College Cup in Frisco this weekend will decide national soccer champ

by Erin Rice

Soccer's equivalent of basketball's Final Four kicks off on Friday, December 12 at FC Dallas' stadium in Pizza Hut Park. The 2008 College Cup feature four universities, Maryland, North Carolina, St. John's and Wake Forest, all looking to claim the top prize in NCAA sports.

Wake Forest, the 2007 College Cup champ, is favored to defend its title.

The first semifinal is on Friday at 4:30 p.m. between the #1 ranked* Wake Forest (23-1-1) and the #13 North Carolina (14-7-1). Both ACC teams, they've met once before this season in early November, resulting in a 4-2 Wake Forest win. The Demon Deacons were the 2007 College Cup Champions, but they fell to Virginia in this year's ACC conference tournament, the team's only loss of the season. They have not allowed a single goal in the NCAA tournament thus far, winning by an average of 4.67 goals per game.

The Tar Heels have not faced a higher ranked team in the playoffs thus far, winning all three games by one goal. They narrowly defeated Illinois-Chicago in overtime in the third round to face (and defeat) Northwestern in the quarterfinal round. North Carolina's sister team, a soccer dynasty, won its 19th NCAA title last weekend, defeating Notre Dame 2-1 with a late goal.

At 7 p.m. the second semifinal game kicks off between #2 Maryland (21-3-0) and #3 St. John's (19-2-3) from New York. Maryland, the third ACC team in the College Cup, defeated California in the third round, one of only three teams to beat the Terrapins this season. Maryland lost to conference foe and fellow semifinalists Wake Forest 4-2 in September. The Terrapins have given up only one goal in the tournament.

Maryland's mascot would be cooler if it carried nunchucks and road a skateboard.

St. John's, representing the Big East conference, yielded four goals in the tournament, winning each match by a single goal. The Red Storm advanced to the College Cup on a nail biter against #6 Indiana, coming back from a 2-0 deficit with under nine minutes left in regulation. An overtime penalty kick sealed the program's sixth College Cup berth.

The victor from each semifinal will face off Sunday, December 14th at noon in the College Cup Championship. Tickets start at $20 single day admittance, or $35 to see all three games. To buy advance tickets call 214-SMUGAME or 214-705-6700. All games will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

*NCAA tournament ranking

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Todd Jones, says:

Gee. They decide their national champion by using a playoff. What a great idea! Good job to the Frisco community for hosting the soccer cup. I hope they have good crowds and that the games are great.