Dec. 1, 2006
CARY, N.C. (AP) – Notre Dame will play for its third women’s soccer national championship, after scoring twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half on Friday and holding off a fierce Florida State attack in the second half for a 2-1 victory in the semifinals of the NCAA Women’s College Cup.
The second-seeded Fighting Irish will face top-seeded North Carolina (26-1) on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in a game to be shown live on ESPN2. The Tar Heels will be seeking their 18th national championship after freshman Casey Nogueira broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the 84th minute, helping UNC beat UCLA 2-0 in the first semifinal.
Freshman Courtney Rosen put the Fighting Irish (25-0-1) on the board in the 36th minute.
After a Florida State turnover, Rosen faked a defender off her feet and scored with her left foot to the right side of the goal.
Three minutes later, Irish senior Jill Krivacek provided the eventual game-winning goal off a corner kick. Brittany Bock headed the corner kick to Krivacek, who redirected the ball with her head into the upper right corner of the net.
Florida State (18-4-4), making its third appearance in the semifinals in the last four years, finally recorded its first-ever College Cup goal six and a half minutes into the second half.
Senior forward India Trotter made a great move on a Notre Dame defender in front of the right post and beat Irish goalkeeper Lauren Karas with a shot inside the left post.
Florida State kept the heat on Karas for the rest of the game, racking up eight shots in the second half after managing just two in the first. But Karas, who has recorded a tournament-best three shutouts in four games, did not let another shot get past her.
The Irish remained the nation’s only unbeaten team and set up a clash with a UNC team that has not lost since dropping its season opener in double overtime against Texas A&M.
North Carolina and Notre Dame have met in the championship game three times before – in 1994, ’96 and ’99 with the Tar Heels winning all three contests.