Dec. 10, 2005

CARY, N.C. - The NCAA Tournament's top seeds -- No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 New Mexico -- will play for the national championship Sunday afternoon at SAS Soccer Complex in Cary, N.C. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. The Terps are seeking their first national title since 1968.

"It's a great matchup," head coach Sasho Cirovski said at Saturday's press conference. "The consensus top two programs in the country are in the right place at the right time. We're excited. We're looking forward to a great game and a great environment. Our players are very focused and very excited to get the game on.

"New Mexico is a great team. They're a veteran team, a very confident team. They have skillful players, tough players, tall players. They have a lot of different weapons and they're going to be a very formidable challenge for us, but one we're ready for."

The Terps snapped a five-game losing streak in the national semifinals with a 4-1 win over SMU. Graham Zusi came off the bench to score a goal, and Jason Garey netted a pair, and Stephen King scored his 15th goal of the season in the victory. New Mexico advanced with a 2-1 win over Clemson.

Maryland is 0-2-1 in the NCAA Finals. The Terrapins are playing in the finals for the first time since 1968.

The Terps and Lobos have never met on the soccer pitch. The two teams do have some common threads, though. Redshirt sophomore Robbie C'deBaca transferred to Maryland from New Mexico, and Lobo sophomore Joey Vitagliano's brother (Bryan) played for the Terps from 2000-03.

The University of Maryland is seeking its second national championship in the 2005-06 season. (The field hockey team won the title.)

LiveStats will also be available at ncaasports.com and the game will be broadcast on the Internet at www.wmucsports.com.