On 7 December 2008, the University of North Carolina women defeated Notre Dame 2-1 to capture their 19th NCAA Women's Soccer Championship, all under head coach Anson Dorrance. The heroine of the match was UNC junior forward Casey Nogueira, who scored both Tar Heel goals on her way to being named the tournament's most outstanding offensive player.The match did not start favorably for UNC, as Notre Dame's Kerri Hanks gave the Golden Domers the lead after just 16 seconds. Notre Dame had kicked off to start the match and Hanks sprinted past the UNC defense to receive a lobbed ball from Courtney Rosen, which she then collected and slotted into the bottom right corner of the net. Hanks' goal was the fastest goal scored in Notre Dame history.
Notre Dame fought to protect the lead and their unbeaten season, but were flagged for a foul just outside the box in the 52nd minute. Nogueira took the ensuing free kick and blasted a right-footer into the net for the equalizer. Then, with just over two minutes remaining, she dribbled into the left side of the Notre Dame box and chipped a left-footed shot over Notre Dame keeper Kelsey Lysander.
Notre Dame thought they had a chance to equalize in the final minute when Hanks went down in the box, but the referee did not call a foul and UNC held on to claim the victory.
In 2009, Dorrance's UNC women beat Stanford 1-0 to claim their 20th NCAA title.
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