The debate over which conference is the best in college soccer was resolved on Saturday when the Atlantic Coast Conference flexed its muscles and sent three teams to next weekend's NCAA College Cup.
Top-seeded Wake Forest, second-seeded Maryland and No. 13 North Carolina will join No. 3 St. John's out of the Big East at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.
A week after a 7-0 drubbing of Dartmouth, Wake Forest (21-1-1) again had an awesome offensive outburst, beating fifth-seeded South Florida, 5-0 on Saturday night at Spry Stadium in Winston Salem, N.C. The Demon Deacons put the game away early, leading 4-0 before the half-hour mark.
Wake is the 12th team in history to advance to three consecutive College Cups, the first since Maryland went there four times from 2002-05.
Cody Arnoux set up three goals, including the first by Jamie Franks in the 15th minute. A little more than a minute later, Sam Cronin capitalized on a USF turnover to score his 10th goal of the year.
Lyle Adams finished an Arnoux cross in the 21st minute and eight minutes later Corben Bone picked up his 17th assist of the season when Marcus Tracy knocked in his cross to give Wake a comfortable halftime cushion.
The hosts added a fifth goal in the 61st minute when Zack Schilawski collected an Arnoux cross and put his shot off Bulls goalkeeper Jeff Attinella to cap the dominant performance.
"I'm very excited for my team," Wake Forest coach Jay Vidovich said. "We had a tremendous start to the match. Jamie got us off to a great start with his goal and then Sam had a great response goal a minute later and set the tone for everything. I'm tremendously happy with how we played and defended right from the beginning."
Wake will meet ACC rival North Carolina in the first semifinal Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Tar Heels defeated Northwestern 1-0 at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C. Saturday afternoon to advance to the College Cup for the third time in program history and first time since winning the national championship in 2001.
"It was exactly the game we expected and the opponent we knew we would get, tough defensively and very strong," North Carolina coach Elmar Bolowich said after the game. "They didn't give us anything and didn't make any mistakes. We had a hard time again getting the rhythm going. In the second half we regrouped, our attacking strategy paid off, and we had more looks at the goal. We felt like we needed one goal to break the ice and we got it."
Freshman midfielder Kirk Urso scored the game-winning goal for UNC (14-7-1) in the 61st minute, volleying a loose ball from 15 yards out past Northwestern 'keeper Misha Rosenthal and into the right corner of the net.
"It's always about fighting to find the right spot and being in the right spot at the right time and lucky enough it took a good bounce for me," said Urso, a native of Chicago suburb Lombard, Ill. "(Billy) Schuler, my roommate, let it go, and I was right there and buried it and it went in. It's like a dream right now."
Maryland heads to the College Cup for the fifth time in seven seasons and first time since winning the national title in 2005. The Terps defeated Creighton 1-0 at Ludwig Field in College Park, Md. Saturday afternoon.
"It feels great to be back," said Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski, whose team improved to 21-3-0. "I couldn't be more proud of our team right now. I thought we played a Creighton team that was as competitive as they come. We knew this was going to be a real combative game and a real high energy game."
Rodney Wallace scored the game's lone goal in the 24th minute when the sophomore left back headed in Michael Marchiano's free kick for his third goal of the year. It was only the 10th goal conceded this year by Creighton, which had a 15-match unbeaten streak snapped.
Maryland will meet third-seeded St. John's, which defeated No. 6 Indiana, 3-2 in overtime after erasing a two-goal deficit in the final eight minutes of the second half Saturday night at Belson Stadium in Jamaica, N.Y.
"It's just an unbelievable victory for all the guys on the team," Red Storm coach Dave Masur said. "I'm very proud of them."
Thanks to Nelson Becerra's penalty kick five minutes into overtime, St. John's (19-2-3) advanced to the College Cup for the fourth time in program history and first time since losing in the 2003 national championship game to the Hoosiers. The Red Storm won the title in 1996.
Becerra's penalty kick came after a sequence that saw Ryan Soroka's shot stopped by Indiana goalkeeper Chay Cain, who made an acrobatic save. The rebound bounced to freshman Walter Hines, who shot at the open net only to have Indiana defender Ofari Sarkodie desperately handle the ball on the line.
Referee Alex Prus pointed to the spot and sent off Sarkodie, who had put Indiana (14-7-3) in front with his first goal of the season in the 36th minute.
Becerra pushed his left-footed spot kick to the right of Cain, sparking a wild celebration and capping a remarkable comeback.
"Before I scored I was real nervous, but it goes away right before you hit it," said Becerra, who struck for his team-leading eighth goal of the year. "It goes away and like Coach said, I always like to step up and take the PK. I feel like I was ready to take it. I feel like I'm always ready. That's why I practice every day."
Eric Alexander gave the visitors a two-goal lead in the 72nd minute and it looked like Indiana would advance to the College Cup for the 18th time in program history. But Swedish defender Joel Gustafsson, who was pushed up front in the final 10 minutes of the second half, knocked in a Becerra cross in the 82nd minute.
With 2:03 remaining in the second half, the Red Storm equalized when Norwegian forward Sverre Wegge Gundhus tapped in Hines' deflected cross and scored his third NCAA tournament goal and fourth of the season.
"I'm proud of my guys. I feel sorry for them, I'm saddened for them, but that's the way it goes," Indiana coach Mike Freitag said. "(St. John's) obviously showed they have the character of a champion the way they came back tonight."
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