news-record.com

FRISCO, Texas -- An all-ACC final will decide the champion for the first time in the 50-year history of the NCAA men's soccer tournament. Second-seeded Maryland meets 13th-seeded North Carolina for the College Cup today.

"The fact that it is two ACC teams bodes extremely well for our conference," North Carolina coach Elmar Bolowich said.

There are no secrets between these longtime rivals. Maryland (22-3-0) owns two wins over North Carolina this season, taking a 2-1 decision at home in early November, then earning a 1-0 victory over the Tar Heels in the ACC quarterfinals five days later.

But the Tar Heels (15-7-1) are feeling good about their chances after knocking off another ACC rival. They beat defending champion Wake Forest, the No. 1 seed, 1-0 in Friday's semifinals.

"They're very confident right now," Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski said. "They're playing quick and they're playing extremely well together at the moment. We have had a couple of highly competitive games with them already and we expect Sunday to be another great, tough battle against a team that is playing its best soccer of the year."

The second game with Maryland marked North Carolina's fifth straight defeat, but since the Tar Heels earned an NCAA at-large bid, they've won four in a row.

Maryland had to go into extra time before beating St. John's 1-0 in the other semifinal on Graham Zusi's 25-yard free kick.

The Terrapins are 6-0-1 against North Carolina in the last seven matchups, with the Tar Heels last beating the Terrapins in October 2003.

"There's a reason why they're here," Bolowich said. "They have very few weaknesses and if we can find them, great, and I hope we do. They're strong and experienced, coming off a national championship in 2005."

Maryland carries a 15-game winning streak into today's title game. But the Terps weren't playing at a championship level when they were beaten at Clemson 5-3 on Oct. 3. At that point, Maryland was 7-3.

After that defensive meltdown, the players met with Cirovski for a heart-to-heart in the locker room, and there were more discussions on the bus ride back to College Park, Md.