Everything lined up neatly for the Terrapins' post-season, and Sasho Cirovski's team wasted no effort defining itself as a championship team. They tightened up all aspects of their game, and played the full 90 minutes every time they entered the field. They throttled their opponents on defense, and they launched an overwhelming set of offensive strikes. They kept their composure, stayed fit and injury-free, and maintained a professional-caliber strategic approach to each team they faced. Their reward, in the end: the 2008 Maryland men's soccer team are the National Champions, having defeated North Carolina 1-0 on Sunday afternoon in Frisco, Texas.

The hero for the championship game is the same guy who got them there the last game, senior forward #11 Graham Zusi, not a surprising result, but perhaps also not who would have been considered the most likely candidate to carry the last two games. For the season, not including today's game, Zusi shot 49 times (4th on the team), but only turned 5 of those into goals, which is lower than the team's overall average production. A more important statistic, however, is that he is a senior. All of the more offensively productive members of the team are underclassmen, so perhaps the mindset that comes with additional years of experience helped calm the jitters that others were surely feeling. Whatever the reasons, the simple fact is that Zusi scored 100% of the goals in his team's semifinal and final games en route to a national championship, and that is a spectacular way to end one's collegiate soccer career.

The first half of the game ended scoreless. Both teams put up roughly equal numbers of shots, 7 for Maryland and 6 for North Carolina, although 4 of Maryland's shots were on goal, compared to none for the Tar Heels. Maryland had a slight 4-3 advantage in corner kicks for the half. Maryland's strategy for the half was the same as what got them here - consistent offensive pressure, denying the opponent the chance to take shots at the net.

The second half was proceeding roughly the same way, although North Carolina seemed to develop a stronger sense of urgency. By the end of the game, they had out-shot Maryland in the half 8-3, but only two of those were on goal, and both were saved effectively by Terps keeper Zac MacMath. At the 66:10 mark, Zusi found the back of the net by staying on guard inside the box. An attempt by Jeremy Hall was blocked by Tar Heels defender Eddie Ababio, but Zusi was there to pounce on the rebound and put it into the net past North Carolina goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty.

Zusi was named "Most Outstanding Offensive Player" for the tournament, and teammate Omar Gonzalez earned the similar "Most Outstanding Defensive Player" title. Other teammates selected to the All-Tournament Team include defender A.J. Delagarza, forward Jason Herrick, and midfielder/defender Rich Costanzo. North Carolina contributed four players to the All-Tournament Team, including Haggerty, midfielder Zach Loyd, forward Brian Shriver, and freshman forward Billy Schuler. The team roster is rounded out by St. John's goalkeeper Neal Kitson and Wake Forest midfielder Corben Bone.

The win was the third this season for Maryland over North Carolina, a possibility they perhaps had in mind when the Tar Heels knocked off favorite Wake Forest, against whom Maryland's record this year was not so good.

This is Maryland's first championship since 2005. To put their recent success into perspective, however, the most recent national championship prior to 2005 for the Terrapins was 1968. The seniors on this year's team played on the 2005 team, and the underclassmen knew about it. For two decades prior, men's collegiate soccer was essentially owned by Indiana, and occasionally rented to Virginia. North Carolina's last tournament victory was 2001.

Except for his first year with the program, Cirovski has not had a losing season. In this his 16th year with the team, he has taken the team to the NCAA championships 14 times and now has won it twice. This year was his third ACC Championship.

Next year, presumably, Maryland will return most of their exceptional young talent, particularly this year's crop of top notch freshmen. Perhaps this is the most amazing part of this year's run for the title; the team is not assembled simply to win in one year, but has a broad spectrum of talent across all of the age range and is poised to be a powerhouse for some years to come.