Senior midfielder Tisha Venturini scored two goals for North Carolina as the Tar Heels shut out top-ranked Notre Dame 5-0 Sunday and claimed a ninth consecutive NCAA women's soccer championship.
One of only two blemishes on the North Carolina record was a 0-0 tie with the Irish on Oct. 2 in a tournament in St. Louis. The Tar Heels had no problem avenging that tie, which snapped a 92-game winning streak for North Carolina. Duke beat the Tar Heels later in the season.Senior Angela Kelly opened the scoring for the No. 2 Tar Heels (25-1-1) with a goal just a yard in front of the net 14:22 into the first half. The play began with a corner kick by Keri Sanchez, followed by a header flick from Sarah Dacey to Kelly.
The Irish (23-1-1) got only two shots on goal in the first half, but warmed up with six more in the second half. The Tar Heels outshot Notre Dame 25-8.
Venturini's goals clinched the victory. Nine minutes into the second half she fired a 19-yard shot past Irish goalie Jen Renola to give North Carolina a 2-0 lead.
Named the top offensive player of the Final Four, Venturini added her seventh career tournament goal and the fourth in the NCAA championships with 7:35 left to make it 4-0.
Dacey and Robin Confer added the other Tar Heels goals. Confer's came with 17:44 left and Dacey's was unassisted with 2:20 remaining.
North Carolina dominated the first half, as it did against Connecticut in the semifinal, when it outshot the Huskies 27-3.
The best chance Notre Dame had in the first half was when Michelle McCarthy broke away on the right side. The shot deflected right.
Senior defender Staci Wilson of North Carolina, who was out of the championship match for seven minutes after a collision with a Notre Dame player, was named the top Final Four defensive player.