RSS
Akron, Virginia advance to NCAA College Cup soccer championship
Subscribe
The Akron Zips and the Virginia Cavaliers advanced to the NCAA College Cup championship soccer match on Friday, setting up a showdown between the two top ranked teams in the country.
Blair Gavin scored the final penalty kick for the Zips against North Carolina, advancing them to the championship game. "I believed in myself and there was no way I was going to let my team down," Gavin said.
Brian Ownby, a late game substitute, scored for Virginia in the third minute of overtime to defeat Wake Forest by a score of 2-1.
Friday's semifinal match must have seemed like a road game for Akron, facing a fifth seeded North Carolina team practically in their back yard. But Akron arrived focused and determined to prove they belonged in this final four with the three ACC teams. Akron entered the game undefeated, 23-0, and have been the country's top-ranked team most of the year. As the No. 1 seed they dominated their playoff games, not giving up a single goal.
- Click on the "View Slideshow" link below to see photos from both games.
Shots were hard to come by in the early going for both teams as Akron and UNC felt each other out. It was the first time in the NCAA Tournament that the Zips failed to score a goal in the first half. Akron had the first true scoring opportunity when Darlington Nagbe was brought down just outside the box during the first period. Anthony Ampaipitakwong, who has been deadly on free kicks this postseason, fired around a wall of defenders from 19 yards out but was denied when Tar Heel goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty dove to make the save. Kofi Sarkodie got a head on the ensuing corner kick, but Haggerty was there once again to make the stop.
Haggerty had an awesome game in his own right, recording a career high seven saves.
The Tar Heels (16-2-4) played the final 20:12 of regulation and all of overtime down a man. Defender Brett King received his second yellow card of the match and was sent off when he took down Nagbe on a long ball outside the box.
- Video footage of the penalty kick shootout can be found here.
The Zips defended well like they have all year. Freshman goalkeeper David Meves made six saves and came up with big plays when it mattered the most. But freshman midfielder Ben Speas made the save of the game for the Zips. With three minutes left in the second overtime, Speas headed away a shot by Tar Heels defenseman Jordan Graye at the goal line. Meves followed that up by coming out of his goal to stuff Enzo Martinez from 6 yards out shortly after.
After 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute sudden death overtimes, the game was a scoreless tie, sending the game to a penalty kick shootout. All five Akron shooters -- Zarek Valentin, Ben Zemanski, Kofi Sarkodie, Scott Caldwell and Blair Gavin -- scored against Haggerty. Jordan Graye missed on the Tar Heels third shot, blasting a shot well above the crossbar for the only miss on the night.
Because the regulation and overtime periods ended in a tie, the game is recorded as a tie. The Zips record is now 23-0-1. But getting to the championship match was more important.
In the other semifinal match, Virginia topped Wake Forest 2-1 in overtime.
Though he's been injured, Ownby entered the game late in the second half. On the game winning score, Jonathan Villanueva sent a long pass down the middle of the field to a sprinting Ownby. Ownby split a pair of Wake Forest defenders and shot the ball over goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald.
"I just kicked it as hard as I could, as far as I could," Villanueva said of his pass from midfield that set up the goal. "He's faster than anyone else I know, so I figured he would catch up to it wherever it went."
It was the third time that Virginia defeated Wake Forest this season.
The championship game will feature the top two seeds in the country and should be an excellent game. Both teams have been to a championship match in the past, but only Virginia has won.
The championship match will be played Sunday at 1:00 pm eastern time and will be televised on ESPN2.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
