North Carolina had to twice come from behind before beating Texas A&M, 3-2, before 4,887 fans in the NCAA Division I women's quarterfinals and returned to the Women's College Cup after a two-year absence.

The Tar Heels failed to reach the final four in 2004 and 2005 -- the only two years in the 25-year history of the NCAA Tournament they didn't advance to at least the semifinals.

UCLA and Florida State are the only holdovers from last year's final four to advance to this year's Women's College Cup Dec. 1-3 in Cary, N.C. The Bruins returned for the fourth year in a row with a 2-1 win over Portland in a rematch of last year's final. FSU rallied to beat Clemson, 2-1, to advance for the third time in the last four years. Top ranked Notre Dame beat Penn State, 4-0, thanks to a hat trick from freshman Michele Weissenhofer and will play in the final four for the eighth time since 1994.

College Soccer Reporter's women's quarterfinal reports