The University of Akron Athletics
Akron Falls to Virginia in National Championship Game
December 13 | Men's Soccer
CARY, N.C. - After playing to a scoreless tie
through 110 minutes, the University of Akron men's soccer team was
defeated by Virginia in penalty kicks, 3-2, Sunday afternoon in the
NCAA national championship game at WakeMed Stadium before 5,679
fans.
The top-seeded Zips (23-1-1) suffered the loss despite posting
their fifth straight shutout of the NCAA Tournament, spanning 490
consecutive minutes. Akron, which defeated No. 5 North Carolina on
5-4 penalty kicks in the semifinal match Friday night, could not do
so again Sunday in a match-up of the top two defensive teams in the
country.
Virginia led 3-1 after three rounds of penalty kicks after Akron's
Zarek Valentin and Kofi
Sarkodie failed to convert. UVA's Jonathan Villanueva and Greg
Monaco each had a chance to clinch the title, but Zips true
freshman goalkeeper David Meves made a pair of
brilliant saves to extend the shootout. In between, fellow Akron
freshman Scott Caldwell found the net
to close the gap to one, but Blair Gavin's final attempt
sailed high.
The second-seeded Cavaliers (19-3-3) claimed their sixth College
Cup championship and first since they won four straight national
titles from 1991-94.
"It's tough to lose that way," said UA head coach Caleb
Porter. "I'd like to credit Virginia for playing very well and
putting up a good fight. They played us as tough as any team this
year. As you get closer to winning a national championship, second
place hurts more. You get so close you can taste it."
"What makes this one even more tough is that we didn't give up a
goal in the entire NCAA Tournament, and yet we don't take home any
hardware. I told the guys that they have nothing to hang their
heads on. They raised the bar in my opinion. The way they played
the game, I can hold my head high knowing we did everything we
could."
UA suffered the loss despite out-shooting UVA, 12-10, and recording
more corner kicks, 6-4. Moreover, the Zips were on the ball for
much of the contest yet unable to capitalize.
"I thought we had chances today, but two incredible goalkeepers
kept making plays," Porter said. "The defenders also made good
plays and in the end it was a tie. You have to have a winner and in
our sport penalty kicks is how they determine that. I've been a
part of a team that has won that way as well, and I can tell you
it's better than losing. But it doesn't feel quite as good as
actually winning the game."
For the Zips, the result put an end to the greatest season in
program history. The Zips matched the NCAA single-season record for
most consecutive wins (23) while setting school records for wins
(23), shots (412), shutouts (19), fewest goals allowed (7) and
lowest goals-against-average (0.27).
Moreover, of those milestones three of them rank highly among the
greatest in NCAA history. UA posted the second-most shutouts in
single-season Division I history while it's goals-against-average
and shutout percentage (.760) are third best all-time.
"What I'll remember more than anything this year is the way we
played this game and how we approached going against the best teams
in the country," Porter said. "We didn't hope to win, but expected
to win. We didn't hang on potential results, but dictated the
game.
"I thought we did that again today and we've done that all year
long, so I'm proud of my guys. We will continue to follow the same
formula. I've always felt that if you do that in the end it's going
to be fair. We are going to keep chasing the national
championship."
Anthony Ampaipitakwong had the Zips' best scoring opportunity of the first half in the 14th minute when he turned the corner and fired low towards the right post but Restrepo dove to his left to make the stop. It was the second of two shots on goal for UA in the opening period as Ben Zemanski recorded the other with a blast from 30 yards a few minutes earlier.
When they weren't on the ball, the Zips' swarming defense was
relentless to get it back as Akron held the Cavaliers without a
single shot for nearly 35 minutes (from 36:29 to 70:54) amid the
intermittent rain that fell throughout the contest.
UA was clearly the aggressor in the second half but Virginia's
defense was organized and physical in the final third. Freshman Ben
Speas sparked another scoring opportunity in the 54th minute
when he lost his man near the right touchline and crossed the ball
into the box. Sophomore Teal Bunbury leaped up to
meet it but his header went wide.
Zips Notebook: While the
game ended in a tie, the NCAA's policy - exclusive for national championship games - requires that a winner
be declared for all purposes, including record ... Sunday
was the Zips' second appearance in the NCAA championship game. UA
was defeated by Duke, 1-0, in 1986 ... Ampaipitakwong was limited
to 49 minutes because of a leg injury. He left early in the second
half and did not return ... For an
extended period of time in the second half, the Zips had six true
freshmen on the field at the same time ... UA ended the season with
six shutouts in its last seven games ... The Zips allowed just one
goal during the postseason (including the MAC Tournament), spanning
680:47.
2009 NCAA College Cup
All-Tournament Team
Zach Loyd, D, UNC
Corben Bone, MF, Wake
Forest
Zarek Valentin, D, Akron
Teal
Bunbury, F, Akron
Ben
Speas, MF, Akron
Blair
Gavin, MF, Akron
Diego Restrepo, GK, Virginia
Jonathan Villanueva, MF, Virginia
Brian Ownby, F, Virginia
Mike Volk, D, Virginia
Tony Tchani, MF, Virginia
