(No idea why this didn’t post yesterday, as was planned. Carry on …)

The Kicking Nikkis had barely broken a sweat when they found themselves trailing in yesterday’s Sunday’s national championship game, but there’s no easy way to convince anyone who paid attention that the No. 1-ranked team in the country wasn’t worthy of a win, if not the better team, in San Jose, Calif.

And yet, the College Cup is headed to USC for the second time and West Virginia’s first trip into the final four and then a step beyond ended in heartache.

It was the second championship for the Trojans (19-4-2) — USC previously won in 2007 after it beat host West Virginia in the quarterfinals.

The WVU women’s soccer team (23-2-2) was attempting to become the second program in school history to win an NCAA title, following the rifle team. It had a 21-8 edge in shots but lacked a finishing touch, except for a goal in the 66th minute by senior midfielder Ashley Lawrence that momentarily tied the game.

“I thought we did a great job battling back, creating opportunities,” WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “This sport is cruel and I thought we created some great opportunities, but at the end of the day we didn’t finish and USC did.”