DALLAS -- The newcomers looked like the veterans in Sunday's NCAA College Cup Championship.

Santa Clara scored a first-half goal and then used tough defense to beat top seed and 16-time champion North Carolina 1-0.

The win gave the second-seeded Broncos (23-2) their first national title after seven trips to the national semifinals.

Santa Clara's goal came in the 41st minute when Leslie Osborne picked up a loose ball at midfield and dropped it into the far right corner.

Jessica Ballweg made a quick move on North Carolina's Danielle Borgman and then spun to get away. Ballweg then slid a pass to Aly Wagner, who was standing in the middle of the field 20 yards out.

Wagner controlled the ball before firing a shot past Tar Heels keeper Jenni Branam into the lower right side. It was Wagner's 17th goal of the season and her fourth in the NCAA tournament at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Wagner was named the tournament's offensive MVP after Sunday's win.

"The goal (Wagner) scored was world-class. They played a heck of a game to beat us," North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance said.

Wagner, who led the nation in assists and finished fifth in scoring, had two assists in the Broncos' 3-2 overtime win against Florida in Friday's semifinal.

"Today there was nothing for us to be nervous about. We were the No. 2 seed, ranked second in the country, in our first final. The pressure for us was Friday," Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith said.

UNC's normally aggressive offense never found a rhythm. The Tar Heels (24-1) had only one shot on goal in the first half and few opportunities in the second.

North Carolina did break through once but an offsides call negated Sara Randolph's goal.

In the 77th minute, Anne Morrell lifted a corner kick to Randolph 10 yards out. Randolph emerged from a group of players and got the ball past Santa Clara keeper Alyssa Sobolik, but Anne Remy was clearly behind the Broncos defense.

Santa Clara also snapped North Carolina's 34-game win streak and 11-game NCAA tournament streak.

"They played with tremendous physical commitment. They put us under withering pressure the whole game," said Dorrance.

The Tar Heels have been in the final four in all 20 College Cups and haven't lost an NCAA tournament game since falling to Florida 1-0 in the 1998 final, when the final four was the same as this year's field.

North Carolina's last loss was 1-0 to Wake Forest on Oct. 27, 2000.