Dec. 3, 2004
CARY, N.C. - Santa Clara University fell to Notre Dame 1-0 in the College Cup semifinal, part of the 23rd NCAA Women's Soccer Championship, hosted at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
The Broncos (18-5-2) were participating in their 10th College Cup and advanced despite being seeded 16th by the NCAA Committee. Santa Clara won the national championship in 2001 and followed with a runner-up finish in 2002.
Notre Dame (24-1-1) is seeded fourth in the tournament, and will face 14th seed UCLA in the final. The Bruins topped Princeton 2-0 in the other semifinal.
Although the Broncos did not record an official shot in the first period, the team had many scoring opportunities. Santa Clara had a strong attempt when Marian Dalmy threw the ball in on the near side to Tina Estrada, who slid the ball over to Megan Kakadelas. The ball slipped through the forward's legs and Notre Dame recovered before SCU could take advantage.
Santa Clara's first shot of the match came in the 55th minute, with Leslie Osborne's attempt stopped by Irish keeper Erika Bohn. Osborne followed with a strong header with four minutes remaining that went just wide left.
Notre Dame scored the game-winner in the 73rd minute. On the counterattack, Candace Chapman dribbled the ball into the attacking third, and passed the ball to the right to Katie Thorlakson. Thorlakson passed it right back to Chapman, who chested the ball and then took it to the lower-left corner for the go-ahead score. It marked the second goal Julie Ryder has allowed in this tournament and only the second in the last 11 matches.
Notre Dame finished with an 11-3 shot advantage.
