CARY - Eric Edwards scored off a rebound in the 53rd minute to lift Big Ten champion Ohio State to a 1-0 victory over Massachusetts on Friday in the second NCAA soccer semifinal at SAS Soccer Park.

The Buckeyes will meet Wake Forest in Sunday's final.

Ohio State (16-3-5) peppered UMass goalkeeper Zack Simmons with shots, most notably early in the second half during the sequence that led to the goal.

Xavier Balc raced into the box and fired a shot that Simmons saved with a slide, and Simmons reacted quickly enough to knock down Roger Espinoza's shot off the rebound. But the ball bounced toward Edwards, who planted it in the upper-right corner of the net with 37:16 remaining for his third goal of the season.

"He's a great goalkeeper, and we knew that going in," Balc said. "We knew it was going to be a tough game with getting balls past him because he's a big boy and moves very well. So basically, the only way to get it past him was to have him make a good save and then while he was on the ground, we could put it away."

Ohio State extended its school-record unbeaten streak to 15 games. The Buckeyes finished with 13 shots, six more than the Minutemen.

Massachusetts (17-8-1), which won the Atlantic 10 and knocked off top-seeded Boston College in the second round, ended its season with the most wins in school history. The Minutemen were making only their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They last played in the tournament in 2001, when they lost in the second round.

"I'm not really disappointed with what we did today," senior defender Kenneth Cook said. "Obviously, we didn't get the result we wanted, but this run has been unbelievable. We gave it everything we had out on the field."