KENNESAW, Ga. — This time, Teresa Noyola and Stanford got to celebrate at the College Cup.
Noyola scored from point-blank range Sunday as the top-ranked Cardinal beat No. 3 Duke 1-0 for its first NCAA women’s soccer title.
Stanford seniors Noyola, Camille Levin, Kristy Zurmuhlen and Lindsay Taylor finished their college careers with a 95-4-4 record. Their last three losses came in a 2008 national semifinal to Notre Dame, to North Carolina in the 2009 championship match and to Notre Dame in last year’s final.
• Former Brazil great Socrates, the clever playmaker who captained the country at the 1982 World Cup, died at the age of 57 in São Paulo of septic shock resulting from an intestinal infection.
Fresno State fires Hill
FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno State fired football coach Pat Hill, a day after the Bulldogs (4-9) matched a school record for losses in the final game of his 15th season. Hill finished his career at Fresno State with a 112-80 mark and went to 11 bowl games.
• Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds went on the offensive to quell rumors that football coach Mack Brown is retiring or being forced out after a 7-5 season, saying the program and coach are in for the “long haul” together.
• Luke Kuechly of Boston College, who leads the nation this season with 191 tackles, won the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in college football.
• Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist has received permission to talk with other schools about transferring for his final year of eligibility.
McIlroy fires a final-round 65
HONG KONG — Rory McIlroy rallied to win the Hong Kong Open, holing out from a greenside bunker on the final hole for a 5-under 65 and a two-stroke victory.
The 22-year-old U.S. Open winner from Northern Ireland, finished at 12-under 268. France’s Gregory Havret also closed with a 65 to finish second. Sweden’s Peter Hanson (70) finished third at 9-under.
• Lee Westwood finished with two bogeys and a 1-over 73 but it was still enough to retain his title by two strokes at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa.
Westwood finished with a 15-under 273 total to stay clear of Robert Karlsson (68) in second, despite a final-round charge from the Swedish player that cut Westwood’s commanding seven-shot overnight lead.
• Thailand’s Junthima Gulyanamitta won the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla., closing with 4-under 68 for a two-stroke victory over Christine Song (70).
Footnotes.
Sources said Kurt Busch will not return next season to drive Penske Racing’s No. 22 Dodge after an off-track issue, a recent profanity-laced tirade directed toward ESPN reporter Jerry Punch.
• Canadian speedskater Christine Nesbitt extended her unbeaten start (to three) to the World Cup season with a victory in the 1,000 meters in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
• Three-time World Cup champion Alexsandr Zubkov of Russia and his team won the first four-man bobsled World Cup race of the season in Igls, Austria.
• Trevor Brazile wrapped up his record ninth all-around championship during the fourth round of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
