COLLEGE PARK - It was one of the first things he thought about when he returned to Dallas last spring and the last thing he said when leaving three months later.

Before heading for College Park for his sophomore season, Domenic Mediate bid goodbye to family and friends in Texas, saying, "See you back here for the final four."

Five months later, Mediate is going home on the terms he envisioned.

Second-seeded Maryland (20-4) will open play in the NCAA College Cup - soccer's final four - tomorrow at 5 p.m. against No. 3 seed UCLA (16-3-3). Stanford (17-4-2) and Creighton (18-3-2), both unseeded, will meet at 8 p.m. in the other semifinal. The title game will be at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

The venue will be Southern Methodist University's Gerald J. Ford Stadium, a 25-minute ride from the Mediates' Southlake, Texas, home.

"Throughout the summer, I thought about it and was hoping for it, and now that we're here, it's exciting," Mediate said. "I don't feel that much pressure. I just want to play well and the team to play well."

Mediate, who plays both forward and midfielder, hasn't been just another player along on the Terrapins' stirring ride that has them two games away from their first national title since 1968.

He has put his teammates on his back and showed them the way.

He scored the Terps' only goal in a 1-0, second-round victory over American before scoring in overtime to beat Saint Louis a round later. In Saturday's quarterfinals, after a scoreless first half, he had two goals in a 3-0 defeat of visiting Connecticut.

In three tournament games, the Terps have five goals; Mediate has four of them, with the other being an own goal. Maryland has won eight in a row, and Mediate has a point in seven straight. He has 13 goals and five assists this season.

He can't explain why he's surged, only acknowledging that he is much healthier than last year and at the beginning of this season, which is crucial for a player who depends largely on speed and athleticism.

"I know he was down last year with all the injuries," said junior midfielder Scott Buete. "I think he had doubts if he was ever going to come back and play again. But he's exploding on the scene now. We're just loving him."

After a two-year struggle with three hernias, Mediate had surgery this past offseason and is just now returning to form, though frustration remains because he's still not 100 percent.

But it beats the trials of his freshman season, much of which he spent in the trainer's room. The hernias didn't keep him off the field, but a broken orbital bone in his face - a result of a collision with a George Mason player - did, ending his rookie campaign in early October. He had a goal and an assist in 10 games.

"Last year, it was frustrating because you could see glimpses of his explosiveness and the kind of player he could be for us," said Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski. "It's only in the last month that he's gotten his rhythm, his confidence."

Mediate, who eluded the radar of many Top 10 programs, is the latest in a long line of Cirovski recruiting finds. The coach was tipped off to him by former Terp Philip Salyer, a fellow Texan.

Cirovski discovered Mediate's ability to rise to the occasion on the biggest stage.

When the future Terp's club team played the U.S. Under-17 team in the Disney Shootout in Orlando, Fla., Mediate assisted on the game-winning goal after suffering a broken bone in his face in the first half.

In the Texas state championship game, his Southlake Carroll team was taken to a shootout. A senior, he stepped into goal in place of an inexperienced teammate and made eight saves, along with scoring a shootout goal, to lead his team to victory.

Thus, Mediate's recent late-game heroics have not surprised Cirovski.

"He lives for these moments," he said.

Mediate, who has six game-winning goals this season, admitted as much, saying he gets an adrenaline rush late in games.

A distant cousin of pro golfer Rocco Mediate, the 20-year-old has been deluged by e-mails and phone calls from family and friends back home since the tournament started.

Ticket inquiries have rolled in at a steady pace this week, but Mediate is deflecting all requests to his parents, who were scheduled to be the hosts of a Texas-style barbecue for the Terps last night.

But Mediate will evaluate his homecoming by what happens on the field.

"I always want to prove myself," he said. "I believe you're only as good as your last game, and I know I can play better."

Next for Terps

Matchup: Maryland (20-4) vs. UCLA (16-3-3) in NCAA men's soccer semifinal

Site: Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas

When: Tomorrow, 5 p.m.

TV: ESPN2