We meet again

West Coast Conference face off for NCAA soccer title

Veronica Zepeda scored two goals against North Carolina in the semifinals. AP

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Santa Clara and Portland have a long history of facing off for supremacy in the West Coast Conference.

The stakes will be much higher Sunday: The teams meet in the NCAA Women's College Cup soccer final.

"There are no secrets between Santa Clara and Portland," Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith said. "We have had a lot of great battles over the years."

Santa Clara (20-4-1) is the defending national champion. The Broncos reached the final again by beating perennial power North Carolina 2-1 behind Veronica Zepeda's two goals.

Sunday's final will be just the second NCAA women's soccer championship game in 21 years without the Tar Heels, who have won 16 national titles.

Portland (19-4-2) beat Penn State 2-0 in the other semifinal.

Santa Clara shared the West Cooast Conference regular-season title with Pepperdine. The Broncos lead the all-time series with Portland 11-8-1 and beat the Pilots 1-0 already this season.

Portland played that game without leading goal scorer Christine Sinclair, who was with the Canadian national team.

Sinclair has 24 goals this season, including one against Penn State that gave the Pilots a 1-0 lead three minutes in.

A similarly quick score Sunday could make a big difference. The Pilots' defense has six straight shutouts since losing to Santa Clara on Nov. 3.

"Her job is to score goals," Portland coach Clive Charles said. "But it works both ways: Sometimes if you score a goal quickly that you don't deserve, it can lull you into a false sense of security."

Smith said Santa Clara will focus more on penetrating the Pilots' defense than stopping Sinclair.

"Santa Clara has never concerned themselves with stopping the other team," Smith said. "We're just going to try to outgun you."

Portland is in its first final since 1995, when the Pilots lost 1-0 to Notre Dame in triple overtime, a loss that still rankles Charles.

Portland's coach said the conference rivalry will mean little Sunday.

"This is the national championship final," Charles said. "Once the whistle blows, Santa Clara will be looking at us as a team trying to take their title away."

 

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