Pressured for most of the night by North Carolina's talented front line, the Irish defense finally cracked when forward Casey Nogueira finished a cross from short distance with 7:58 remaining to give the Tar Heels a 1-0 victory and a berth in the College Cup finals.
Irish goalkeeper Nikki Weiss led a strong defensive effort with six stops, but couldn't save Notre Dame from a 26-8 shot deficit that ultimately proved too big of an obstacle to overcome.
North Carolina dominated play in the first half, but couldn't capitalize on its opportunities. The Tar Heels thought they might have opened the scoring when midfielder Tobin Heath lined up a shot from just outside of the Irish penalty box, but her laser shot went off the crossbar and Weiss was up to the challenge on a rebound attempt.
Irish midfielder Rose Augustin connected on a volley early in the second half that looked to be destined for the back of the net until the crossbar once again denied a go-ahead goal. The Tar Heels found a late game-winner off of Nogueira's foot for the second year in a row to beat the Irish, which fell to North Carolina 2-1 in the 2008 NCAA Championship match.
The Tar Heels went on to claim their third NCAA title in four years (20th overall) after defeating previously unbeaten Stanford 1-0 in the finals.
-Alex Barker
