HOOVER, Ala. Can the Charlotte 49ers make it back to the College Cup?

If they can replace two key senior defenders, the 49ers should again expect to be among the country's top teams next season.

Charlotte, which lost 1-0 to North Carolina in the national championship game Sunday, should return eight starters off a team that finished 16-5-4 and was in the national polls for much of the season.

The 49ers will lose defenders Charles Rodriguez and Isaac Cowles, as well as starting forward/midfielder Evan James. Another key senior, forward T.J. Beaulieu, as well as backup goalkeeper Gavin Dawson, also graduate.

Rodriguez, a first-team All-American, and Cowles, the College Cup's most outstanding defensive player, will be the toughest to replace.

They're both four-year starters and the team's co-captains.

"I don't think of him as my friend," said Rodriguez. "I think of him as my brother."

The rest of the team should return, led by Atlantic 10 rookie of the year Giuseppe Gentile and Jennings Rex on the front line and the entire midfield of Tyler Gibson (who also plays forward), Owen Darby, Aidan Kirkbride and Robby Thomas. Donnie Smith, a College Cup revelation with his dangerous runs with the ball, will also be back.

Notes

Ben Speas, who scored the winning goal for the Tar Heels, is a transfer from Akron who played on the Zips' national championship team last season. Soccer doesn't have a rule requiring transfers to sit out a one year.

North Carolina assistant coach Grant Porter, who grew up in Charlotte, also played on the Tar Heels' first national championship team in 2001. Porter played at Providence Day and coached at Charlotte Country Day in 2009-10.

The Tar Heels and 49ers stayed at the same hotel during the College Cup. "That was a bit awkward," said Porter. "You're sitting there eating breakfast, and the guys you're playing for the national championship are right across from you."

Six busloads of 49ers students were chartered for the game. They returned immediately afterward: this is exams week at UNC Charlotte (as it is at North Carolina).

All-tournament team: North Carolina's Speas (forward), Billy Schuler (forward), Enzo Martinez (midfielder) - who played at Rock Hill Northwestern - and Kirk Urso (midfielder); Charlotte's Gentile, Cowles, Rodriguez and Smith; UCLA's Ryan Hollingshead (midfielder) and Chandler Dawson (forward); Creighton goalkeeper Brian Holt.