College Cup notes: Hometown boys

FRISCO, Texas -- A total of eight players in this year's event are from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. So, it wasn't a big surprise that during Thursday's press conferences, the players' thoughts on being back home was a popular topic of conversation.

Wake Forest sophomore midfielder Corben Bone hails from Plano, a Dallas suburb. "It's really exciting. I haven't been back to Texas. I don't get to come back too often being so far away. So it's good to come back and have the College Cup here. My family can come watch and I'm really excited to go after another championship here in my hometown. I can't wait."

"It feels great," said Maryland defender Omar Gonzalez, a Dallas native. "I spent several months here (with FC Dallas), practicing with the guys and playing with the Super Group of Dallas Cup. So, just being back here brings back a whole lot of memories. I'd like to repeat that (success) and win the College Cup championship. That would be great."

North Carolina junior defender Ben Clack is from Duncanville and he too is glad to be back. "The last time I played here was my senior year (of high school) 3-1/2 years ago. So it is good to be back home and see my family. It's a little different here this time. We are here for business this time, not to relax. I am excited and glad it is being hosted in North Texas this year."

Supporting their alma maters: Each of the four storied programs have produced their share of players in Major League Soccer. At least among current or former FC Dallas players, a number of them are expected to be in attendance.

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Cheering on Maryland will be current FCD defender Michael Dello-Russo and former Hoops forward Abe Thompson, who is now with Kansas City. Jamie Watson (North Carolina) will be cheering on the Tar Heels. Other FCD players in attendance will be defender Drew Moor and forward Kenny Cooper, the 2008 MLS Comeback Player of the Year and member of the league's Best XI.

Much love for the ACC: One of the biggest stories with this year's College Cup is that it features three teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, considered one of the best leagues for college men's soccer in the nation. It was also a frequent topic of conversation on Thursday.

"I think it shows we're a good, strong conference top-to-bottom," Bolowich said. "There were some questions about ACC soccer and I think three teams is quite a statement."

Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski agreed. "Every single game we play is pretty tough," he said. "I know every ACC game we have is an all-out battle to get the win. It's been a very good year for us and going up, hopefully against another ACC team in the championship game would be a very good thing. It just shows how good the conference is."

But Masur, who coaches the lone non-ACC team in the event, St. John's, wanted to discuss his own league, the Big East Conference.

"We are proud of Big East soccer," he said. We think it is fantastic. We have 16 great teams, teams that are nationally renowned every year. We have our share of guys who do well."

College Cup semis kick off in Texas

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."

A season of firsts for Real Salt Lake

SANDY, Utah -- If anything, the 2008 season could truly be defined as a season of firsts for Real Salt Lake.

In the span of a few months, RSL went from the MLS basement to a playoff team for the first time. The Utah side also posted its first winning record and inhabited first place in the Western Conference at different junctures for the first time in club history.

2008 also marked the move from Rice-Eccles Stadium to Rio Tinto Stadium -- a soccer-specific facility that will also serve as host venue to the 2009 MLS All-Star Game.

For the club, nothing signaled 2008 would be a different year than previous ones quite like taking over the top spot in the Western Conference. Real only stayed on top for a few weeks after beating Eastern Conference champion Columbus by a 2-0 margin in mid-July. Still, the impact it made, in terms of building confidence, could not be measured.

It was also during that stretch that RSL posted a record above .500 for the first time in club history.

Real coach Jason Kreis felt like RSL earned what it got through being much more competitive on the field.

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"I still look back at the whole season and say that we were the better team in almost every game we played," Kreis said. "There was very few games where I could say, well, we didn't deserve better than we got there."

Perhaps one of the biggest keys to RSL accomplishing what it did in 2008 was the club's ability to plug in key pieces during the league's international transfer window in the summer.

In that time, RSL added depth and versatility by bringing in forward Clint Mathis, midfielder Will Johnson and utility man Robbie Russell. All three players played key roles in the team's playoff run.

Johnson instantly earned a starting role. Mathis and Russell gradually moved into the first XI as well. Kreis thought all three players possessed a nice degree of versatility and meshed well with the existing core of the team. Such additions to the RSL roster worked out better than anyone could have anticipated.

Kreis credited general manager Garth Lagerway's knack for finding the best players available.

