BY SCOTT FRENCH, Senior Editor in Dallas Santa Clara ended its semifinal jinx and North Carolina remained on track for an 18th national championship Friday night with tight semifinal victories at the NCAA Women’s College Cup soccer championships at Southern Methodist University’s Ford Stadium. Veronica Zepeda scored two goals, including an overtime winner off the crossbar, and Aly Wagner set up a pair with beautiful feeds as Santa Clara overcame a late Florida rally, 3-2, in the second game of the doubleheader. Anne Remy scored one goal and set up another as North Carolina’s depth wore down Portland, 2-1, in the opener. It produces the final everyone — except Portland and Florida fans — wanted to see, with the No. 1 Tar Heels (24-0) taking on the No. 2 Broncos (22-2) in Sunday’s 3 p.;m. (CST) final. The game will be televised live on ESPN. Santa Clara, spreading the field with its patented possession game, dominated most of its match, opening a 2-0 lead before Crystal Frimpong’s speed enabled the sixth-ranked Gators (21-4-1) to pull even with goals a little more than three minutes apart. The Broncos’ defense, with four-time NSCAA All-American Danielle Slaton doing most of the work on Gator striker Abby Wambach — the nation’s leading scorer — allowed Florida just eight shots, only four of them on target. Two of them got past goalkeeper Alyssa Sobolik, with Frimpong finishing a sweet through ball from Wambach in the 84th minute, then drawing the foul that led to Katie Johnston’s header from a Casey Hamel free kick in the 87th. Florida’s superior speed and athleticism caused the Broncos problems early on, but the game turned about 20 minutes in once Santa Clara calmed down and began playing its game. With Wagner pulling the strings, the Broncos made repeated forays to the Gator box but found it difficult to penetrate Florida’s defensive wall. Wagner solved that in the 42nd minute, taking a pass from Zepeda and chipping it over the Gator defense. Zepeda, with a run that left Florida’s defenders flat-footed, raced in behind and beat goalkeeper Jordan Kellgren to the ball, redirecting it into the net. Santa Clara’s dominance didn’t pay off with a second goal, by freshman Leslie Osborne, until the 77th minute. Wagner sent a free kick from near the center circle into Florida’s box, where Osborne chested it past defender Karyn Hall, then fired past Kellgren. That should have been it, but the Gators found seams deep into Santa Clara territory, using them to force overtime. Zepeda netted the winner after a Wagner free kick was cleared and defender Jessica Ballweg sent it to Zepeda, open near the top of the box. Her shot hit the crossbar and deflected down about two feet into the goal. It bounced out and Devvyn Hawkins knocked it home, but Zepeda was given credit after television replays indicated Zepeda had scored the goal. The win was the first in eight semifinal games for the Broncos. In the first game, North Carolina played superb defense all over the field and dominated play in midfield, preventing Portland from providing freshman phenom Christine Sinclair any decent looks at the goal. The Pilots (20-4) managed only six shots, two on goal, but should have seen overtime after Carolina keeper Jenni Branam pulled Portland midfielder Betsy Barr away from the ball before making a save in the 89th minute. It seemed a clear penalty, but referee Msail Tsapos failed to blow his whistle. Remy finished a nifty sequence in the 15th minute to fire the Tar Heels ahead. Jena Kluegel, the best player on the field, sent a ball up the left wing to freshman Anne Morrell, who took it to the box and fed a square ball to Alyssa Ramsey. Ramsey touched it back to Remy, whose shot to the upper-left left goalkeeper Cristin Shea no chance. Elizabeth Ball, who grew up about two miles from the SMU campus, netted the second just 25 seconds after coming on for Ramsey. Freshman Sara Randolph sent in a cross from the right, which Remy flicked with a backheel past defender Lindsay Smart to Ball. Lauren Orlandos, Portland’s top defender, battled Ball for the ball but couldn’t get a piece of it, and the Carolina sophomore was left with a nearly open net to fire into. Portland halved the deficit in the 70th minute from an Erin Misaki free kick near midfield. Christine Sinclair nodded it into the box, and Lisa Casagrande won a battle with defender Catherine Reddick for the ball, the fired past Branam. North Carolina has won 16 of 19 previous NCAA titles — plus an AIAW crown in 1981 — and have played in every final except in 1995. Friday’s semifinals were rematches of the 1998 semifinals, which North Carolina and Florida captured with 1-0 victories. Florida won the final, 1-0, but the Tar Heels have won the two championship games since then. NCAA WOMEN’S COLLEGE CUP at Ford Stadium (SMU) Friday’s semifinals North Carolina 2 Portland 1. Goals: Remy (Ramsey, Morrell) 15, Ball (Remy, Randolph) 59; Casagrande 70. Santa Clara 3 Florida 2 (OT). Zepeda (Wagner) 42, Osborne (Wagner) 77, Zepeda (Ballweg) 94; Frimpong (Wambach) 84, Johnston (Hamel) 87. Sunday’s final North Carolina (24-0) vs. Santa Clara (22-2), 3 p.m. CST.