North Carolina forward Casey Nogueira scored two second-half goals to help the UNC women's soccer team post a 2-1 victory over Notre Dame in the NCAA final on Sunday in Cary, North Carolina.
Notre Dame got off to a fast start, scoring just 16 seconds into the match, but the Tar Heels controlled the rest of the match and took the lead in the second half, led by Nogueira, who ultimately helped hand Notre Dame its first loss of the season.
If that Noguiera name sounds familiar, Casey is the daughter of legendary indoor soccer goalkeeper Victor Nogueira, who is a candidate for the National Soccer Hall of Fame this year.
What do you think of the result? Did you watch the game? Share your thoughts on today's NCAA women's final in the comments section below.
It’s a shame that the pre-NCAA stats are ignored in the record books. The AIAW administrated womens sports before the NCAA decided that there was money to be made with the girls championships (1982). Illini Coach Janet Rayfield is second in North Carolina scoring to Mia Hamm, but her name is not mentioned. And it’s even worse in women’s basketball (10 years of missing stats). History is history even before it received the NCAA’s blessing.
Worth noting this is UNC’s 20th national title. Also won the AIAW title in 1981, the year before the NCAA began administering women’s sports.
for such a dominant program i’d have to say i’m always underwhelmed by the actual ability of the teams. they just usually have better athletes with a huge lack of tactical know how. games are painful to watch
I guess I am glad to see UNC win, since they barely beat the girls from my school at Texas A&M in the 2nd overtime.
That is a team you have to watch next year. They were starting 5 freshmen, and 8 freshmen saw regular minutes. An elite 8 bid isn’t to bad for a team that is only going to get better. I am calling it now, that Texas A&M win it all next year.
Watched most of the game – it was a bit slow in stretches – nothing compared to the U20 game that followed. I think UNC deserved the win as they controlled play for long stretches. I also think it is fitting that an ACC team won. They are by far and away the toughest woman’s division with Duke, Wake and UVA and it is pretty darn hard to go undefeated in that conference – glad to see them win and Casey Nogueira is the bomb.
As a person who could have cared less who won the match, I was disappointed by what appeared to be a home match for the championship game. It apparently was not enough to have Carolina play in Carolina. They were also getting the majority of the calls and avoiding getting called and even the ref seemed to build emotion from the crowd. The ESPN announcers were certainly into North Carolina which may have influenced my perception of Notre Dame getting a bit of a raw deal. That being said ND was held to only a couple shots until they started to apply pressure and had an unsuccessful bombardment in the second half.
As a youth goalkeeper in the Atlanta area, I use to worship Victor Nogueira when he played for the Chiefs. His daughter seems destined to be a future Nats staple in the coming years.
16 seconds Ives! But it was a pretty good game. Good to see the u20’s take the cake as well!