Women's Soccer

In front of a partisan crowd of 9,531 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC, the second-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels stormed to a 2-0 lead over the top-ranked UCLA Bruins in the 2022 NCAA Women's College Cup Final on Monday night.

After a goalless first half, Avery Patterson opened the scoring for UNC with a header off Emily Colton's cross in the 59th minute.

58 ' I THE TAR HEELS STRIKE FIRST IN CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY ‼️

The University of Chicago beat Williams College 2-0 in the Division III men's championship, making head coach Julianne Sitch the first woman to lead an NCAA men's soccer team to a national title.

Sitch led the UChicago Maroons to an undefeated 22-0-1 record in her first season at the helm. The team's lone blemish — a 0-0 draw to New York University back in October — was actually against the only other woman coaching in men's Div. III, NYU's Kim Wyant.

Staring at an unprecedented fourth straight defeat after Jule Brand had given Germany an early lead at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on Sunday night, the USWNT's misfiring forwards sprang to life in the second half with two goals in a two-minute span to get the squad back on track.

Sitting on USWNT Zoom media calls before Thursday night's friendly against Germany in Fort Lauderdale, the answer to every question was some iteration of how the squad would rebound from back-to-back October defeats to England and Spain.

The idea of the U.S. not putting things right wasn't entertained. Lessons had been learned, Alex Morgan was returning and statements would be made.

The USWNT is looking to make a statement after losing consecutive matches for the first time in five years.