Maryland, Indiana Highlight College Cup Field

The NCAA men’s soccer championship match will be played Sunday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, but an argument can be made that the real final is scheduled today at 5, when defending champion Indiana and highly rated Maryland play in the first half of a semifinal doubleheader.

Six-time champion Indiana (17-4-1), which disposed of Michigan, Boston College and Tulsa to reach the last four for the 17th time, boasts one of the best defensive teams in the nation, having given up only 13 goals all season under first-year Coach Mike Freitag.

But Maryland (17-5-2) might be the hungrier team. The third-seeded Terrapins, coached by Sasho Cirovski, knocked out Hofstra, Creighton and St. John’s en route to Carson, and Cirovski said he believed this could be their year.

“We feel like we have a sense of unfinished business,” he said Thursday, referring to Maryland’s semifinal losses to UCLA in 2002 and to St. John’s in 2003.

“In the past few years, we haven’t showcased our attack in the manner that we’re capable of, and we’re prepared for the challenge.... Indiana knows what it takes to win championships. They’re a great defensive team, they’re a great counterattacking team.”

Just how much atmosphere there will be at the Home Depot Center depends largely on how many UC Santa Barbara fans make the trek to see the Gauchos play in their first College Cup. Last weekend’s UCSB quarterfinal victory over Virginia Commonwealth drew a record 11,214 at Santa Barbara.

“We fly under the radar, college soccer does,” Cirovski said, but he noted that all four quarterfinals had sold out.

Coach Tim Von Steeg’s ninth-seeded UCSB (20-2-1), noted for its physical style of play, plays Duke in the second seminal at 7:30. The Gauchos advanced to the championship tournament by ousting Wisconsin Milwaukee, North Carolina Greensboro and Virginia Commonwealth.

Attack-minded but unseeded Duke (18-5-0) is in its 26th season under Coach John Rennie and reached the last four by getting past Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion, Ohio State and former champion Virginia.

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College Cup

* Where: Home Depot Center, Carson.

* Today’s semifinals: Indiana vs. Maryland, 5 p.m.; UC Santa Barbara vs. Duke, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2, Saturday, 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.)

* Sunday’s final: 1 p.m., ESPN2.

* Rankings (National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America top 25): UC Santa Barbara No. 1, Indiana No. 4, Maryland No. 5, Duke No. 25.

* Head to head: UC Santa Barbara 1, Indiana 0, Sept. 18 at Albuquerque; Duke 2, Maryland 1, Sept. 25 at College Park, Md.