The Akron Zips Men’s Soccer team is heading to its sixth College Cup appearance after toppling defending national champion Stanford in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.

This is a comeback against a team that previously squashed Akron’s championship dreams last season and in 2015.

Akron will travel west to Santa Barbara, Calif. to face Michigan State in the College Cup semifinal on Friday, Dec. 7. The Zips previously beat the Spartans, 2-1, during the regular season.

The Zips, who have maintained a 14-6-2 record thus far, made quick work of their regular season opponents and shut out Western Michigan, 3-0, to clinch its 15th MAC Championship title.

Akron went through the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 victory over Rider and would repeat that score in their second-round win against Syracuse.

The Zips went on to stun top-seeded Wake Forest in a 1-0 upset in the third round.

In the quarterfinal, the Zips found themselves again facing arch-nemesis Stanford. The two teams, both College Cup regulars, have sparred in the past with Stanford claiming the top prize for the past three seasons.

Last Friday’s 3-2 win over the Cardinals ends Stanford’s three-year reign and keeps Akron’s hopes for another championship alive. The Zips clinched their first national title after defeating Louisville, 1-0, in the 2010 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship.

The winner of this Friday’s semifinal will go on to face either Indiana or Maryland in the national title game on Sunday, Dec. 9.

The University of Akron will open James A. Rhodes Arena to the public for a free watch party on Friday, Dec. 7 for the semifinal matchup against Michigan State.