"He does deserve a lot of credit," Kreis said. "He's worked extremely hard and been out scouting and brought in some quality players."

Many of the players themselves hoped for good things when they joined RSL at midseason. What they experienced as the season wound down exceeded even their fondest expectations.

"When I first signed, you never could have told me that this would happen the way it did," Johnson said. "Things have more or less been perfect since the minute I got here."

RSL reached a major landmark in October when it opened up Rio Tinto Stadium -- a state-of-the-art soccer-specific venue seating 20,008 people. Getting to that point was a journey fraught with political infighting as RSL worked to secure a portion of Salt Lake County tax revenues to help finance the cost of building the stadium.

Once the stadium was finished and RSL moved in, the dramatic difference between Rio Tinto and the club's former venue at Rice-Eccles became immediately apparent.

RSL players embraced a natural grass surface that was easier on their bodies than the hard artificial surface at Rice-Eccles. The stadium was also seen as a friendlier venue for the team's fans -- with better views of the field throughout the stadium than what was possible before.

Working to match its brand of soccer with the quality of its new digs became a goal for RSL in 2008 and beyond.

"This stadium is too nice to not have a good product in there," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said.

Perhaps the most memorable moment for RSL in the 2008 season is its first-ever trip to the postseason. Real needed a dramatic finish to get to that point, qualifying in the season finale at Colorado when Yura Movsisyan came up with the equalizer in the 90th minute for the playoff-clinching draw.

While that moment stands out most in the minds of fans and outside observers, for RSL players another moment proved just as big in fueling their run to the playoffs. The moment in question was Real's second road victory of the season at San Jose.

That 3-2 triumph in late September set off an eight-game unbeaten streak that did not come to an end until a 1-0 loss to New York in the Western Conference Championship.

"It was a game we wanted to win," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "We were OK with a tie, but we fought to the end and we got a victory. From then on, we got some results on the road and we picked up some confidence."

Once RSL reached the MLS Cup Playoffs, the team was not content to simply sit back and call it a season. The Utah side upset expansion partner Chivas USA and earned a surprise berth into the Western Conference Championship.

Beckerman said that the team's unexpected success was an appropriate reward to a cadre of loyal fans that have continued to support RSL even in bleaker moments.

"We wanted to give them something to cheer about," Beckerman said. "We wanted the soccer that we play to be attractive -- attacking, creating chances. This is the type of soccer we wanted to play. But, also, that's what we wanted the fans to see. We wanted them to be excited about their team and how we play."

The bitter 1-0 loss at home to the Red Bulls in the West final has left RSL wanting more going into the 2009 season. And while its possible they might rise to even further heights, it will be hard to eclipse what happened this season -- simply because how quickly the team rose after enduring mediocrity for so long.

"We're not the doormat of the league anymore," Beckerman said. "We're players in this league. That definitely takes it up a notch there. Our fans are going to expect that the type of soccer we're playing is good enough to (make us) first or second all year."

Warzycha likely to replace Schmid

COLUMBUS -- If he moves into the job vacated this week by head coach Sigi Schmid, one of the first tasks for current Columbus Crew assistant coach Robert Warzycha would be to determine if his former position would be filled.

Warzycha is the favorite to replace Schmid, who decided to seek employment elsewhere -- possibly with the expansion Seattle Sounders FC -- after leading the Crew to their first MLS championship last month.

Schmid is out of contract and the issue of a charge of tampering reportedly brought against Seattle would have to be resolved before he can complete a deal with the Sounders.

"The team is still working on the Sigi situation then will go forward with the hiring of a coach," Warzycha said. "I am one of the candidates but absolutely nothing has been resolved yet.

"I think that (being the head coach) would be best for me. I made it clear a long time ago I needed to spend some time in Columbus coaching. At some point I've said I want to be a head coach. That is a normal progression if you are an assistant. That is the perfect situation for me."

Technical director Brian Bliss feels the Crew can survive without filling the No. 2 position that Warzycha currently holds because of changes in the way MLS will operate in 2009.

Instead of 18 first-team players and 10 on the developmental roster, the new rules will allow clubs to have between 18-20 full-time players -- depending on their salary cap situations -- and up to four developmental players. The net result is a reduction in the roster to 24 from 28 and the elimination of the reserve division.

