Christine Sinclair’s goal in the second overtime Sunday gave Portland its first national championship in any sport. Portland beat defending champion Santa Clara 2-1 Sunday at the 2002 NCAA Women’s College Cup tournament in Austin, Texas, ending the season 20-4-1 to tie the school record for wins.

The Pilots were 3-0-2 in overtimes in 2002, and improved to 15-0 when scoring two or more goals in a game.

The second of Sinclair’s two goals on the day ended a flowing day of soccer between the two West Coast Conference rivals, played under intermittent drizzle and rain. After being outshot 4-1 in the first overtime, the Pilots went on the offensive in the second 10-minute extra period.

Sophomore defender Kristen Moore ran onto a long ball down the wing off a service from Erin Misaki, and created enough space to cross the ball to Sinclair. Sinclair’s first shot was blocked by SCU keeper Alyssa Sobolik, but the rebound trickled back to Sinclair, who punched it home for the game-winner.

"I was completely breathless. I was sitting there dreading penalty kicks and all of a sudden, there was a break and the ball ended up to the right person," said Portland head coach Clive Charles. "It felt like 10 tons were lifted off my shoulders."

Sinclair finished the year with 26 total goals, running her 2002 playoff goal total to 10, and her career total to 14 – one behind the career record of Mia Hamm (15). Sinclair now holds or ties NCAA playoff records for goals and points in a game (3 goals, 1 assist vs. Richmond), goals in tournament (10), and points in a tournament (21).

"For the first goal, I kept the ball down the line, made the cross towards the net and it found the far post. On the second goal, Kristen [Moore] made an excellent cross. It was nice to finish off the shot," added Sinclair. "The ball was slippery and it skipped. It was not the prettiest goal, but it counted and that is all that matters."

Lauren Arase allowed just one goal in the 2002 playoffs, setting an NCAA record for playoff goals against average (0.16), allowing just one goal in six games.

Just over eight minutes after Santa Clara’s Devvyn Hawkins put the Broncos ahead 1-0 in the 53rd minute, Sinclair evened the score with a brilliant bending shot from just outside the penalty area on an extreme angle to the far post.

Sinclair had taken a Santa Clara defender deep with the ball waiting for support, but instead wheeled abruptly to face the field, then fired a low skidding shot that bent around Broncos keeper Alyssa Sobolik and into the side netting behind the far post.

The Broncos nearly countered minutes later, but Chardonnay Poole’s header off Aly Wagner’s corner kick bounced off the crossbar then the post before Portland’s Lauren Arase was able to track down the ball.

Santa Clara’s goal started with a Wagner corner kick, and after Leslie Osborne headed the ball over to Kristi Candau, Candau’s header was batted away by Arase, but Hawkins jumped on the loose ball and pounded it in past the scrambling Pilot defense.

The goal was the first allowed by the Pilots since Santa Clara scored in the 11th minute at Portland on Nov. 3 – a span of eight games and 809:59 minutes.

"Portland is such a great team. If we can’t win it all, I am glad it was Portland," commented Santa Clara midfielder Aly Wagner. "Of course, we wanted to win, but you can’t take anything away from them. This [national championship] has been long overdue for them. It’s just too bad it had to be against us."

Portland outshot Santa Clara 19-12 in regulation, 14-10 in the second half, but Santa Clara held a 4-1 edge in the first overtime.

Wagner was saved in overtime by a diving Arase after Wagner had won a challenge from Lauren Orlandos. Arase later punched Leslie Osborne’s long-range shot over the crossbar, but was knocked out with a head injury at 5:33 left in the first overtime, and freshman Kim Head came on after having played just 25:12 the entire season.

The #8-seeded Pilots were the lowest-seeded team to make and win the championship game since the NCAA tournament began seeding eight teams in 1994.

Sinclair, Lauren Orlandos, Erin Misaki and Lauren Arase were named to the all-tournament team, with Sinclair winning Offensive MVP honors. Santa Clara’s Aly Wagner, Devvyn Hawkins, Veronica Zepeda and Jessica Ballweg were also on the all-tourney team, as well as Penn State’s Joanna Lohman, and North Carolina’s Catherine Reddick and Lindsay Tarpley. Ballweg was the tournament’s Defensive MVP.