By Sophia Boris

The Men’s Akron soccer team will be facing eighth-seeded Stanford in the College Cup semifinals this Friday in Kansas City at 8:30 p.m.

This year will mark the 56th annual College Cup. This tournament has been held since 1959, and is conducted by the Collegiate Athletic Association. Since 1959, it has been a 48 team, single elimination tournament.

The Akron Zips will advance after a 3-2 double overtime victory over Creighten University on Saturday.

University of Akron has also participated in the College Cup in 1986, 2009 and has brought home a national championship in 2010.

Stanford beat Wake Forest 2-1 in overtime on Saturday.

This will be Stanford’s fourth time competing in the College Cup and will aim for the college’s first national championship this year.  

The other teams participating in the College Cup semifinals are number two Clemson and number six Syracuse. These teams will kickoff the first NCAA semifinal at 6 p.m.

This will mark 10 years since Clemson has made an appearance in the College Cup. Clemson’s competitor, Syracuse, has never been to the NCAA semifinals.  

The championship game will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday based on the winners of both semifinal games.