SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums College, Pro & International Soccer Men's College Cup Final Four - #1 UNC, #2 Creighton, #13 UCLA, Charlotte

NCAA Division 1 Men's College Cup
December 9-11, 2011 @ Hoover, AL

Semifinals - Friday, 12/9
#1 North Carolina vs. #13 UCLA
#2 Creighton vs. Charlotte

#1 North Carolina 2-0 Saint Mary's
Fetzer Field @ Chapel Hill, NC
Attendance: 5,810
Records: NC (20-2-2); SM (11-7-5)
* 4 straight Final Fours for Tar Heels


Former Northwestern HS standout Enzo Martinez will play in his third NCAA Final Four this weekend at Hoover, AL

#2 Creighton 1-0 (ot) #7 South Florida
Morrison Stadium @ Omaha, NE
Attendance: 2,341
* 23-degrees and snow


Creighton, led by former UNC coach Elmar Bolowich, braved sub-freezing temperatures and a very good USF squad to win in overtime

#3 Connecticut 1-1 (pk 2-4) Charlotte
Morrone Stadium @ Storrs, CT
Attendance: 5,100
Records: UCONN (19-3-3); CLT (16-4-3)
* 1st Final Four for Charlotte since 1996


UCONN ousted from NCAA Tournament via penalty kicks for the third consecutive season

#13 UCLA 1-0 (ot) #12 Louisville
Cardinal Park @ Louisville, KY
Attendance: 4,832
Records: UCLA (18-4-1); UL (14-7-2)
* 1st Final Four for UCLA since 2006


Sophomore Reed Williams tallied his first goal of the season in double overtime to send the Bruins to the Final Four

If this managed similar like the Women's College Cup Final Four in Kennesaw GA this past weekend, you should buy your ticket in advance online. Otherwise you get there and they will tell you "Sorry, we are sold out" although you'll see 50% empty seats.
Apparently, they sold all seats only once, although the fans of the 2nd game were not attending the first game and vice versa. Very frustrating to see hundreds of youths turned away who were in town for their Nike Cup tournament the same weekend.

Televised on ESPNU from Regions Park in Hoover, Ala.
6 pm - Creighton vs. Charlotte
8:30 pm - North Carolina vs. UCLA

Great Final Four games tonight! Started watching at 7pm and ended at 12:30.

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/soccer-men/d1

College soccer is acquired taste -- and a delicious one in Hoover if you like drinking it
Jon Solomon, The Birmingham News



NCAA Semifinals @ Hoover, AL

#2 Creighton 0-0 (1-4 pk) Charlotte
Attendance: 9,263 (13,000)
Records: CRE (21-2-1); CLT (16-4-4)

#1 North Carolina 2-2 (3-1 pk) #13 UCLA
Attendance: 9,263 (13,000)
Records: UNC (20-2-3); UCLA (18-4-2)

North Carolina and Charlotte met on Aug. 21 for a rain-shortened preseason exhibition in Charlotte, where the Tar Heels won, 2-1 ... The pressure will be all on UNC in the final, only the third championship game involving in-state rivals ... UNC has played nine overtime matches this season.

Great preview for today's NCAA Men's College Cup Final -- Soccer by Ives

Watching the College Cup Final and wishing the Charleston Battery would host this event. I know the argument about seating capacity, but I think you could put temporary bleachers in the "tent area" to increase the number of seats. Just something unholy about a soccer game on a baseball field.

Man it was cold to watch soccer on Friday night. Great atmosphere for a first game that was somewhat one-sided but very entertaining after 90 minutes. Had to leave before the second game but it only got colder. Tickets were sold out but was never crowded there as many went unused.

Just finished watching the final from the warmth of my couch. Very entertaining game that was won by the inferior team (on this day). Not sure how NC kept the ball out of the net and the no-call on NC for dragging a Charlotte player down in the box was a huge miss for the official. They seemed to let a lot go (or just plain missed them) the whole weekend.

The Battery venue would be great but would really like to see it held in a bigger site like Seattle or the new stadium in Houston. Philly's home is nice but tooooo cold.

Final Score: North Carolina 1-0 Charlotte ... Ben Speas scores the match-winner and Scott Goodwin earns the shutout ... Second National Championship for the Tar Heels and 2011 marked their fourth consecutive College Cup appearance ... 49ers reached the Finals for the first time and the College Cup for the second time (1996) ... Congratulations to UNC - the best team all year long in men's collegiate soccer!

PS - Congratulations to Rock Hill's Enzo Martinez who accomplished an incredible feat in soccer:

2011 NCAA Division 1 Champion - University of North Carolina
2009-10 NCAA Semifinals - University of North Carolina
2009 National Youth Champion - Discoveries Soccer Club
2009 National High School Champion - Northwestern HS
S.C. State Class 4A Champion - Northwestern HS (2006, 2008, 2009)

Note - Enzo could not attend a Palmetto State secondary school due to his birth place of Uruguay ... His brother, Alex, is a midfielder at High Point University (NC) ... Gamecock senior Vance Benson and Charleston redshirt freshman Robbie Benson have been "host brothers" to the Martinez Family since their arrival in Rock Hill, S.C. ... Great folks and I could not be more proud of Enzo!

Ditto! While watching the College Cup I could not help but wonder how many players have been Clash of the Carolinas participants.

Great weekend of Soccer. Watched semis from my warm couch on ESPN3. Same for the finals as I don't have ESPN U. ESPN had website issues that were cleared up after the match began. A shame they could not broadcast on ESPN or another major network. Also, checked the papers today, USA Today posted a one line score buried at the end of the sports section. The State did a little better, a one inch blurb on the bottom left of page two in the sports section. Come on guys. Give me a break.

The Charlotte Observer had the game as its headline on the front page and the front page of the sports section. Granted there were 2 NC teams in....but they did a great job. You would have thought it was basketball!!!!