INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Committee has selected Los Angeles and UCLA to host the 2004 Men's College Cup and Cary, North Carolina and North Carolina State as host of the 2005 Men's College Cup.  The NCAA Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet approved the sites on a February 26 conference call.
\"We are extremely excited with both sites,\" said Donna DeMarco, chair of the Division I Men's Soccer Committee. \"They are state-of-the-art soccer-only facilities and should showcase our event on the highest level.\"
The 2004 Men's College Cup, which includes two national semifinal matches and the championship game, will be played on December 10 and 12 at the brand-new Home Depot Center Soccer Stadium, which is scheduled to open June 1. The Home Depot Center will be the new home of the Los Angeles Galaxy from Major League Soccer. In addition, the College Cup will be the first NCAA Championship held at that facility.
The 2004 championship was originally scheduled to be played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University.  However, although the Dallas-based institution had an extremely rewarding experience hosting the 2002 championship, they felt it was in the championship's best interest to relinquish the rights to hosting the 2004 event. During the fall of 2004, Ford Stadium will be scheduled to support several athletic events, and therefore this schedule will make it difficult to guarantee field conditions suitable to an event with the profile of the Men's College Cup.  There is also the possibility that SMU will be installing a new artificial in-fill surface at Ford Stadium that would require the inlay of yard lines and logos.
The 2005 Men's College Cup, which will be played on December 9 and 11, will be held at the SAS Soccer Stadium, currently the home of the Women's United Soccer Association's Carolina Courage. This will also be the site of the 2003 and 2004 Women's College Cup. In addition to North Carolina State, the Capital Area Soccer League and Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau will co-host the event.
Tickets for the 2003 Men's College Cup, which will be held at Columbus Crew Stadium on December 12 and 14,  are currently on sale at the Crew Stadium Ticket Office, 614/447-2739 or toll-free at 877/273-9326.