Country USA Champions Indiana (7th title) | Teams 48 Matches played 47 | |
Runners-up UC Santa Barbara (1st title game) Attendance 72,566 (1,544 per match) | ||
The 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship was a tournament of 48 teams from NCAA Division I. This year's College Cup Final Four was held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. All the other games were played at the home field of the higher seeded team. The final was held on December 12, 2004. Duke, Maryland, UC Santa Barbara, and Indiana qualified for the Final Four. UC Santa Barbara beat Duke and Indiana beat Maryland. In the final Indiana beat UC Santa Barbara in penalty kicks after a 1–1 tie after two overtimes.
The tournament started on November 19, 2004. The first round was played on November 19 and 20th. The second round on the 23rd, and the third round on the 27th and 28th. The Regional Finals were played on November 3–5.
Summary
A crowd of over 10,000 (led by a large number of UCSB alumni in the Los Angeles area and many others who made the 100 mile drive from Santa Barbara) filed into the Home Depot Center for the semi-finals. In the opener between Maryland and Indiana, the game was tied at 2 and appeared like it would be decided on penalties, but Indiana scored in the final minute of the second overtime. In the 2nd game, UCSB scored in the first minute against a Duke team that had yet to allow a goal in the tournament. The Gauchos scored again to take a 2–0 into halftime. Early in the 2nd half, Tony Lochhead scored on a free kick from 35 yards out and UCSB add a couple of late goals for a 5–0 victory.
A crowd of nearly 13,000 attended the final between Indiana and UCSB. Early in the year, UCSB defeated Indiana and the Hoosiers had some harsh words about the Gauchos' aggressive and physical style of play. In the final, Indiana scored first and it looked like it might hold up but UCSB equalized late in the game. In the first overtime, Lochead took a corner kick for UCSB and Andy Iro got a head on the ball, sending it skimming over the cross bar. That was as close as either team came to scoring, so the matter was decided on penalties.
UCSB controversially replaced All American goalie Dan Kennedy with Kyle Reynish because of Reynish's 6'4" frame, and the move appeared to pay off as he stopped 2 Indiana penalties. But UCSB penalty takers were having problems of their own, as Indiana keeper Jay Nolly made one save, and another shot missed the net. On the 5th round, Indiana scored to take a 3–2 lead, then UCSB had the final shot saved by Nolly again to secure the Championship for a second straight year.