Courtney Barg scored in the 15th minute and Notre Dame beat Stanford, 1-0, yesterday to reach the championship of the NCAA Women's College Cup in Cary, N.C.

The Fighting Irish (26-0-0), who are in the final four for the third consecutive year, will play North Carolina, a 1-0 winner against UCLA in the other semifinal, tomorrow.

Melissa Henderson, who played on the same club team as Barg before the two decided to go to Notre Dame together, set up her fellow freshman. She sent a low cross into the right side of the box for Barg, who trapped it, then turned and fired a right-footed shot to the far side past Stanford goalkeeper Kira Maker.

"They've been great all year," Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum said. "They both have been fantastic, and as the year has gone on, they've gotten better and better for us. We brought them in here knowing they were going to fill some big shoes for us over the next four years, and they definitely haven't let us down."

Stanford (22-2-1), which set a school record for wins in a season, had two good scoring chances in the first half. But Notre Dame goalkeeper Kelsey Lysander turned away both chances. Lysander made a sliding save on a shot by Kelley O'Hara midway through the half, then stopped a header by Christen Press five minutes later.

Lysander had seven saves in the Notre Dame's 18th shutout of the season and eighth shutout in the past nine games.

The Cardinal dominated possession in the second half giving them a 20-12 advantage in shots overall, but failed to score for just the second time this season.

"I thought we got a little unlucky, and they got lucky and broke through when we had one breakdown in the first half," Stanford defender Allison Falk said. "They got a goal, and we didn't. That's soccer."

With NBA star Yao Ming offering a message of support, China entered its bid to be the host of basketball's world championship in 2014. Italy and Spain also made presentations to the sport's governing body in Geneva. FIBA will choose the host nation in May. Turkey will play host to the next world championship in 2010. Spain won the 2006 event in Japan.

Defending World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn of the United States won the first women's downhill of the season in Lake Louise, Alberta. In swirling winds and persistent falling snow, Vonn won in 1:26.10, beating Italy's Nadia Fanchini by 0.61 seconds. Maria Riesch of Germany was third in 1:26.79. Vonn won the downhill in Lake Louise for the fifth consecutive year.

• Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal showed no hint of apprehension while winning the men's downhill a year after a serious crash on the Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek, Colo., ended his season. He finished in 1:43.85, while Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein came in second, .06 seconds behind. Canada's Erik Guay was third. The Americans had trouble on the fast course. Bode Miller wiped out after clipping his left ski on a gate, Marco Sullivan wound up too wide on a turn, burning by a gate, and Andrew Weibrecht flew into the air before becoming ensnared in protective fencing.

Wait a While, trained by Todd Pletcher and the third-place finisher in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita Oct. 24, tested positive for excessive levels of procaine, a local anesthetic. The California Horse Racing Board made the announcement, saying that a hearing would be held Dec. 14 before Hollywood Park stewards to consider disqualification of the 5-year-old mare and forfeiture of $213,000, her share of the purse.

• Jans Luck went over $500,000 in career earnings after winning the $25,000 Filly & Mare Preferred Handicap pace at The Meadows.

Ambridge hired Neil Tkatch as its new football coach. Tkatch, an Ambridge graduate and guidance counselor at the school, spent the past eight seasons as an assistant at South Side Beaver. Tkatch takes over for Don Yannessa, who retired in October after coaching the Bridgers the past six seasons.