Stanford women’s soccer wins first national title with 1-0 victory over Duke

#GoCardinal

Teresa Noyola scored from point-blank range Sunday to help top-ranked Stanford beat No. 3 Duke 1-0 and give the Cardinal their first NCAA women’s soccer title after three consecutive attempts. It was the perfect finish to Stanford’s unbeaten season.

Stanford seniors Noyola, Camille Levin, Kristy Zuhmehlen and Lindsay Taylor finished their college careers with a record of 95-4-4. Their last three losses came in a 2008 national semifinal to Notre Dame, to North Carolina in the ’09 championship match and to Notre Dame in last year’s final.

Noyola scored in the 53rd minute after Levin won a ball at the goal line about eight yards right of the goal. She crossed to the far post, where Noyola headed it from one yard.

Duke (22-4-1) had several scoring opportunities after that, but Stanford keeper Emily Oliver stopped every attempt.

A well deserved victory for Stanford against a team that showed up to play and really never gave up.  Duke has a great chance of a repeat trip to the College Cup next year.

Duke & Stanford set for Sunday’s NCAA Soccer Championship

After pounding  ACC tournament champion Florida State 3-0 on Friday night in the first semifinal of the College Cup, Stanford has a chance to play once again for the national title.  The Cardinal advanced to soccer’s version of the Final Four by completing its third straight unbeaten season, a feat that parallels the great University of North Carolina teams with Mia Hamm in the early 1990s. But top-ranked Stanford has never won a national championship  – and they hope to change that this year. They’ve come close, losing 1-0 in the final game the past two years.

The Cardinal will play Duke, which beat Wake Forest 4-1 in the second semifinal Friday night, in Sunday’s championship.

In the Stanford v FSU match,  Cardinal forward Chioma Ubogagu ricocheted a shot off FSU goalie Kelsey Wys’ leg from about 10 yards for Stanford’s first goal in the 22nd minute for a 1-0 lead.

About two minutes later, Ubogagu out-ran a Seminoles defender down the left flank and served a ball into the penalty box that midfielder Kristy Zurmuhlen slid past Wys at the near post for a 2-0 edge.

Stanford defender Alina Garciamendez finished the scoring in the 64th minute, going up to head a long serve into the box past Wys.

Pressing early to try to crack Stanford’s defense, No. 9 FSU (18-7-1) produced numerous opportunities early, but failed to convert. Stanford goalie Emily Oliver earned her 11th shutout with six saves, including a few dives to scuttle shots.

The No. 3 Blue Devils (22-3-1) will also play for their first title with their defeat of the No. 6 Demon Deacons (18-4-4). ACC rivals Duke and Wake Forest, who often vie for the same players during recruiting season,  faced off for the third time this season.

Duke  played nervous early, but grew stronger over the course of the first half. Forward Mollie Pathman added two goals in the second half, spearing home a deflected shot in the 51st minute for a 2-0 lead and then scoring on a penalty kick in the 58th. Pathman’s second goal answered a free-kick goal by Wake Forest forward Rachel Nuzzolese less than a minute earlier.

Both the Blue Devils and the Cardinal stand 90 minutes from their first national championship

The Kennesaw State stadium  was filled  Friday night  (announced attendance was 9,253). It was the biggest event yet held in the $16.5 million stadium, which opened in 2010 and is a symbol of the school’s progress in athletics.

Be sure to catch the action Sunday at 1:00 EST on ESPNU.

 

 

2011 NCAA Women’s College Cup: The Final Four

The NCAA Women’s College Cup, taking place this weekend at Kennesaw State Stadium will be the first NCAA soccer championship held in Georgia since 1968. And one thing is for certain  – there will be a first-time national champion crowned at this year’s NCAA final.

All four College Cup teams were seeded first in their respective brackets, and include three ACC schools—Wake Forest, Duke and Florida State—and two-time NCAA runner-up Stanford, making its fourth consecutive College Cup appearance.

Defending national champ Notre Dame and perennial powerhouses UNC, UCLA and Portland are nowhere in sight, opening the door for unbeaten and top-ranked Stanford to finally carry off the trophy. I can’t even remember a time when the University of North Carolina wasn’t a contender.  With 20 NCAA championships and 25 College Cup appearances (and alum like Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Cindy Parlow, Heather O’Reilly)  much of the history of women’s college soccer comes from Chapel Hill.

In fact, this is the first time since the inaugural NCAA tournament in 1982,  that all four semifinalists are seeking their first NCAA title

Friday, Dec. 2, the first semifinal match pits Stanford (23-0-1) against Florida State.  The 18-6-1 Seminoles are ACC champions, making their fifth Final Four appearance. If FSU-Stanford sounds like a familiar NCAA matchup, it is.  A year ago, Stanford demolished the Seminoles 5-0 in the NCAA Elite Eight.  This year the match features two of the country’s best programs to never have won a national championship. Friday’s semifinal will air live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com beginning at 5:00 p.m. EST.

