U.S. Men’s National Team forward Jordan Morris has already played and won two matches at Sporting Park in 2015. And if he and Stanford have their way, he’ll add two more wins to his total by the end of the year.
The Cardinal are one of 48 teams that will compete for the right to play in the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s College Cup that will be played at Sporting Park in December, the NCAA announced on Monday. The semifinal rounds will take place on Dec. 11 with the championship match on Dec. 13. Tickets for the College Cup are on sale via Ticketmaster.com and fans can also purchase passes for access to the Boulevard Members Club or Ameritas Shield Club.
Twelve Sporting KC Academy products represent nine of the teams competing in this year’s tournament. Cole Stevenson and the University of Denver earned the No. 13 seed after finishing the year as the only undefeated program in Division I Men’s Soccer and winning both The Summit League regular season title and conference tournament. Eric DeJulio and the Creighton University Blue Jays are the No. 12 seed after finishing the year 17-3-0.
SKC Academy players in Tournament
Ohio State: Jack Freeman
Notre Dame: Ryan Krutz
Dayton: Andrew Lightner
Drake: Nic Jaimes, Mason Leonard, Andrew Blalock
Creighton: Eric DeJulio, Bryce Gibson
Denver: Cole Stevenson
Cal Poly: Austin Wilcox
UC Santa Barbara: Seo-In Kim
North Carolina: Zach Wright
The NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship began as an eight-team tournament in 1959, but has since expanded to its current 48-team format. St. Louis University leads all programs with 10 championships, followed by Indiana University with eight titles and the University of Virginia with seven College Cup championships.
Seven players on Sporting KC’s current roster advanced to the College Cup with their respective collegiate programs. World Cup veteran Graham Zusi won two national championships at the University of Maryland, Jacob Peterson won two national championships and was named offensive MVP of the 2003 College Cup at Indiana University and Mike Lopez and Ike Opara each won a national championship at the University of North Carolina and Wake Forest University, respectively.
Sporting KC ties to tournament teams
Wake Fores: Ike Opara (2007-2009)
Indiana: Jacob Peterson (2003-2005)
Ohio State: Roger Espinoza (2007)
North Carolina: Mikey Lopez (2011-2012), Jalil Anibaba (2010), Kerry Zavagnin (1992-1995)
Kentucky: Andy Gruenebaum (2001-2005)
Creighton: Seth Sinovic (2005-2009)
Akron: Saad Abdul-Salaam (2011-2014)
South Florida: Dom Dwyer (2011), Bernardo Anor (2007-2010)
UCLA: Benny Feilhaber (2003-2004), Chance Myers (2006-2007), Amobi Okugo (2009)
Notre Dame: Matt Besler (2005-2008)
Maryland: Graham Zusi (2005-2008)
Clemson: Amadou Dia (2011-2014)
Rutgers: Peter Vermes (1985-1987)
Wake Forest are the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s tournament after winning the ACC regular season championship and finishing the year 15-2-2. All preliminary round games will be played on the campus of the higher seed.
