the 6-0 pasting UNC gave the Fighting Irish at the beginning of the season.

“I think through the course of the season Notre Dame has matured tremendously. They played us a very good game,” UNC coach Anson Dorrance said. “They changed some of their ideas and how they played against us, which made it harder for us to play. The game plan (Notre Dame coach) Randy (Waldrum) and his staff had was a good one against us. His kids worked hard. They made it very difficult for us to score.”

This game featured a lot of rough play, and referee Veronica Perez seemed in the mood to let it go.

Off the opening kickoff, UNC standout Tobin Heath dribbled through the middle and took a hard foul, giving the Tar Heels a free kick 25 yards out. Casey Nogueira, who put the Fighting Irish to the sword last year with a pair of goals in the final, fired the set piece narrowly over the crossbar and the match was on.

After Lucy Bronze missed a good chance for the Tar Heels five minutes in, Notre Dame had a near miss when Melissa Henderson played a lovely through ball that set up Rose Augustin for a 50/50 ball with UNC goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris. Augustin got to it first but Harris managed to get a piece of the shot and it went wide of goal.

Carolina had the next good chance, 21 minutes into the half, when Tobin Heath again ran with the ball and this time crashed a shot off the crossbar. She nearly got on the end of a cross immediately afterward with her head, but Notre Dame goalkeeper Nikki Weiss just managed to corral the ball.

Another near miss came at 29 minutes when Meghan Klingenberg hit a shot after a long throw from Jessica Macdonald, but Notre Dame defender Molly Campbell cleared the ball off the line.

A lot of the 1st half was spent with the teams battling for possession in the middle. Notre Dame’s preference upon winning the ball was to try and play a quick, killer pass through the middle, but UNC defenders Whitney Engen, Kristi Eveland and Rachel Givan were up to every challenge. The Tar Heels looked to build a little more patiently, but they too ultimately found the Notre Dame defense, led by center back Jessica Schuveiller and augmented by defensive midfielder Amanda Clark, tough to break down.

UNC tried a through ball of its own in the closing minute, with Heath trying to find Alyssa Rich, but Notre Dame’ Schuveiller delivered an inch-perfect tackle to send the teams to the break scoreless.

In the 2nd half, the match remained even, with a shot from Notre Dame’s Rose Augustin and a header from UNC’s Amber Brooks being the closest chances for each team in opening 15 minutes.

Notre Dame suffered a blow in the 64th minute when standout defender Haley Ford left the game with a leg injury. Forward Lauren Fowlkes moved back to take Ford’s place in the back line, and Taylor Knaack entered the game at forward.

The Fighting Irish immediately scored moments later when a serve into the area was volleyed by Rose Augustin past UNC goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris but off the crossbar. On the other end, Alyssa Rich won a ball from a scramble and forced an alert save for Notre Dame’s Nikki Weiss to keep the match scoreless.

In the 72nd minute, Notre Dame’s Michele Weissenhofer made a good run onto a long through pass from Julie Scheidler before pulling a shot just wide of the near post. UNC’s Casey Nogueira was looking increasingly dangerous, dropping back to midfield, winnings balls and running at the Notre Dame defense.

Sure enough, it was Nogueira who broke through, but not on her own – not by a long shot. Heath won a ball in the forward third and hit a spending outlet pass to Lucy Bronze, running down the wing. Bronze then rolled a cross into the area where Nogueira was positioned perfectly to redirect into the back of the net and put the Tar Heels up 1-0 with just 8 minutes remaining. One last attempt at a through pass required a lovely sliding interception from Rachel Givan at the last minute, and UNC finds itself in another final.

“I remember running down the field and knowing there were only a few seconds left, and I would do anything I could to get that ball out, Givan said. “I just slid and kicked the ball as hard as I could.”

North Carolina Lineup
GK: Ashlyn Harris
D: Whitney Engen, Rachel Givan, Kristi Eveland
M: Lucy Bronze, Amber Brooks, Meghan Klingenberg, Tobin Heath
F: Jessica McDonald, Casey Nogueira, Courtney Jones
Subs: Ali Hawkins, Sterling Smith, Emmalie Pfankuch, Brittani Bartok, Alyssa Rich, Maria Lubrano

Notre Dame Lineup
GK: Nikki Weiss
D: Molly Campbell, Haley Ford, Jessica Schuveiller, Julie Scheidler
M: Rose Augustin, Amanda Clark, Courtney Barg
F: Lauren Fowlkes, Melissa Henderson, Taylor Knaack
Subs: Michele Weissenhofer, Erica Iantorno, Jazmin Hall