Maryland, Notre Dame to face off in NCAA soccer finals

AP

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Patrick Mullins scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season to lead Maryland to a 2-1 victory over Virginia in the NCAA men's soccer semifinals Friday night at PPL Park.

The Terrapins (17-3-5), looking for their third national championship in the last nine years, will face Notre Dame in the title game Sunday.

Mullins scored in the 11th and the 76th minutes, receiving perfect lofted through balls on both goals — the first from Mikias Eticha and the second from Tsubasa Endoh.

Trailing 2-0 with time running out, Virginia (13-6-5) got on the board after Maryland's Dan Metzger took down Marcus Salandy-Defour in the box and Todd Wharton scored the ensuing penalty kick in the 77th minute.

Maryland goalie Zack Steffen, from the Philadelphia area, finished with five saves, including a diving stop on Brian James with less than three minutes remaining to preserve the win.

Mullins, a finalist to win his second straight MAC Hermann Trophy as the nation's best player, leads Division I in scoring this season and is second in Maryland history with 46 goals. The Terps have lost only once in four years when Mullins scores.

Patrick Hodan led Notre Dame to its first NCAA men's soccer final, scoring twice in the Fighting Irish's 2-0 semifinal victory over New Mexico.

Hodan has scored in six straight games, the last four in the NCAA tournament, and has 11 goals this season.

Harrison Shipp, a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, assisted on both goals.

In the seventh minute, Shipp shook off a defender and found Hodan in the box for a shot that snapped New Mexico's shutout streak at 317 minutes. The 16-1-6 Irish, making their first College Cup appearance, scored again in the 65th minute when Hodan pounced on a rebound in the box after Vince Cicciarelli hit the crossbar.

Goalkeeper Patrick Wall made five saves to blank the Lobos (14-6-2).