"I personally wouldn't add an assistant coach under those circumstances but that will be something for the new coach to decide," Bliss said.

Bliss, an assistant at Kansas City for six years before becoming the Wizards' interim head coach midway through the 2006 season, said he would like to be a head coach again but now is not the time, noting he has been in his current position less than a year.

However, he said if his responsibilities as technical director were greatly reduced -- which at this point no one in the organization has considered -- he would be open to being an assistant if, for example, Warzycha wanted to make him his replacement.

"Robert's ready to lead this team. He's put in his time and done all the right things," he said.

Warzycha, the Crew's interim coach for the last three months of the 2005 season after Greg Andrulis was released, has been second-in-command since Schmid was named head coach in October of that year.

The remainder of the staff this past season included goalkeeper coach Vadim Kirillov and Mike Lapper, who like Warzycha is a former Crew player.

Schmid said he does not anticipate taking any of the staff with him if he gets the job in Seattle because most are under contract with the Crew.

"If I decided to do that I'd have to let the Crew know we're considering it," he said. "It's been a great support staff. I wish soccer in this country were at the point where if the head coach moves you take the support staff with you. That's the way it's done in Europe. Unfortunately, with the way finances are with lot of people, they would find it difficult going cross country. It's not feasible."

Crew president/general manager Mark McCullers said Warzycha was a viable candidate in 2005 before Schmid was hired but that the timing then was not right.

Every Crew head coach prior to Schmid had been a promoted assistant since the firing of the original coach Timo Liekoski with 10 games left in the 1996 season. Tom Fitzgerald took over and lasted until early in 2001 season when Andrulis replaced him.

"This is how we envisioned things playing out to a certain extent three years ago when we brought Sigi on," McCullers said. "We needed somebody then with a different perspective, an outside perspective with experience and who could do some fairly drastic things to get us headed in the right direction.

"You look back on it, those were the objectives and as an organization we achieved those things in large part due to Sigi. Moving forward, we're looking to build on the foundation that has been laid. Continuity is an important thing. You look at Robert and what he brings to the table. He knows this team. He's helped make this team successful. He was extremely influential in making this team successful.

"We're in a different situation now. We've accomplished a lot of those things so it would make more sense to make a move that supported continuity than more that it supported change."

Warzycha said he is not taking for granted that the job is his. He has not consulted with Houston coach Dominic Kinnear on how he handled moving from being a Dynamo (at the time the San Jose Earthquakes) assistant to replacing a popular and successful coach. Kinnear took over for Frank Yallop in 2004 after San Jose won two titles in three years and guided Houston to the 2006 and '07 championships.

"No, the first thing before I make a call I have to get the job. I don't want to get ahead of myself and look stupid. First things first," Warzycha said. "If I do get the job I'm going to call Dominic and a few other people and ask for advice but not right now."

If Warzycha becomes head coach he will also use what he learned from watching Schmid firsthand for three seasons.

"He runs the team very well," Warzycha said. "The players have to buy into what you're doing. They have to trust you and believe in you. It's not only better for the team but for the players. They backed him and trusted him.

"If you approach it the right way then you're going to have success. That's what he did. He identified early that the way were we were going was the right way to win a championship and he was right."

The new Crew coach should have an experienced core to work with. The re-signing of league and MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto was massive. Defender Danny O'Rourke got a new deal but central midfielder Brad Evans was lost to Seattle in the expansion draft.

MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall is on a trial with Mainz of the German second division but Bliss is hopeful the out-of-contract player will re-sign.

If he does, Bliss thinks the Crew will have "14 or 15" of its top returnees then try to fill the roster from there to reach the maximum 20 on the senior squad. The team could go with 18 or 19 and pay a few players more but Bliss feels with team's entry in the 2009 CONCACAF Champions League a deeper roster, albeit thinner in the wallet for those in the final roster spots, is the way to go.

Warzycha's knowledge of the roster will be an asset when he likely assumes control. So, too, will be his understanding of how things work within the organization.

Schmid expressed frustration upon his departure that the team was unable to complete plans for a new training center. Ideas have been thrown around for two years but the goal of having a bigger complex by the 2010 season grow dimmer each week and with the sour economy municipalities are unlikely to share in the cost anytime soon.

