Cary, N.C. – Casey Nogueira should be a senior in high school right now. Instead she played a crucial role in North Carolina’s 18th NCAA soccer championship.
Nogueira, who graduated from high school a year early to join the storied North Carolina program this fall, had a goal and an assist Sunday to lead the Tar Heels past Notre Dame 2-1 in the Women’s College Cup title game.
“She was absolutely brilliant,” North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance said. “To have a kid that young have an impact at this high a level is just a fabulous achievement. I am unbelievably proud of her. Watching her get better every single week of the season, it’s just been fun for us to watch her become the player she is right now.”
The Tar Heels (27-1-0) took the lead in the 18th minute when Nogueira sent a beautiful lead pass to Heather O’Reilly. The senior forward got past charging Notre Dame goalkeeper Lauren Karas just outside the box and then scored past three defenders.
“That was a perfectly placed ball by Casey,” O’Reilly said. “I saw (Karas) coming out, and I know that speed is one of the things that I have in my back pocket. So to see her coming off her line like that I think my eyes got wider because I knew I could beat her to the ball.”
Nogueira added a goal two minutes into the second half off a cross from Whitney Engen. Brittany Bock’s header for Notre Dame in the 81st minute completed the scoring.
This was North Carolina’s 18th championship in the 25-year history of the Women’s College Cup. It was the fourth time the Tar Heels have beaten the Irish (25-1-1) in the title game.
COLLEGE SOCCER
Gauchos top Bruins in title game
Nick Perera had a goal and an assist and unseeded Cal-Santa Barbara beat UCLA 2-1 in St. Louis to win its first national title.
Perera banged the Gauchos’ first shot off the left post and into the UCLA goal to make it 1-0 less than three minutes into the game.
Tyler Rosenlund carried the ball deep into the box before passing it back to an unmarked Perera, who had plenty of time to settle it and take the shot.
The Gauchos (17-7-1) took a 2-0 lead in the second half. Perera collected a pass in the UCLA box from Bryan Byrne and flicked the ball to an open Eric Avila, who slid it into the bottom left corner of the goal.
The eighth-seeded Bruins (14-6-4) tried to rally in the final 15 minutes. Jason Leopoldo took the ball deep into the Gauchos’ box before slipping it through traffic to cut it to 2-1 with 11:04 left.
Less than two minutes after the goal, Cal-Santa Barbara goalie Kyle Reynish had to dive to his right to tip aside a low shot from Mike Zaher.
The Cal-Santa Barbara victory came less than a day after it played 110 scoreless minutes in its semifinal victory over Wake Forest. The Gauchos, who won 4-3 in penalty kicks to advance to the title game, showed no signs of fatigue against UCLA.
VOLLEYBALL
Brazil claims world championship
Defending champion Brazil beat Poland in straight sets to win the men’s world championships in Tokyo.
Bulgaria captured the bronze medal, and the United States finished 10th, one place lower than in 2002 and 1998. The Americans lost to Germany 25-17, 25-18, 25-27, 20-25, 17-15 in the match for ninth place.
Olympic champion Brazil won 25-12, 25-22, 25-17 behind Andre Nascimento’s 14 points and Gilberto Godoy’s 12. Mariusz Wlazly scored 12 points for Poland, which was seeking its first title since 1974.
In the bronze-medal game, Matey Kaziyski scored 20 points to lead Bulgaria’s 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 victory over Serbia and Montenegro.
FOOTNOTES
Ethiopian runner wins marathon
Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie won the Fukuoka International Marathon, barely missing out on a meet record in Fukuoka, Japan.
Gebrselassie, winner of this year’s Berlin Marathon, pulled ahead of two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco and Ukrainian Dmytro Baranovskyy with less than 2 miles left and crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 52 seconds.
The Milwaukee Brewers have offered salary arbitration to free-agent utility infielder Tony Graffanino.
Graffanino has until Thursday to accept or reject arbitration. Graffanino batted .280 with two home runs and 27 RBIs in 60 games for the Brewers last season.
The Atlanta Braves signed right-hander Tanyon Sturtze to a one-year guaranteed contract worth $750,000.
Grant Hackett won the 400-meter freestyle event at the Australian swim trials in Brisbane, which is missing its usual main attraction: the now-retired Ian Thorpe.
Thorpe retired nearly two weeks ago at the age of 24, all but handing Australian dominance of the race over to Hackett, the Olympic and world-record holder in the 1,500 meters. Hackett finished in 3 minutes, 46 seconds, six seconds off Thorpe’s world record.
Jeff Tyrrell scored as time expired to lift California to its 12th NCAA men’s water polo championship with a 7-6 win over Southern California.
