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Men's College Cup Blog

December 14, 2008

Maryland: Your 2008 NCAA Men's Soccer Champions

Jubilation has erupted near the Maryland goal as they hung on to their 1-0 lead until the clock read all zeroes. The trophy has been brought out to the group huddled in celebration, and the Terps raise it proudly. There's a lot of hugging and jumping.
It has been fun to bring you this coverage of the 2008 Men's College Cup. Thanks for reading!

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Posted by TC Fleming at 3:12 PM | Comment

Opposing Points of View, Pt. 2

With less than two minutes left and Maryland still leading, 1-0, we traveled back down to the painted duo we visited with before to re-check their temperature. Nate DePoint, the Carolina fan, said that things had quieted down in their UNC-dominated section since the Maryland goal. "They're not hitting their targets," he said. He seemed pretty down on his team's chances but made sure to end the interview on a positive note, saying that no matter what happened, he would be going to tonight's Cowboys-Giants game. That endeared him to those in his sections for about 5 seconds, at which point he said "Go Giants!" It just doesn't seem to be Nate's day. 

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Posted by TC Fleming at 2:57 PM | Comment

Goal!

Maryland is on the board first. Junior midfielder Jeremy Hall got in a good shot on Carolina's goal but was blocked. The blocked ball went to the foot of Terrapin Graham Zusi, who deposited it in the back of the net. With 22 minutes left in the game, Maryland leads, 1-0.

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Posted by TC Fleming at 2:42 PM | Comment

50th Anniversary Team

With this being the 50th Anniversary for the College Cup, a combination of experts' opinions and fan voting named the 50th Anniversary Team. Among those named to the team was Saint Louis University alum Al Trost. Trost is one of the midfielders for the team. As a player, he won the Hermann Trophy twice, in 1969 and 1970.
Al descibed the honor as "very special, because so many tremendous players have come along in the last 50 years." With St. Louis winning 10 championships in its history and Trost being the sole SLU representative on he team, he said he felt proud to represent the St. Louis tradition.
The 50th Anniversary Team went to dinner with all of the players from the final four teams on Thursday, which Trost said he very much enjoyed. He described the NCAA's treatment of the team all weekend as "first class."
It is Trost's first time to visit Pizza Hut Park, and he said that it is a great facility for the MLS and that he can see how FC Dallas does so well in the standings. He said they have no similar venue in St. Louis, and he hopes that one day they might be able to.

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Posted by TC Fleming at 2:36 PM | Comment

That's One Long Drive

With the second half just beginning, we talked to Cesar Fuente. He's a North Carolina student. He felt that the Tar Heels have yet to assert themselves but expressed confidence that they would in the second half. 
But that wasn't the lead story of our visit with him: upon learning UNC would be in the championship match Friday night, Cesar and his friends piled in to their cars and drove to Frsico from Chapel Hill. That's a 21-hour drive, including stops for food, gas and such. They left at midnight Friday and arrived in Dallas Saturday evening. They checked into a hotel in downtown Dallas, rested up, and showed up here this morning. They said that it all would not have been possible without Red Bull and coffee.
Of the venue they arrived at this morning, Cesar was quite impressed. He said that for a soccer stadium, it was a really amazing place. As to the surrounding area, he admitted that it was quite different from what he is used to but said that he loved it.

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Posted by TC Fleming at 2:26 PM | Comment

"I'd Move to Frisco"

We traveled down to the stands behind the Maryland bench where the student shave gathered to get their feel for the weekend. Maryland grad and current College Park resident Mike Mastrantuono said that he felt Maryland has played very well thus far, limiting UNC's opportunities. He was here for Fridays overtime win and used Saturday to explore the surronding area a bit. He gave very positive reviews of the shops and eateries, rating them as "great" and "very nice." He even went so dar as to say, "If I didn't live in Maryland, I'd be moving to Frisco."

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Posted by TC Fleming at 1:52 PM | Comment

Team Colors

Near the North Entrance to Pizza Hut Park, Dallas Face Painters have set up a table to supply fans with an avenue to show their allegiances. The two ladies working the booth said that they started it mainly for the kids but were amused when the college students began to participate. As a whole, they said they felt a far greater presence of Maryland fans. That was bit of a shock to them when they learned that Maryland's finals start tomorrow. One girl had an 8:00 am final in College Park but was here today in Frisco. Sounds to me like someone who knows her priorities!

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Posted by TC Fleming at 1:42 PM | Comment

Opposing Points of View

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When searching the stands, we found these two friends with conflicting allegiances. The Heels fan on the right, Nate DePoint, said he has been a life-long Heels fan who had to show his support to the team. The red-faced gentleman on the right, Jonathan Perkins, said he is from Maryland but has no particular enthusiasm for the Terps; he just hates UNC. DePoint added that Perkins really just likes to be difficult. They had their faces painted shortly before game time. They saw a stand for face painting and thought the girl was cute, so they went for it. We will now be heading out to find this painting stand and hear their story. Stay tuned.

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Posted by TC Fleming at 1:33 PM | Comment

Championship Soccer: More Exciting than a Molecular Biology Party

In our continued efforts to bring you the feel from the crowd, we met Brett Johnson. Brett's a Maryland native who moved here for medical school. He said he liked the idea of Maryland being the favorite and said he'd been following them throughout the tournament. On Friday night during the semi-final, he had to go to a party celebrating the end of the semester for his Molecular Biology class. He said he spent the party updating his iPhone checking the score of the game against St. John's. When Maryland won, he dusted off his Terrapins flag and is now flying it proudly in the stands.

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Posted by TC Fleming at 1:26 PM | Comment

'Ship Set To Sail

We've got about 10 minutes until kickoff here at Pizza Hut Park. The teams are lining up for introductions at midfield. We'll be heading out in to the crowd to get some early predictions.

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Posted by TC Fleming at 12:52 PM | Comment

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