Also, Crew Stadium celebrates its 10-year anniversary in May but it remains without naming rights attached and most of the parking around the venue, including the team's lot, is unpaved despite the organization's efforts to get the state of Ohio to do something.

McCullers said he is trying to be patient, just as he hopes the fans are with the coaching switch after Schmid led the team to its most successful season.

"I think our fans understand what we've been doing the past three or four years to try and put the best product on the field that we can and trying to be a professional soccer club in every sense of the word," McCullers said. "I think they see it and I think they support it and I think everyone has a positive eye toward the future."

Schmid leaves Crew after Cup win

COLUMBUS -- The most successful chapter in Columbus Crew history officially closed Wednesday with the announcement that head coach Sigi Schmid would seek employment elsewhere after leading the club to its first MLS championship last month.

General manager Mark McCullers confirmed that assistant coach and former Crew player Robert Warzycha is the frontrunner to be the named the organization's fifth full-time head coach. However, no decision is expected before next week.

"This week would be a fairly aggressive timetable," McCullers said. "Obviously, getting the head coaching position secure is a priority. It's an immediate priority. Because there has been speculation about Sigi not returning I've have people contacting me -- agents and other coaches.

"I want to make sure I do our due diligence working with our ownership and Brian (Bliss, technical director) in the process but my objective is to make the decision as quick as possible."

When asked if Warzycha is the leading candidate, McCullers replied, "At this point in time that's fair to say. Certainly Robert is somebody I respect and seriously considered for the job the last time it was open."

McCullers said no other candidates have been interviewed.

"I need to focus on the candidate pool a little bit. I haven't had a chance to do that. That's part of the due diligence to see if there are any other candidates that warrant consideration," he said.

McCullers made it clear several times that "continuity" was the most important feature of the new head coach, and thus there seems to be little desire to go outside the organization this time.

Warzycha became interim coach on July 12, 2005, after Greg Andrulis was relieved of his duties, and took a team that was 4-10-2 to a 7-6-3 record the remainder of the season.

He joined the Crew in June 1996, two months into the inaugural season, and been a fixture since. He was a player/assistant coach in 2002 before retiring as a player. He stayed on after Schmid was hired in October 2005.

"Robert has all the qualities and all the abilities and he knows the players to be able to continue what we built here in Columbus," Schmid said. "He's been here since day one as a player. He's been an assistant for a long period. He expressed to me he was willing to stay as my assistant for as many years as I was willing to stay here. I really appreciated that.

"He's ready. He's been a tremendous help here for me and I hope I've been a help to him as he's learned and improved. More so than anything, he's got the experience to do the job."

While Warzycha could be on the fast track to take over the Crew, Schmid hopes for a similarly rapid response from expansion Seattle Sounders FC.

"Obviously, everybody knows I had a visit to Seattle last week. Things are on hold there. Hopefully, we'll be able to move that forward in the next few days," Schmid said. "I had come to the decision that I wasn't going to return here and I thought it was fair to let (the Crew) know so they can move forward."

How and why the Crew let go the 2008 MLS Coach of the Year -- the man who led them to the Supporters' Shield title with the best regular season record in the league (17-7-6) -- will be open to debate.

Schmid hinted that if a different offer had been made by Hunt Sports Group during the summer he might have signed then and not let his contract expire after winning the MLS Cup.

"It's like I tell the players all the time when we play: You can't worry about what happened," he said. "Obviously if you go back into August or July and instead of this or that happened we'd be at a different point right here. It didn't happen so we're at this point. We have to accept it."

McCullers said the organization tried to re-sign Schmid.

"I wouldn't classify it as anything going wrong or breaking down for that matter," he said. "Sigi had a decision to make and we respect that decision, and for whatever reasons he made it. He was very clear from the very first conversation we had that it was his intent to explore options that were available to him for professional reasons, for personal reasons and that's what he did.

"We appreciate the fact he was upfront about his intentions all along. We made him a very competitive offer that would have made him one of the highest paid coaches in the league."

Schmid said he decided two days ago that he would not remain with the Crew but said he is taking a gamble by not having an agreement yet with Seattle, or any other organization.

