HOOVER, ALABAMA – Some may consider the NCAA Men’s College Cup semifinal game Friday here between Creighton and Charlotte as a battle of upstarts, but all the two teams know is they’ve won the same number of games in the tournament to get here as the other teams in remaining in the event.

The Blue Jays (21-2-0) and 49ers (16-4-3) do come from smaller conferences, but clearly have raised the level of their game to the highest level.

Missouri Valley Conference winner Creighton finally made it past the quarterfinal stage and to the College Cup in this, coach Elmar Bolowich’s first year with the program.  Ethan Finlay is the big scoring gun with 14 goals and 6 assists, but is supported ably by Bruno Castro, Jose Gomez, Andrew Ribeiro, Greg Jordan and Dion Acoff.

For the Atlantic 10 winners Charlotte, Giuseppe Gentile leads in goals scored with 10, with Evan James, T.J. Beaulieu, Jennings Rex, Tyler Gibson and Donnie Smith also helping produce offense for the 49ers.

Brian Holt handles goalkeeper duties for Creighton, with Klay Davis between the sticks for Charlotte.

Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn said his team is very relaxed going into the contest.

“As you can see, our players are pretty loose here,” he said during a media availability on Thursday. “Creighton is another phenomenal team. You aren’t going to be looking at any weak teams at this stage of the season.  The most important thing is to focus on what we do well, as we worry about ourselves and go out there and continue to do ourselves proud.”

Creighton’s Elmar Bolowich believes the matchup will be high-powered.

“I think it will be a very intense game,” Bolowich said. “I think it will be a very close game. It is going to be interesting to see how one team versus the other adjusts the various styles. Charlotte is also a very aggressive team. I hope it’s going to be a good match. I am looking forward to a good match, and certainly a good challenge. At this point seeded or unseeded, Charlotte has done their homework to be here so they deserve it. They play with a lot of confidence. Now it’s just a matter of who will pull through on Friday.”