University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Portland
Nogueira's First Career Goal Lifts UNC Past Defending NCAA Champion Portland
September 10, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 10, 2006
PORTLAND, OREGON - Freshman forward Casey Nogueira scored the first goal of her career in the 41st minute and it was enough to lift No. 5 North Carolina past No. 9 Portland, the defending NCAA champion, 1-0 Sunday afternoon in the final match of the 2006 Nike Portland Invitational before near sellout crowd of 4,892 at Harry A. Merlo Field. The Tar Heels won the championship of the tournament after going 2-0 while Portland and Washington were both 1-1 and Baylor was 0-2.
Nogueira, who just returned to the team this past week after missing the first five games of the season while playing with the U.S. Under-20 National Team at the World Championship, scored her goal after taking a pass from fellow freshman Nikki Washington and beating a Portland defender and goalkeeper Cori Alexander to score into an open goal from eight yards out.
In a hard fought match between the two sides, the Tar Heels outshot the Pilots 15-10 and had three corner kicks to two for Portland. Both teams had some difficulty hitting the face of the goal as of the 25 shots, only seven were on goal. Anna Rodenbough had her fifth solo shutout of the season for UNC, which improved to 6-1 on the year. She made three saves. Alexander had three saves for Portland, which fell to 3-2-1.
The match marked the first time in history that Carolina has started six freshmen in a game. The game was the 654th in UNC history. The freshman starters included forwards Whitney Engen and Sterling Smith, midfielders Nikki Washington and Tobin Heath and defenders Ali Hawkins and Kristi Eveland.
Portland had the first good chance to score in the match with around 39 minutes left in the first half. Angie Woznuk launched a corner kick from the right pylon and the Pilots' leading scorer, Megan Rapinoe, was unmarked by the Tar Heels at the eight-yard line. Her header resulted in a diving save by Tar Heel sophomore goalkeeper Anna Rodenbough who snatched the ball off the line diving to her right.
Just three minutes later the Tar Heels almost seized the lead when Heather O'Reilly got behind the Portland defense in the box. Portland goalkeeper Cori Alexander came out to challenge O'Reilly whose shot banged off the cross bar and bounced away.
Both teams continued to fire the ball on goal in the wide open affair with the Tar Heels launching 11 shots in the first half and Portland six. The Pilots had the only corner kick of the first half. Rodenbough made three saves in the first half for UNC, while Alexander had two first half stops for Portland.
Carolina broke through to score with 3:56 left in the first half as two Tar Heel freshmen combined on the goal. Freshman midfielder Nikki Washington launched a long pass from near midfield that freshman striker Casey Nogueira ran on to just outside the penalty area. Nogueira beat a Portland defender to the ball and then dribbled around a diving Cori Alexander who had come off her line to try to snuff the scoring chance. Nogueira then tapped the ball over the line into the center of the goal from about eight yards out. It was the first career goal for Nogueira who just returned to the UNC team this past week after playing with the United States Under-20 National Team at the World Championship in Russia.
Both teams had four shots in the second half although they were plenty of dangerous chances for both teams. At 35:37, Portland's Kendra Chandhoke got behind the UNC defense on the left side and dribbled into the box for a one-on-once chance against Rodenbough. But Chandhoke's hard shot sailed just wide of the far post.
Rodenbough made a goal-saving slide just outside the box at 17:27 and less than two minutes later the Tar Heel defense cleared the ball out after good looks at the goal by Rachael Rapinoe and Chandhoke. Rodenbough had to come out again at 14:25 to try to clear a ball which Tobin Heath eventually cleared out of harm's way. Portland's last really good chance came with 12:44 left when Ariel Harris blocked a shot by Rachael Rapinoe at the top of the box over the cross bar for a corner kick.
UNC's Heather O'Reilly almost made it 2-0 with 8:15 left as her shot went just past the left post. After Rodenbough claimed a loose ball off a free kick from midfield with 3:10 left, O'Reilly had one more chance with 1:44 left but her shot went high. The Tar Heels controlled possession much of the last two minutes, blocking a final Portland free kick with 25 seconds left.
Carolina returns to action next Friday in the Duke adidas Classic in Durham, N.C. On Friday UNC will meet No. 23 Marquette at 5 p.m. After two days off the Tar Heels will then play in the tournament again next Sunday at 12 noon against Florida.
