MEN'S COLLEGE CUP: Rematch of tournament foes

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Dec 12, 2008

Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski says the 2008 Men's College Cup has the potential to be one of the best ever.  The four participants -- Maryland, St. John's, North Carolina and Wake Forest -- have all won national titles in the last 12 years. Maryland takes a 14-game winning streak into its game against St. John's (TV: ESPNU, live, 8 pm ET; ESPN2, Saturday, 11 am ET).

The Terps and the Red Storm have battled on five occasions in the NCAA Tournament play. Maryland has won the last three, including the series' last meeting two years ago in the second round.

St. John's came back from two goals to beat Indiana, 3-2, on Saturday in the quarterfinals. It was an effort that convinced Cirovski.
"They have a lot of interchangeable pieces in the attack," he says of St. John's, "and they have great mobility with those players. It's a team that's committed to defending, both individually and collectively - they're a tough team to penetrate. But fortunately, we've played a lot of very good teams this year, and we've had some success, and I feel if we play our game, we'll be able to create some chances for ourselves."

St. John's coach Dr. Dave Masur says the current Maryland teams reminds him of past Maryland teams for its attacking ability.

"Up front, they have terrific goal scorers," he says. "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 which is maybe a little bit different than the past. The wide guys [are] getting a lot of goals. [Jeremy] Hall is getting in and a getting goals. He can score from set pieces, he gets goals if they run a play. They are very dangerous because they are getting good service. They play an up-tempo game; they get after you for 90 minutes. There are a lot of similarities. They may be a touch more athletic in the wide positions than in the past. They are a very good team."

MARYLAND
Goalkeeper
PLAYER, YEAR (G-A-P) CLUB TEAM
1  Zac MacMath, FR. (0.49 GAA) U.S. U-17 residency
Defenders
6  Rich Costanzo, SR. (0-6-6) FC Delco
4  Omar Gonzalez, JR. (5-1-11) U.S. U-17 residency
20  A.J. Delagarza, SR. (0-1-1) Baltimore Casa Mia Bays
22  Rodney Wallace, SOPH. (3-3-9) Baltimore Casa Mia Bays
Midfielders
17  Jeremy Hall, JR. (14-6-34) U.S. U-17 residency
11  Graham Zusi, SR. (4-5-13) FC America
5  Doug Rodkey, JR. (1-9-11) Match Fit Academy
16  Michael Marchiano, SR. (0-1-1) Baltimore Casa Mia Bays
Forwards
7  Casey Townsend, FR. (11-4-26) Vardar
9  Jason Herrick, SOPH. (4-4-12) Sockers FC Chicago
Key Reserves
8  Matt Kassel, FR. (1-7-9) New York Red Bulls academy
15  Kevin Tangney, SOPH. (0-0-0) FC America
12  Drew Yates, JR. (1-4-6) Baltimore Casa Mia Bays

ST. JOHN'S
Goalkeeper
PLAYER, YEAR (G-A-P) CLUB TEAM
1  Neal Kitson, SR. (0.47 GAA) New York Pancyprian
Defenders
3  David Reed, JR. (0-0-0) New York Red Bulls academy
6  Joel Gustafsson,  JR. (3-1-7) Sweden
2  Ben Clack, JR. (1-0-2) Dallas Comets
5  Connor Lade, FR. (0-3-3) New York Red Bulls academy
Midfielders
7  Sverre Wegge Gundhus, SOPH. (4-5-13) Norway
17  Nelson Becerra, JR. (8-7-23) St. Benedict's Prep
19  Rory Quinn, SR. (0-1-1) PDA
10  Tadeu Terra, SOPH. (3-3-9) Brazil
Forwards
15  Pablo Punyed, FR. (0-1-1) Miami FC Kendall
11  Ryan Soroka  JR. (2-2-6) U.S. U-17 residency
Key Reserves
9  Cristian Gonzalez  FR. (2-0-4) Miami FC Kendall
20  Tafadzwa Chiduku  SOPH. (7-1-15) Zimbabwe
22  Ale Ivo,  SOPH. (2-2-6) Dallas Texans
24  Walter Hines, FR. (1-5-7) New York Red Bulls academy