December 4, 1998

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Chances are they will be talking about this one for years to come.

In one of the most dramatic games in the 17-year history of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament, top-seeded North Carolina was pushed to literally the last seconds of the game before subduing fifth-seeded Portland 1-0 in four overtimes in the semifinals of the 1998 Championship before a crowd of 9.445 fans at the UNC-Greensboro Soccer Stadium.

Sophomore Meredith Florance drilled a shot from 24 yards out into the upper right corner of the Portland goal at the 149:38 mark of the match, only 22 seconds before the two teams would have been forced to decide the outcome of the game on penalty kicks.

Carolina now advances to the championship game of the tournament against second-seeded Florida on Sunday at 1 p.m. at UNCG Soccer Stadium. The Gators advanced to the national final for the first time in only its fourth year as a varsity team by defeating third-seeded Santa Clara 1-0 in the first semifinal game Friday.

As exhilarating as that game was, it was a mere prelude to the drama of the second game. In the longest game in North Carolina's 20-year women's soccer history, the Tar Heels escaped to improve its all-time mark to 442-16-11. Sunday's game will mark the 16th appearance for the Tar Heels in the NCAA championship game in the 17 years of the tournament, which began in 1982. Carolina has won 14 of the previous 16 NCAA championships and the Tar Heels were also winners of the AIAW national championship in 1981 prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament.

Friday's game will go down as one of the classics in the history of the tournament. The teams battled for over 149 minutes of scoreless soccer before Florance's first-ever game-winning goal in a post-season game lifted Carolina to the victory. Despite a 28-2 advantage by the Tar Heels in shots on goal, Portland's defense kept the Tar Heels off the scoreboard through 90 minutes of regulation time, 30 minutes of overtime and over 29 minutes of sudden-death overtime. The Pilots, who finished the campaign with a record of 19-3-2, were just 22 seconds shy of forcing the Tar Heels into a penalty kick shootout to decide which team advanced to the NCAA title game.

But 1997 Hermann Trophy and Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year winner Cindy Parlow gained possession for the Tar Heels in their half and fed the ball to junior All-America midfielder Laurie Schwoy. Schwoy flicked the ball onto Florance, who pivoted toward the goal and got herself in a position to shoot. With little margin for error, Florance's shot sailed on a line over the outstretched fingertips of Portland goalkeeper Angela Harrison and into the upper right corner of the net, setting off a mass celebration both on the field and amongst the majority of the partisan crowd which was the highest for an NCAA semifinal doubleheader in history.

Carolina, which improved to 25-0 this season, has now won 46 matches in a row over the last two seasons. Carolina is unbeaten in its past 70 matches, going 69-0-1 since losing to Notre Dame in overtime on October 4, 1996.

Despite allowing the Carolina goal in the 150th minutes, Harrison was brilliant in goal for the Pilots, making 10 saves and allowing only the one goal. In a game for weird statistics, UNC had 19 corner kicks to only four for the Pilots. And Portland was called for being offside 19 times compared to only once for the Tar Heels.

After two incredible NCAA semifinal games on Friday, it is hard to imagine how Sunday's title can possibly top the semifinal encounters in terms of excitement. But Florida and North Carolina will try to comply. Game time is 1 p.m. The game will be nationally televised by ESPN and can be heard in the Triangle region of North Carolina on WCHL Radio.

                    1   2   OT  OT  OT  OT     F
#6 PORTLAND         0   0   0   0   0   0  --  0
#1 NORTH CAROLINA   0   0   0   0   0   1  --  1

UNC: Meredith Florance (Laurie Schwoy, Cindy Parlow), 149:38

Shots: Portland 2, North Carolina 28

Corner Kicks: Portland 4, Portland 19

Goalkeeper Saves: Angela Harrison (UP) 10, Siri Mullinix (UNC) 0

Fouls: Portland 18, North Carolina 16

Offside: Portland 19, North Carolina 1

Starting Lineups:
Portland--Angela Harrison (GK), Kimberly Stiles, Jenna Johnson, Tia Sharpe, Lindsay Smart, Brooke O'Hanley, Michelle French, Vanessa Talbott, Kylee Barton, Kristen Eaton, Tara Koleski

North Carolina--Siri Mullinix (GK), Tiffany Roberts, Rebekah McDowell, Lorrie Fair, Lindsay Stoecker, Raven McDonald, Laurie Schwoy, Cindy Parlow, Meredith Florance, Danielle Borgman, Jena Kluegel

Officials: Manny Ortiz (Referee), Rachel Woo (Assistant Referee), Larry Mittleman (Assistant Referee), Donna Cornwell (4th)

Records: Portland 19-3-2; North Carolina 25-0-0

Attendance: 9,445