View full sizeAkron's Perry Kitchen goes airborne to get off a pass against Louisville's Dylan Mares in the first half of Sunday's NCAA men's soccer championship game at Santa Barbara, CaliSANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- It's better late than never. A 79th minute goal byScott Caldwell was decisive as theUniversity of Akron won its first NCAA College Cup men's soccer title, 1-0 over Louisville, on Sunday.
The national championship is the first for Akron in any sport.
The Zips finish 22-1-2. They lost last season's national title game to Virginia, 3-2 on penalty kicks
A defensive first half saw few opportunities for both Akron and Louisville. In the final two minutes of play, the Cardinals were awarded a free kick. Paolo DelPiccolo blasted the shot toward goal. Zips sophomore goalkeeper David Meves grabbed it for the save. Less than a minute later, Akron had the same opportunity. Anthony Ampaipitakwong bent a perfect kick into the box. Louisville goalkeeper Andre Boudreaux made the save. Louisville outshot Akron in the first half, 5-4. Meves had three saves, while Boudreaux had two.
In the second half, Akron started some sustained attacks. Darlington Nagbe made an early run and Louisville's defense couldn't quite clear the attempt. Boudreaux jumped on it for the save. Kofi Sarkodie added an attempt a couple minutes later, blasting a shot toward goal. Boudreaux fell to the pitch and grabbed it with one hand, pulling it out of harm's way.
In the 50th minute Louisville sent a long free kick into the box, Colin Rolfe headed it toward Meves who grabbed it for the save.
In the 53rd minute, Nagbe flicked the ball to a streaking Sarkodie. He was taken down by J.T. Murray for the first yellow of the day. Two minutes later Akron's Chris Korb pulled a Louisville player to the pitch on the Cardinals counterattack, earning himself a yellow.
In the 65th minute Nagbe ran toward goal, passing the ball to Caldwell, who shot the ball just wide right of goal. Two minutes later he made another run, this time joined by Darren Mattocks. Nagbe sent the ball wide right.
In the 79th minute, Akron's Anthony Ampaipitakwong soared a corner kick into the box. Caldwell, a sophomore midfielder, blasted a shot off the Cardinal defense. He picked up the rebound and sent it into the upper net and inside the right post, from about 12 yards, for a 1-0 Akron lead.
The Zips continued to attack for the remainder of the match. Charlie Campbell took down Ampaipitakwong for a yellow card late in the second half.
A late push by Louisville turned into chaos for Akron's back line. Buck Tufty blasted the ball toward goal and started a flurry of follow-up attempts. Aaron Horton found his way into the box for Louisville, rocketing a point-blank shot toward goal. Chad Barson cleared it. Akron's defense and Meves stood strong preserving the shutout and the win.
Louisville finishes 20-1-3. The Cardinals began the match ranked as the nation's No. 1 team; Akron was No. 2
0 comments:
Post a Comment