Day Two: Men's Soccer's Quest For The College Cup
12/12/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Dec. 12, 2002
DALLAS, Texas: 2002 COLLEGE CUP - Wake-up calls were early again for the Terps with a breakfast of bagels before practice on the campus of Southern Methodist University. Sumed Ibrahim, Domenic Mediate, Seth Stammler and Abe Thompson left for the field early with head coach Sasho Cirovski to meet with ESPN for interviews to be used on the national telecast of their College Cup semifinal vs. UCLA the next day. Producer Amy Rosenfeld asked the Terps numerous questions on camper and off to learn more about Maryland's team and players before she met with Coach Cirovski.
After the interviews concluded, the rest of the team joined them and had their first look at the game field on SMU's campus. The Terps familiarized themselves with Gerald J. Ford Stadium and the game field before headed to the adjoining practice field for an early afternoon practice session. The chilly 50 degree temperatures almost felt warm to the Terps, who have practiced and played in much colder over the past few weeks in Maryland.
Maryland worked out for around an hour before rounding out the day's practice on the field with Assoc. Athletic Director Sean Flynn taking on Assistant Coach Jeff Causey for a penalty kick showdown. Flynn snuck one past Causey early, but would run out of luck from there on out and after a cool-down and stretch, the Terps were back on the bus for the hotel.
Domenic, Seth and Abe stayed behind with Coach Cirovski to do another set of interviews, this time with writers from the entities like the Dallas Morning News, Soccer America, and the Associated Press. Once they arrived back at the hotel, the team departed for lunch at TGIFriday's. Several "Gold Medalist" smoothies later, the team had lunch and then headed back to the hotel for a nap before going to the NCAA salute dinner banquet.
The salute dinner, held at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas, showcased all of the teams and their coaches. A delicious buffet called "The State of Texas" began the banquet, which included video and slide shows highlighting each team's entire season, as well as how they made it to the College Cup. After the banquet, the team went back to the hotel to get some studying in for the final exams before they retired for the night.
