Dec. 6, 2008

Wake Forest Advances to Third Straight College Cup with 5-0 Win Over USF

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Five different players scored goals as Wake Forest (21-1-1, 7-0-1 ACC) advanced to its third straight College Cup with a 5-0 win over South Florida (15-5-3, 7-3-1 Big East) in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night at Spry Stadium.

With the win, Wake Forest becomes just the 12th school in NCAA history to advance to three College Cups in a row and the first team to accomplish the feat since Maryland, which made four straight College Cups from 2002-05.

Wake Forest found goals from several different people in the game as five different players scored goals. Playing in their final game at Spry Stadium, four seniors scored goals as Jamie Franks, Sam Cronin, Lyle Adams and Marcus Tracy each found the back of the net. Junior Zack Schilawski added the fifth goal of the night for the Deacs.

Cody Arnoux assisted on three of the goals to bring his season point total to 42. The 42 points are the third most in a single season in school history and Arnoux is the first Wake player to exceed 40 points in a season since 2004 when Scott Sealy had 44 points.

Terps Men's Soccer Headed Back to College Cup

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland men's soccer program is headed back to the College Cup after defeating Creighton, 1-0, in NCAA Quarterfinal action on Saturday afternoon at Ludwig Field.

Maryland (21-3-0) struck early and frequently in the first half. Omar Gonzalez, who netted a goal in the Terps' round-of-16 win against California last week, headed a ball just high of the cross bar off a Graham Zusi kick at 6:09. Approximately four minutes later, Casey Townsend had a couple shots come dangerously close of putting the Terps on the scoreboard, but his initial attempt out of traffic went wide off the keeper's hands and the other, a header, was blocked by the Jay defense.

It wouldn't take much longer for Maryland to score. Michael Marchiano served a perfect ball off a free kick from 26-yards out to a diving Rodney Wallace, who headed home the ball to the near post for a 1-0 Terrapin lead. It gave Maryland a full-circle feel, as Wallace nailed a score to open the year in a 2-1 win against UCLA at The Home Depot Center.

The Terps stayed in attack mode for the remainder of the half and had another couple near misses. Jeremy Hall almost gave a Maryland more breathing room after his header bounced off the cold ground and then off of Creighton keeper Brian Holt's hands. Gonzalez fired a rocket low to the ground that went directly at Holt and created a 2-on-1 opportunity for the Jays that ended with a shot wide by Byron Dacy.

College Cup Bound: Tar Heels Topple Northwestern, 1-0

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina freshman midfielder Kirk Urso found the back of the net in the 61st minute and that was more than enough scoring for the Tar Heels and their stout defense in a 1-0 win over Northwestern Saturday in the NCAA quarterfinals at Fetzer Field. With the victory Carolina (14-7-1) advances to the NCAA Men's Soccer College Cup for the third time in program history and the first time since winning the 2001 national title.

The 13th-seeded Tar Heels advance to face either No. 1 seed Wake Forest or No. 8 seed South Florida in a national semifinal Friday, Dec. 12 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.

After an evenly-played first half, the Tar Heels came out on the offensive after intermission, finally breaking through with Urso's game-winner at 60:52. After a Carolina corner kick, senior midfielder Michael Callahan served the ball from the left side into the box. It was chested down by a Wildcat defender, and Urso volleyed home the loose ball from 15 yards out, past NU keeper Misha Rosenthal and into the right corner of the net.