"I was going to try and come to a decision on Monday. As it was related to me, I thought at that point in time the decision would be, 'OK, this or that. OK, I'm going to choose this,'" he said. "What it ended up coming down to was instead of this or that it was, 'Well, you either have this and maybe you'll have that. It's a little uncertain.' I decided I was going to deal with the uncertainty. So I came to that decision on Monday."

There were several reasons given by Schmid for his desire to move on. Among them, his family, including wife Valerie, still live in southern California.

"If things work out as I hope they do and being on the West Coast or that possibility, it's easier on my family. That had a factor in it," he said. "Certainly finances had a factor in it. The negotiations length had a factor in it, definitely.

"Also, looking at everything else and what I mean by everything else is we haven't got an agreement yet here in Columbus on a training site. In this economic climate is that going to happen now? It was definitely hard -- a hard decision. It's not easy."

There could be a hitch to Schmid being on the sideline next season because there reportedly is a non-compete clause that prohibits him from coaching any MLS team in 2009.

"I can't speak to the details of his contract," McCullers said when asked if that was the case. "The short answer to your question is, no, I don't think our intent is to block him from working. In any employment agreement where an employee has access to confidential and proprietary information there's language that protects the organization. I think that's normal."

When asked if he would be coaching in MLS next season, Schmid replied, "I would hope so but I can't really comment on that."

Still, McCullers expressed appreciation for what Schmid has done for the organization. Schmid was 34-33-5 in three seasons and missed the playoffs the first two years as he jettisoned all but three players from the previous regime.

"I have a lot of respect for Sigi and I'm sad to see him go. We've been through some tough times together. We've been through some great times together. Any time you work with somebody that closely and it's time to depart, it's difficult," McCullers said. "As far as I'm concerned we're on good terms. He did what we needed him to do here and brought some hardware to the organization along the way. I'll always look back on my working relationship with him very fondly."

Schmid said the Crew and the Hunt family will always be special because they gave him a chance after being dismissed by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2004. It was an emotional time for Schmid when the Crew won the MLS Cup with a 3-1 win against New York on Nov. 23 in Schmid's former home, The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

"As I've said all along, I thank the Hunt Sports Group and I thank the Crew organization for having the patience with me to allow it to happen," he said. "I do feel that (the Crew) is in much better shape than when I came here. The team is going to play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. We'd never been MLS champion. To win the Supporters' Shield the way we did this year; the young nucleus of players we had this year -- I believe there's a solid foundation.

"Now it's time to turn to another challenge and that's good, too, because challenges keep you motivated and keep you going."

Schmid looks forward to returning to Crew Stadium someday and visiting the Nordecke supporters section that he played such an integral part in developing this season.

"I expect when I come back to Columbus with whatever team I'm with that the fans will respect what I was able to do here but I know they're going to be out to win the game and support the Crew once the game begins," he said. "Fans are supposed to support the home team so I'd be disappointed if the fans here in Columbus didn't support the Columbus team to its full extent.

"The fans -- that's one of the hardest things for me to leave and one of the hardest things in my decision-making process. There was a bond. The scarf I wore was very special to me because it represented for me the bond to the fans and the bond to Lamar (Hunt). That's something that will always be very special to me."

Dynamo to face Atlante in Champions League

HOUSTON -- Thanks to the Houston Dynamo's 1-0 win against Luis Angel Firpo on Nov. 26, the team earned a date in the quarterfinals of the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Wednesday, the Orange found out their first opponent for the knockout stage. The team was placed against Mexican side Atlante FC in the quarterfinal draw held at the CONCACAF headquarters in New York City.

The Dynamo will play Atlante in the first leg of the two-game, total-goals series on either February 24, 25 or 26, 2009. A week later, the teams will play the second leg in Cancun, and the winner of the set will advance to the semifinals of the confederation's club championship, where they will play the survivor of the quarterfinal between Santos Laguna of Mexico and the USL First Division's Montreal Impact.

Atlante finished atop Group C in the CONCACAF Champions League group stage, with 11 points from six matches, tied with Montreal yet winning the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Dynamo finished second in Group B, advancing ahead of Firpo with that final day victory, finishing with nine points from their six games, three behind Mexico's Pumas UNAM.

The other quarterfinals feature an all-Mexican matchup as Pumas UNAM will take on Cruz Azul, and the second of the USL First Division sides in the final eight, the Puerto Rico Islanders, will take on CD Marathon of Honduras.

