2009 Roster 2009 Results
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Teal Bunbury
Fueled by one of the greatest defensive seasons in college history, UA matched an NCAA record by posting a perfect 23-0-0 record heading into the College Cup in 2009 en route to its runner-up finish. Akron didn’t allow a single goal during the NCAA Tournament and finished with 19 shutouts for the campaign, which represented the second-highest total all-time. Furthermore, its goals-against-average (0.27) and shutout percentage (.760) were ranked third-best in NCAA history.
The University of Akron men’s soccer team took the college world by storm in 2009, putting together one of the greatest seasons in NCAA history and advancing all the way to the national championship game.
Under the direction of head coach Caleb Porter, the 2009 National Soccer Coaches Association of America Coach of the Year, the Zips blitzed their way to the College Cup, winning 23 straight games to match a Division I record and displaying a dominant brand of soccer that saw UA lead the nation in goals-per-game and goals-against-average as the consensus No. 1-ranked team in the country during the regular season.
The Zips finished 23-1-1 overall and 6-0 in Mid-American Conference play. They went undefeated through the regular season and NCAA Tournament until the College Cup. Akron tied North Carolina 0-0 in the national semifinal, advancing on penalty kicks. In the national championship game, UA tied Virginia 0-0 and fell in penalty kicks (2-3).
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Darlington Nagbe
Furthermore, Akron’s 19 shutouts represented the second-highest total in NCAA history while its GAA (0.27) and shutout percentage (.760) were third all-time.
Along the way, the Zips captured their league-leading 12th MAC regular-season championship, their seventh MAC Tournament title and broke five attendance records at Lee Jackson Field. In fact, UA drew home crowds of more than 2,000 fans eight times in 13 home games in 2009, culminating with the rowdy 4,254 on-hand - the largest crowd ever to witness an Akron soccer match - to see the Zips defeat Tulsa in the NCAA quarterfinals.
The outpouring of support from the community was a major key to the 10th-longest home undefeated streak in NCAA history (second longest among active streaks) as the Zips remained unbeaten in their last 26 games (25-0-1) at Lee Jackson Field dating back to 2007 after posting a perfect 13-0-0 mark in 2009.
Following the historic campaign, three UA starters were selected in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft, including MAC Hermann Trophy winner Teal Bunbury (No. 4 overall to Kansas City), junior captain Blair Gavin (No. 10 overall to Chivas USA) and senior captain Ben Zemanski (No. 47 overall, also to Chivas USA).
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