Sending everyone to the brink of cardiac arrest, the final hurdle in the road to the 2010 NCAA Men’s College Cup couldn’t have been written any better. Simply put, every winner had one foot into elimination before coming out victorious.

Down to the Wire: Three matches went into overtime with two going into post-match penalties. North Carolina is just plain getting used to it. The Tar Heels advanced for the third consecutive match in the tournament via a penalty shootout, this time against SMU after finishing 110 minutes of play level at 1-1. Kirk Urso put UNC up and Arthur Ivo tied it up for the Mustangs. Scott Goodwin made a clutch save in spot kicks for Carolina.

Akron was pushed to its limit. After trailing for the first time at home, they advanced to the College Cup by beating California, 3-2, in a PK shootout after ending the game 3-3 in regulation.

Anthony Avalos put the Bears up 1-0 after converting his shot from 13 yards out. However 10 minutes later, goals by Michael Nanchoff and Scott Caldwell – within 34 seconds of each other – pushed Akron into the lead. Cal pulled even, 2-2, with Tony Salciccia’s goal, but Perry Kitchen added a third for Akron. With 90 seconds left in regulation, John Fitzpatrick found the back of the net for Cal and sent the game to overtime, with the Zips ultimately prevailing on penalties.

Adamantium In Their Veins: Michigan, the lowest seeded team left in the tournament, needed an overtime goal by Fabio Pereira to send Maryland packing with a 3-2 overtime win. The Wolverines saw themselves down 1-0 at halftime after a Casey Townsend goal put the Terrapins up.

However Jeffrey Quijano scored early in the second half to tie the game for Michigan, and Justin Meram tallied 10 minutes later to give the Wolverines the lead. Maryland came back with Jason Herrick’s goal with 11 minutes on the clock. Once in overtime, Pereira found the game winner in the 103rd minute, sending Michigan to its first ever College Cup appearance.

Comeback Kids: The only team not needing extra minutes, top-seeded Louisville, completed a remarkable 5-4 comeback win after twice falling behind two goals to the Bruins at home in the snow. Aaron Horton scored the winner for the Cardinals with less than a minute left in regulation to take Louisville to the College Cup.

UCLA got goals by Eder Arreola, Kelyn Rowe, and Chandler Hoffman in the 1st half.  Charlie Campbell scored for Louisville before halftime to cut the deficit in half, 3-2, after Collin Rolfe had done so earlier in the game.

Louisville's hero Aaron Horton.

The Cardinals came back firing with goals by Paolo Del Piccolo and Nick DeLeon, giving the home team its first lead in the match, 4-3, but UCLA freshman Victor Chavez tied the match at 4-4 with 10 minutes to play, before Horton’s late heroics.

Goals Galore: Here’s a quick stat for all the number crunchers out there. If you haven’t caught on, there were plenty of goals this weekend. Between the four games, 22 goals were scored among the eight teams. That tally is greater than the total number of goals scored in the Sweet 16 (19) and averages to about 5.5 goals per game.

With the excitement, tension, and pressure the College Cup brings, and the aggressive offenses of these teams, this weekend’s games could be very entertaining to watch.

Who’ll Remain Standing? Every team has a strong motive to hoist the coveted NCAA title, with a potential for a College Cup rematch.

North Carolina will want to make up for last year’s semifinal loss to Akron, while the Zips will want to forget their loss to Virginia in the 2009 title game. If these two meet up on Sunday, there will be blood.

It will be Louisville and Michigan’s first appearance at the College Cup. The Cardinals will want to cement their superiority in college soccer and finish an undefeated season, which hasn’t been seen since Santa Clara in 1989.

Meanwhile, Michigan has been in the college soccer scene for only 10 years, making Steve Burns' accomplishment all the more noteworthy.

So, ladies and gentlemen make sure your belts are securely fastened and your seats are in the upright position because we are going straight to the College Cup. If the Elite 8 was any indication, this will be an exciting ride.