'THE GOLD STANDARD'

FRISCO, Texas - By the time the final horn had sounded and the Terrapin men's soccer team had finished its 1-0 win against North Carolina in yesterday's national championship game, forward Casey Townsend was too tired to celebrate.

The freshman bent over at midfield with his hands on his knees before eventually strolling over to a jubilant mob of teammates nearby. Through the last 10 minutes of the game, while most of the Terps crowded their own zone to protect the slim lead, Townsend was alone up top, charged with running sideline to sideline in order to prevent the delivery of long balls into the Tar Heel attack.

Townsend's unrelenting effort was symbolic of the energy the Terps put out all season, earning them a school record for 23 overall victories at the end of a 16-game winning streak, all in the process of winning coach Sasho Cirovski's second national title in four seasons.

"It was the most balanced team I ever had," Cirovski said. "For a program that has done so much in the past decade, this team just set the gold standard. We just kept plugging away. If this was a marathon, we just completed our 26th mile, and that takes a lot of heart, guts, character and preparation. We had all those things on this team."

The No. 13-seed Tar Heels, who upset No. 1-seed and tournament favorite Wake Forest in Friday evening's first semifinal at Pizza Hut Park, provided a stiff test, as they had in the previous two games against the Terps this season, both Terp wins by one goal.

But the Terps had been eyeing this championship run since their 2007 season ended with a heartbreaking overtime loss to Bradley in the sweet 16. After a 5-3 loss at Clemson on Oct. 3 in which they allowed three goals in just 1:23, there were doubts about their ability to accomplish that feat.

But in the 16 games that followed, a stingy defense allowed just six goals; playmaking midfielders Jeremy Hall and Graham Zusi emerged on offense; and the team won the ACC tournament.

"There was a time in the middle of this year where we weren't sure we had the fiber to be a champion, and we challenged our guys right after the Clemson game," Cirovski said. "There are a lot of talented players on this squad that have never won a championship, and we reminded them of what it takes. They not only bought into it, they surpassed every expectation I had for them."

One of the players who had won a championship before was Zusi, who was a key substitute in the team's 2005 national title run. Zusi scored both goals for the Terps this weekend - yesterday's low 18-yard strike toward the left post in the 67th minute and Friday night's 26-yard free kick to the upper-left corner to advance past St. John's in double overtime.

"What more can you ask for?" Zusi said, referring to his national title victories in both his freshman and senior seasons. "I was extremely happy to be more of a part of this one, a little bit more playing time. Everything about it was incredible."

Yesterday's title game was evenly matched but lacked flow and open play, something Cirovski attributed to both teams' fatigue. Zusi's shot at goal came as a result of a deflected shot from Hall, who was credited with the assist.

On the other side of the field, the Terp backline again held steady. The defensive unit ended the season with a program record of its own, 15 shutouts, which defender Omar Gonzalez made sure his coach included while listing all of his team's accomplishments during the postgame press conference.

The Tar Heels only had two shots on goal, but a number of opportunities were prevented before they got more dangerous when Terp goalkeeper Zac MacMath came out of net to aggressively collect balls in the box.

North Carolina's best chance came with a little more than 19 minutes remaining, when midfielder Michael Callahan made a run into the box and had an open look at the goal. MacMath ran out of goal and was able to get a foot on the shot from point-blank range.

The freshman from St. Petersburg, Fla., helped the Terps survive the Tar Heels' final charge and was a major factor throughout their championship season, recording a 19-1-0 record for the season after taking over for sophomore Will Swaim after the Clemson loss. He finished the year mirroring the efforts of freshman goalkeeper Chris Seitz in the 2005 title run.

"Everyone told each other that we were going to stay home and clear everything out. No matter what, we were going to keep it out of the back of the net," MacMath said. "With the help of all the guys here and all the coaches, they put confidence in me and let me be as good as I can."

In the first half, the Tar Heels showed they would mount more of a challenge than St. John's did in Friday night's semifinal. Though the Terps gained some traction as halftime approached, North Carolina recorded six shots, twice as many as the Red Storm could muster in the entire match on Friday night.

Forward Jason Herrick was caught offsides while tapping in a cross from defender Rodney Wallace, with a little more than 15 minutes remaining in the first half. In the 24th minute, a header by Herrick off of a corner kick by midfielder Matt Kassel was stopped by Tar Heel goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty at the near post and deflected out of bounds.

Although the Terps admitted to being tired afterward, they finally broke through with Zusi's goal in the second half.

Zusi was named the tournament's offensive MVP and Gonzalez, whose girlfriend, Terps' field hockey player and national champion Alexis Pappas, was at yesterday's game, received the corresponding defensive honors.

But the story of the Terps national championship season wasn't merely about talented individuals earning awards. Throughout their 16-game winning streak, the Terps exerted maximum effort on the field, a quality Townsend displayed in full near the conclusion of yesterday's game.

"I was exhausted, but I owed it to the seniors because they worked so hard," Townsend said. "So I laid everything that I had out there for them. I couldn't ask for more in my first season."

Cirovski couldn't have asked for more, either, as he hoisted his second national championship trophy in four years.

akrautdbk@gmail.com