SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — After two months in the wilderness, the University of Akron men’s soccer team has found the formula.

It has captured the momentum. It has boosted its confidence, with newcomers and veterans providing punch.

Now the Zips are poised to win the second national team championship in school history after cruising past Michigan State 5-1 Friday night in the semifinals of the NCAA College Cup at Harter Stadium on the campus of UC Santa Barbara.

UA men’s soccer notched the first title in 2010 on the same field.

David Egbo, Carlo Ritaccio, Skye Harter (Copley), Marcel Zajac and Branden Petno (Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) had goals and goalie Ben Lundt notched five saves as the Zips (15-6-2) recorded their ninth consecutive victory.

Second-seeded Indiana (20-2-1) met 11th-seeded Maryland (11-6-4) in the second game, with the winner to face the Zips at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Harter said the Zips are used to the underdog role now, as they will be no matter who they face Sunday.

"We’re used to perception now, [so] it’s not something that really bothers us," Harter said. "As a team, at our core we have a lot of self-belief. We know what we can do and that’s good enough for us. If people want to doubt us, that’s fine. We’ll keep proving them wrong. We’ve been everywhere this season and we’ve been successful. We’re not going to relax, we’re going to stay focused."

UA and Michigan State are among 11 unseeded teams to reach the College Cup, but only UC Santa Barbara in 2006 has captured the championship. The Zips are the fourth unseeded team to play for the title since the tournament expanded in 2001.

"I think it speaks to how much we want this," Harter said. "We’re really not satisfied with the performance. The scoreline was great, but we want to play better and we’re really hoping to play better.

"There are things to tighten up all over the field. They had a lot of good opportunities to score and we were able to recover, but we don’t want them to be having those situations, especially in the national championship game. We have to keep ... finding goals."

Just as they did on Nov. 30 in upsetting three-time defending champion Stanford, the Zips jumped out to a 2-0 first-half lead.

Sophomore forward Egbo scored his 13th goal of the season in the 16th minute off an assist by senior Morgan Hackworth to put UA up 1-0. Hackworth took a cross from Harter, but Hackworth’s header hit the post. Egbo swooped in for the finish, with both Harter and Hackworth given assists.

It marked the Zips’ first goal in the College Cup since 2010, when Scott Caldwell scored in a 1-0 victory over Louisville in the title game. Although the Zips are making their third College Cup appearance in the past four years, both previous losses to Stanford came on penalty kicks.

Freshmen teamed up in the 32nd minute to give the Zips more breathing room. Ritaccio took a pass from Colin Biros (Jackson) and Ritaccio put it just over Michigan State goalkeeper Jimmy Hague’s shoulder. Ritaccio scored his third goal of the season, with the other two coming against West Virginia in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament Nov. 9.

Like he did at West Virginia, Ritaccio formed a heart with his hands, which the Westbury, N.Y., native said was a signal to his girlfriend back home.

Harter gave the Zips a 3-0 lead in the 53rd minute with his second goal of the season on a free kick, which came after Zajac was pulled down in front of the box. UA scored at least three goals for the fourth time in five NCAA tournament games.

Zajac recorded a point for the 11th time in the last 12 games with a goal in the 65th minute off a Hackworth pass and redshirt freshman Petno got his first career goal in the 85th minute, heading in a rebound after redshirt freshman Daniel Oliveira’s shot hit the crossbar.

The Spartans (14-5-4) had a great chance in the 22nd minute when senior forward Hunter Barone got free on a breakaway and found himself one-on-one with UA senior goalkeeper Lundt. But Lundt went low and came through with a sliding save.

"I know when I come out I appear big for the striker," said Lundt, who is 6-foot-6. "I felt like he tried to go through my legs. People say that’s the weakness for big goalkeepers. I just closed with my left leg."

In the 25th minute, MSU had a flurry of three shots but came up scoreless as Lundt saved two and senior defender Abdi Mohamed cleared the second shot off the line.

It was UA’s second victory this season over Michigan State, the first coming in East Lansing on Oct. 9 on goals by Egbo and Harter.

"They can be lethal," MSU coach Damon Resing said. He also noted that in the first meeting, UA coach Jared Embick was still integrating 18 newcomers, nine who see extensive action.

Embick used the same word to describe the Zips' offensive barrage.

"I think we were pretty efficient and pretty lethal in our attacking," Embick said. "Defensively we have some issues we have to clean up before Sunday, but overall performance you can’t complain too much, I guess."

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.