FRISCO, Texas -- On Friday afternoon, the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup will kick off as ACC rivals Wake Forest and North Carolina square off in the early game at 5:30 p.m. ET. Then, in the nightcap, Maryland and St. John's meet in the second national semifinal.
Wake Forest (21-1-1) vs. North Carolina (14-7-1), 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
On Nov. 1, the two teams met in ACC play in Chapel Hill, N.C. North Carolina had a 2-1 lead for much of the game until Wake exploded for three goals in six minutes to prevail 4-2. Both coaches are ready to face such familiar opposition.
"One of the best things about going into NCAA play is getting to play different teams with different looks," Wake Forest head coach Jay Vidovich said. "The other side of it is that when we had the conference call for the tape exchange of each other's games, (UNC head coach) Elmar (Bolowich) and I were like do we even need to? We know each other so well."
Bolowich hopes that Wake, which has scored 13 goals in their first three NCAA tournament games this year, is a little low on ammunition.
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"I hope they've run out of scoring," he said. "I think (Friday) will be an open game with a lot of flow and opportunities both ways."
Wake is seeking to repeat as NCAA champions in this, their third consecutive trip to the College Cup. The last school to accomplish that feat was Indiana, who won the national crown in both 2003 and 2004. The repeat is clearly on the minds of the Demon Deacons.
"I think the first time (at the College Cup), two years ago, it was all new for us," WFU midfielder Sam Cronin said. "We were just soaking it all in and we had an early exit from the tournament. So, our goal last year was to stay in the tournament and play on Sunday. And here our goal is the same thing and we're excited about the opportunity."
The Tar Heels are more than well aware of what it will take to defeat Wake, which UNC has not defeated in the last five meetings.
"We'll have to put in a great effort for 90 minutes," North Carolina midfielder Michael Callahan said. "If we do that, I think we can put ourselves in a good position. They're a great counterattacking team, so we have to stay in position."
St. John's (19-2-3) vs. Maryland (21-3-0), 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Maryland is arguably the hottest team coming into this year's College Cup as the Terrapins have won 14 consecutive games. Their last defeat came Oct. 3 at Clemson, when they fell 5-3 in an ACC conference match. Since then, Maryland has outscored their opposition 27-6. In their three NCAA tournament games, the Terps have allowed just one goal.
However, St. John's has also been playing some good soccer of late. Winners of three in a row, the Red Storm have won 11 of their last 13. As a team, they have allowed an average of just 0.50 goals per game. The Red Storm have struggled in the NCAA tournament against the Terps, having been eliminated by them in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
For St. John's head coach Dr. Dave Masur, this year's Maryland squad bears close resemblance to those teams.
"They are similar because they attack the ball well in the box," he said. "Up front, they have terrific goal scorers. Their two center forwards, (Casey) Townsend and (Jason) Herrick are pretty physical, pretty direct for 90 minutes, so they are a handful for any back four. They have great flank play with the wide guys getting a lot of goals. (Jeremy) Hall is getting in and getting goals."
Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski has nothing but the utmost respect for the man guiding the Red Storm from the sidelines and for his group on the field.
"Dave Masur is a great coach and his team is extremely well-organized," he said. "They have very good balance all over the field. They play until the final whistle. They're a team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes."
Terps senior defender A.J. Delagarza was a freshman on the last UM team that advanced to the College Cup in 2005 and won the NCAA title.
"We have leadership this year," he said. "My freshman year, we had five or six seniors who brought leadership on and off the field. I think this year, our seniors and juniors have stepped into that role."
Even though the Red Storm have had to come from behind to win twice in the NCAA tournament, senior defender Rory Quinn is confident that his team can show the same tenacity against Maryland.
"We never say die," he said. "We really take pride in working the whole time. It is something we have really worked on in the past, in my four years here to make sure we play regardless of the score, regardless of the situation until the ref makes sure the play is dead."
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