Should the Dynamo, the only MLS team in the quarterfinal round, win the tournament, they will advance to the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, to be held next December in the United Arab Emirates.

The teams will be playing for the second time in less than a year, as Atlante will be looking to avenge a 4-0 loss at Robertson Stadium last July 12 in the opening match for both teams in SuperLiga 2008.

Dwayne De Rosario opened the scoring just 20 minutes into that match and Stuart Holden added goals in the 21st and 28th minutes to put the match out of reach. Brian Mullan capped the scoring in the 54th minute, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

Goalkeeper Pat Onstad did not face a single shot on goal in that game, as the Orange defense led the way. The only Atlante player to come close was Ernesto Pereyra Gabriel, who broke free for a scoring chance in the eighth minute.

Finalists share impressive pedigree

Last year's NCAA Men's College Cup featured three clubs who had never played on men's college soccer's biggest stage. However, this year is a different story as the four participants -- Maryland, North Carolina, St. John's and Wake Forest, are no stranger to the event. Of course, three of those sides come from the Atlantic Coast Conference, with St. John's being the lone non-ACC school in attendance as the Red Storm play in the Big East. Wake Forest is the lone holdover from 2007 and the Demon Deacons return looking to repeat as NCAA champions.

Wake and UNC open the event on Friday with first kick set for 4:30 p.m. CT. St. John's and Maryland meet in the nightcap, which is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT kickoff. Here's a closer look at the four national semifinalists:

MARYLAND

Maryland (21-3-0) comes into the College Cup riding a 14-match winning streak. The second-seeded Terrapins clinched a spot in the big event by defeating Creighton 1-0, thanks to a goal by Rodney Wallace off a free kick. Wallace also had his side's first tally of the 2008 season, in a 2-1 win against UCLA at The Home Depot Center back on Aug. 29.

The Terps' top scorer throughout 2008 was junior midfielder Jeremy Hall (14 goals, 6 assists) but freshman striker Casey Townsend (11 goals, 4 assists) is another player to watch. Junior midfielder/forward Doug Rodkey led Maryland in assists with nine, while freshman midfielder Matt Kassel chipped in with seven. As a team, Maryland allowed an average of 0.75 goals per game. In goal, Zac Macmath has been a huge asset with a 17-1-0 record, 10 shutouts and a goals-against-average of 0.49 in 19 games.

This will be Maryland's 11th trip to the national semifinals in program history and fifth College Cup appearance in the last seven years. Their last trip was in 2005 when the Terps came away with the NCAA championship.

"It feels great to be back," said Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski, who has led his team to six College Cups. "I couldn't be more proud of our team right now."

Maryland has beaten St. John's, their Friday opponent, in three consecutive matches, eliminating the Red Storm from the NCAA Tournament in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The College Cup will be a homecoming for two Maryland players who are from the Dallas area. Freshman midfielder Kaoru Forbess, who played in 11 games as a reserve, is from Garland while defender/midfielder Omar Gonzalez (five goals, one assist) is a Dallas native who has trained with FC Dallas in the past.

NORTH CAROLINA

The Tar Heels' last trip to the Men's College Cup was in 2001, when they won the NCAA title. This is their third appearance in the in program history and UNC (14-7-1) heads into the event riding a three-match winning streak. Carolina advanced to Frisco by beating a pesky Northwestern squad 1-0 in the national quarterfinals. Freshman midfielder Kirk Urso had the lone goal of the game for the Heels, who were a No. 13 seed when he scored in the 61st minute.

"It's like a dream right now," Urso said after the win. "We've worked so hard. Our team, we knew we had the potential the whole year. For this to be happening at this time, it's just amazing. It's just a dream."

Offensively, the Heels were led by senior striker Brian Shriver (13 goals, five assists), junior forward Eddie Ababio (seven goals, four assists) and freshman midfielder/forward Billy Schuler (four goals, five assists). UNC allowed 1.27 goals per game and should be set between the posts with senior starter Jacob Wescoe (10-5-1, 3 shutouts, 1.27 goals-against-average) although backup Brooks Hagerty (4-2-0, 2 shutouts, 1.22 goals-against-average in seven games) is also a solid option for UNC.

