The title
was the third for a nine-member group of UNC seniors and redshirt junior Ali Hawkins who missed the 2007 campaign with an ACL tear.
Tobin Heath, Ashlyn Harris, Whitney Engen, Kristi
Eveland, Casey Nogueira and Hawkins played in all three finals.
For the second year in a row, Carolina denied a team of a perfect season. Last year, the Heels beat Notre
Dame, 2-1, in the final after falling behind in the first minute.
This year, it was UNC with the early -- and deciding -- goal.
Heath fed Nogueira on the left side, allowing
Nogueira to go 1v1 with her defender. The College Cup Offensive MVP then played a ball into the six-yard box, where McDonald split her defenders and one-timed Nogueira's ball into the left side of
the goal.
Engen was named the Most Outstanding Player on Defense, while the College Cup All-Tournament Team included Heath, McDonald, Harris and fellow Tar Heel Rachel Givan.
O'Hara was issued her second yellow card of the match in the 73rd minute for a tackle from behind, forcing her out and ending her collegiate career with 57 goals, the second highest in Stanford history. Christen Press
scored late in the game but was called for offside.
North Carolina's high-pressure game was the difference in the final
"North Carolina does great job of pressuring and swarming
the ball," Ratcliffe said. "It's easy to talk about as a coach what you need to do, but it's difficult in there, especially with slick conditions. It was hard for us to get into a rhythm and really
play our type of soccer. It wasn't a fantastic game for us, we can play better. But you have to give Carolina a lot of credit. They played, they put you under pressure, and they make it difficult for
you to get into a rhythm."
NCAA Division I Final
Dec. 6 in College Station
North Carolina 1 Stanford 0. Goal: McDonald (C.Nogueira, Heath) 3.
North Carolina -- Harris, Engen, Given, Eveland,
Klingenberg, Bronze, Brooks, Heath, McDonald, C,Nogueira, Jones. Subs: Rich, Smith, Pfankuch, Hawkins, Lubrano.
Stanford -- Maker, A.Riley, Garciamendez, Jenkins, Quon, Noyola, Heath, McCann, Taylor, O'Hara, Press. Subs: Levin, Verloo, Nogueira.
Yellow Cards: North Carolina -- Klingenberg 4; Stanford -- O'Hara 69, 73.
Red card: Stanford -- O'Hara 73.
Referee: Corey Rockwell.
Att.: 8,536.