St. John’s ended No. 1 Southern Methodist’s perfect season and North Carolina halted Fairleigh Dickinson’s Cinderella run, grabbing tight quarterfinal victories Saturday to advance to next weekend’s NCAA Men’s College Cup soccer championships in Columbus, Ohio. Chris Corcoran knocked home a rebound off the post in the 83rd minute as sixth-ranked St. John’s earned a 2-0 triumph over SMU in Dallas, handing the Mustangs their first defeat after 21 victories. No. 9 North Carolina overcame an early deficit, then needed three overtimes and an own goal to get past Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-2, in Chapel Hill, N.C. St. John’s and North Carolina join Stanford, a 1-0 winner Friday night over visiting Saint Louis, in the final four at Columbus Crew Stadium. The fourth semifinalist will be determined today when No. 4 Clemson visits seventh-ranked Indiana. In Saturday’s quarterfinal action: ò Chris Corcoran finished off a tremendous sequence with seven and a half minutes to go, and Peter Philipakos hit an empty net with a 70-yard free kick with 50 seconds left as St. John’s took the victory at Ford Stadium. Corcoran found the net with a sharp drive after Philipakos struck the post for the second time in less than a minute. Philipakos’ quick free kick nearly seven minutes later found SMU goalkeeper Byron Foss, near midfield after coming forward for a Mustang free kick, well out of his net, and the ball rolled most of the journey toward the empty net. The goals were each player’s third of the season. Both teams played much of the second half with only 10 men after two ejections. St. John’s Andre Schmid was red-carded in the 57th minute after he was nudged into Foss by SMU’s Mohamed Fahim while trying to get a shot off. Referee Rich Grady dismissed SMU’s Ross Spencer nine minutes later after a two-footed attack on Jeff Matteo just to the right of the Mustang box. St. John’s (17-2-3) had the better of play during the match but were fortunate not to fall behind in the 74th minute, when Hermann Trophy and MAC Award winner Luchi Gonzalez broke free in the Red Storm box. Goalkeeper Guy Hertz made a superb save on Gonzalez’s first shot, and his rebound was cleared by Christopher Wingert at the far post. “This was as devastating a loss as we’ve ever had …,” SMU coach Schellas Hyndman said. “But if you look at the accomplishments the team had this year, I think it was pretty spectacular. We went 21-1, but tonight we ran into a team that was very focused and played extremely well against us.” ò Ryan Kneipper scored second-half goals four minutes apart and North Carolina netted the winner on a 127th-minute own goal, advancing to its first final four since 1987 with a triumph over visiting Fairleigh Dickinson at Fetzer Field. The Tar Heels (19-4) will face Stanford in a semifinal Friday at Columbus Crew Stadium. Kniepper headed home crosses from Ray Fumo in the 73rd minute and Mike Gell in the 77th, his 12th and 13th goals of the season, as the Tar Heels overcame an early deficit. Fairleigh Dickinson (17-7), the surprise of the NCAA tournament, forced overtime with Dirceu Hurtado’s 90th-minute penalty kick. Carolina’s David Stokes, battling with Aaron Paye in the box, fell with his arm landing atop the ball to set up the spot kick. Paye had given FDU, which was outshot, 43-6, a 20th-minute advantage by deflecting Danny Jackson’s clearance into the net. North Carolina prevailed in the third overtime when a cross glanced off the back of FDU forward Brian Romero’s head and into the goal. In Friday’s quarterfinal: ò Roger Levesque took advantage of a Saint Louis miscue and a Lee Morrison-led defense did the rest as Stanford returned to the NCAA semifinals with a 1-0 triumph at its Maloney Field. Levesque collected an errant clearance by Billiken goalkeeper John Politis in the 37th minute, beat a defender, then fired home his 13th goal of the season to send the third-ranked Cardinal (18-1-1) to a semifinal Friday in Columbus, Ohio, against No. 9 North Carolina. Stanford also reached the final four in 1998, losing to Indiana in the title game. Saint Louis (18-2) nearly evened the score late in the match with a shot off the crossbar, but the Billikens had difficulty penetrating the Stanford defense, which kept star striker Dipsy Selolwane from getting off a shot. NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS QUARTERFINALS Saturday’s results SMU 0 St. John’s 2. Goal: Corcoran 83, Philipakos 90.. North Carolina 3 Fairleigh Dickinson 2 (3OT). Goals: Kneipper (Fumo) 73, Kneipper (Gell) 77, own goal Romero 127; Paye 20, Hurtado pen. 90. Sunday’s game Clemson (19-4) at Indiana (16-3-1), 2 p.m. EST Saturday’s result Stanford 1 Saint Louis 0. Goal: Levesque 38. NCAA MEN’S COLLEGE CUP at Columbus, Ohio Friday’s semifinals St. John’s (17-2-3) vs. Indiana-Clemson winner Stanford (19-1-1) vs. North Carolina (19-4) Final: Sunday.