Carolina, a No. 13 seed, will be facing a familiar foe in Wake Forest. On Nov. 1, the Tar Heels, who at the time were ranked No. 7 in the nation, lost 4-2 to the top-ranked Demon Deacons, but the final score was a bit deceiving. UNC had a 2-1 lead before Wake exploded for three goals in a six-minute span in the second half to break the game open.

Wake has beaten UNC three consecutive times and the Tar Heels haven't defeated the Demon Deacons since a 1-0 win during the 2005 regular season. Carolina has a pair of players with ties to the Dallas area. Sophomore defender David Rodriguez, who has played in 11 games in 2008, is from Big D along with sophomore midfielder Cameron Brown (three goals, five assists), who calls nearby Garland home.

ST. JOHN'S

This will be the Red Storm's fourth trip to the College Cup but first since 2003. With a 19-2-3 record, this year's team has the most wins since the 1996 team won a school-record 22 matches and the NCAA title. St. John's, a No. 3 seed, which punched their ticket with a 2-1 overtime win against Indiana, has won four in a row.

Maryland, their College Cup opponent, has eliminated the Red Storm from the NCAA Tournament three years running. The sides last met on Nov. 15, 2006 with the Terrapins prevailing 2-0.

"(They are) a fantastic team, a great program with unbelievably talented players," said St. John's head coach Dr. Dave Masur. "Collectively, they play very hard and together."

The St. John's offense is led by Big East Midfielder of the Year Nelson Becerra (eight goals, seven assists), who converted the game-winning penalty kick over Indiana. It was the junior's fifth game-winner of the year and he is a perfect 3-for-3 on penalty kicks. Sophomore midfielder Tafadzwa Chiduku (seven goals, one assist) is another threat along with Sverre Wegge Gundhus (four goals, five assists) and Walter Hines (one goal, five assists). In the back, the Red Storm is led by Joel Gustafsson, the Big East Defender of the Year. He is the anchor of a unit that allowed just 0.50 goals per game this year, making St. John's the toughest team in the nation to score on. In goal, redshirt senior Neal Kitson has been a rock, keeping 15 clean sheets in 23 games while amassing a 19-2-2 record and a goals-against-average of just 0.47.

Two players for the Red Storm are from the Dallas area. Redshirt junior defender Ben Clack, who started 24 games this year, hails from Duncanville while sophomore midfielder Ale Ivo, who came off the bench in the win against the Hoosiers, is from Fort Worth. "It's really an awesome feeling to know I can go back and see my host family and friends," Ivo said. "Everyone is going to be there. I went to high school there. I played club there. It's like my second home."

WAKE FOREST

The Demon Deacons (21-1-1) delivered the most decisive win to reach their third consecutive College Cup with a 5-0 blanking of South Florida, where five different players found the back of the net for the defending NCAA champions, who have now won three straight. Wake's only loss of the season came on Nov. 14 when Virginia beat them 3-2 in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, a setback that came in double overtime.

"I'm very excited for my team," Wake Forest head coach Jay Vidovich said after the win against South Florida. "We had a tremendous start to the match. I'm tremendously happy with how we played and defended right from the beginning. Our guys did a fantastic job the entire game."

Top-seeded Wake heads into their national semifinal match with ACC rival North Carolina having allowed just 0.70 goals per game all year. The Demon Deacons are led by junior midfielder Cody Arnoux (17 goals, eight assists) and senior striker Marcus Tracy (13 goals, 10 assists), who is considered a top prospect for next month's MLS SuperDraft.

Other key contributors to the potent WFU attack, which has averaged 3.5 goals per game this year, include sophomore midfielder Corben Bone (seven goals, 17 assists), a Dallas native, junior forward/midfielder Zack Schilanski (11 goals, five assists), senior midfielder Sam Cronin (10 goals, four assists) and senior midfielder Jamie Franks (three goals, 11 assists). In goal, Wake has junior Akira Fitzgerald (20-1-1, 13 shutouts, 0.61 goals-against-average).

WFU and UNC have already faced each other once in 2008. On Nov. 1, the Demon Deacons went into Chapel Hill and found themselves trailing 2-1 before exploding for three goals within a six-minute span to hand the Tar Heels a 4-2 loss. The last team to repeat as NCAA champions was Indiana, who accomplished the back-to-back feat in 2003 and 2004.