Santa Barbara came out a winner by a score of 62 to 35 on the final day of the 2018 College Cup. The former was the temperature at the start of the Akron-Maryland championship match at UCSB’s Harder Stadium. The latter was the high temperature in Cary, North Carolina, where 10 inches of snow fell Sunday. Cary will be the host city of the 2019 College Cup, and the NCAA Division 1 men’s soccer final four will return to UCSB in 2020.
“Thank you, Santa Barbara,” Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski said at the conclusion of the press conference after his Terrapins won their fourth national championship — and their first since 2008 — by shutting down the high-scoring Akron Zips, 1-0.
It was a bit cool by local standards, but Tom Hastings, UCSB’s tournament director, appeared comfortable in shirtsleeves throughout the evening. Besides the weather, the visiting coaches praised the condition of Meredith Field and the environment in the stadium, where the total attendance Friday and Sunday was 9,846.