The other half of the Final Four pits the third-ranked Duke (21-3-1) against its ACC rival,  Wake Forest.  This is Duke’s third Final Four appearance, but first since 1992 when they defeated Hartford  in the semifinals and then fell to North Carolina.  The Blue Devils are riding their best season ever with wins over Notre Dame and FSU, as their only losses were to Wake, UNC and Auburn.

#7 Wake is making its College Cup debut.  The Demon Deacons, 18-3-4, split their two ACC matches against Duke this fall, with Duke prevailing 2-0 in October and Wake winning 2-1 in the ACC tournament. This will be the first time the Blue Devils and Demon Deacons will go up against each other in the NCAA Tournament.

Both Duke and Wake beat FSU in the regular season, but FSU avenged its loss by winning the ACC title over Wake on penalty kicks.

4th Time a Charm for Stanford?

If this is indeed Stanford’s year (and I hope it is for a host of reasons), the championship will build on the rich soccer tradition on The Farm.  Olympian and 1999 World Cup champion Julie Foudy starred for Stanford in the early ’90s. By the late ’90s, Stanford became a consistent Top 20 program, winning the Pac-10 in 1999 and 2002, with a 65-17-4 record from 1999-2002, and a No. 1 ranking and Elite Eight appearance in 2002.

That impressive run has been far surpassed by Coach Paul Ratcliffe’s recent powerhouse teams. Led by the current group of seniors, beginning in 2008, Stanford has compiled a remarkable 93-4-4 record, including an unbeatable 53-0-1 at its home field, Cagan Stadium.

Three Cardinal alums, Kelley O’Hara, Rachael Buehler and Nicole Barnhart, were on the USA team that enthralled the soccer universe during last summer’s World Cup in Germany and Ali Riley played for New Zealand’s national team. .

A national championship however,  has thus far eluded Stanford.  In both 2009 and 2010, the Cardinal was undefeated until the very last match of the season.  In December 2009, Stanford fell in the national championship match to UNC, 1-0. Last year’s final was the same 1-0 score, a loss to Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish.

The 2011 Cardinal averaged over 22 shots on goal per game and nearly three goals per game.  Their fast-paced possession style of play is led by four seniors— the always fun to watch forward Lindsay Taylor (20 goals), midfielders Kristy Zurmuhlen (five goals, four assists) and Teresa Noyola (eight goals, 14 assists), who played for Mexico in the World Cup, as well as Camille Levin (four goals, six assists), who played every position other than goal and can defend, pass or score with equal proficiency.

There’s more than just seniors though.  Frosh forward Chioma Ubogagu (exciting player and great name) added nine goals and nine assists.  Juniors Mariah Nogueira, Alina Garciamendez (another Mexico World Cup team member) and Rachel Quon excel in midfield and in defense, and sophomore GK Emily Oliver has been reliable in goal, although infrequently tested as Stanford has controlled time of possession in every one of its games.

Stanford enters the College Cup winners of 21 straight matches. The only blemish on their schedule this year came in the third game of the season as Maryland and Stanford played to a scoreless draw in College Park.

So, will the fourth trip to the College Cup be the charm for the Cardinal?

Perhaps.  But in soccer,  the team that controls the flow of the game, dominates possession and outshoots its opponent may still come up on the short.

Stanford, which has vastly more recent Final Four experience than FSU, Duke and Wake, creates scoring opportunities as well as any of the other three College Cup participants.  If the Cardinal can convert just a few of those shots into goals, they have a great chance of returning from Georgia as NCAA champions.

Kennesaw State’s year-old soccer stadium is a 8,300-seat facility built specifically for soccer. About 7,000 visitors, among them the participating Duke, Florida State, Stanford and Wake Forest teams, are expected to come through Cobb County for Friday’s and Sunday’s matches. Tickets are nearly sold out and the Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates an economic impact of $2.6 million on the local economy. The championship game will be played on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 1:00 p.m. EST and for those not lucky enough to be in the stadium, the game will be broadcast live on ESPNU and ESPN3.

Duke retires Lindsey Harding’s No. 10 jersey

DURHAM, N.C. Jan. 20, 2008  — Duke retired Lindsey Harding ‘s No. 10 jersey on Sunday, honoring the winningest point guard in school history.

Harding, a 5-foot-8, 140-pound guard, was the first Duke player to be picked No. 1 in the WNBA Draft when she was taken by the Phoenix Mercury and then traded to the  Minnesota Lynx. She was honored during halftime of the Blue Devils’ game against North Carolina State as a banner bearing her number was unveiled in the rafters at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“It’s great because I came here and I left my mark, and it’s always going to be here,” Harding said before the game.

Harding became just the second women’s player in Duke history to have her number retired, joining Alana Beard, whose No. 20 was honored in 2004.

The 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference female athlete of the year was the second player in Duke history with 1,000 points, 500 assists, 500 rebounds and 250 steals. She finished her career last season with a school-record 579 assists and led the Blue Devils to a school-record 128 victories during four seasons from 2002-07.