College Cup Final Game Thread

[GoZips88]

Hey, GoZips, how ABOUT that foot save by "Meeves" in the final flurry of action? NOW do you believe???

I can't believe I get to use the prized emoticon ... ... er ...

[UADavid]

http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2010/ncaa_bra...soccer_men.html

Snapshot post of this page would be nice. Anyone?

Great team effort.

[jem101]

http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2010/ncaa_bra...soccer_men.html

Snapshot post of this page would be nice. Anyone?

Great team effort.

[GoZips88]

http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2010/ncaa_bra...soccer_men.html

Snapshot post of this page would be nice. Anyone?

Great team effort.

2010 "Bracket of Death" Champions as well!!!

[scottditzen]

Loved seeing this comment!!!

nsparks923 (12/12/2010 at 7:28 PM) Report Violation Great win. Congrats to my Alma Mater. Go Zips!

ESPN Article and highlight video

[Dave in Green]

The video of the action in those last two minutes is about as intense as I've ever seen in any sport.

[bigzipguy]

MiamiHawk4: We appreciate your words of congrats, it wasn't just the Zips , but also the MAC!!

[UA Fan]

We just witnessed the greatest single game ever played by any UA team in any sport.

Exactly what I was thinking. This is the high point in Akron athletics history. I could not be more proud of Coach Porter and these players.

These guys deserve one heck of a homecoming.

Amen! Get started, Tom! When and where is the party?

And where/when is the banner going up?

I'm thinking Student Union, overlooking the field.

[Z.I.P.]

We just witnessed the greatest single game ever played by any UA team in any sport.

Exactly what I was thinking. This is the high point in Akron athletics history. I could not be more proud of Coach Porter and these players.

These guys deserve one heck of a homecoming.

Amen! Get started, Tom! When and where is the party?

I think the first one is right now in Santa Barbara...be safe, Rowdies !

Not to worry, these guys are the ultimate class act. I watched most of the players depart for LAX in the past two hrs. The post-game "party" at the Doubletree was remarkably low key. The highlight was basically everyone in sight getting their chance to have their photo taken with the trophy. I hope the reception back in Akron is much wilder in nature. This team deserves to have the City Fathers throw a New York style ticker tape parade. Is the mayor and the city smart enough to make that happen?

[Z.I.P.]

Our center backs were huge this game. both Barson and Valentin were spot on, terrific passes out of the back. I have watched the final 3 mins of the game 5 times already!! Play of the game, goal line save by BARSON with basically no time left. Barson all caps because he never gets any love, even the commentator cant get it right. Players of the game in my opinion: Meves, Valentin, BARSON, Caldwell!!! What a past 2 years!!!!!

A hundred +++s for that post. Chad Barson is the most underrated central defender in America. I hope we can manage to keep him another year. Same goes for our attacking mid, Perry Kitchen, who played an absolutely magnificent game. And Perry is one of the most soft-spoken players, who leads the team as a freshman with his play on the pitch. I want a chance to see these players again for another NCAA championship.

[Z.I.P.]

The video of the action in those last two minutes is about as intense as I've ever seen in any sport.

I hope we've turned DiG into a soccer (i.e., football) fan for life. Get yourself a season ticket to see the best collegiate soccer in America at Lee Jackson Stadium. Yes -- Chad Barson taking that Louisville shot "off-the-line" late was a life-saver for the Zips tonight. What a great back line Akron has. It will be VERY interesting to see how we fill the holes of those who will depart this season until Andrew Souders arrives in 2012. But, believe me, this team will be re-armed (footed?) for battle in 2011. Caleb Porter is our coach, and we know what he's capable of. No one in Akron or for that matter, anywhere else should doubt that Akron produces champions. WE ARE CHAMPIONS.

[ZachTheZip]

Interview with Scott Caldwell

Interview with Chad Barson

[bobbyake]

I hope we can keep Porter around for a long long time.

He's gonna be one popular guy...

"Also, my mentor [Jerry Yeagley] stayed at Indiana his entire career. He had other opportunities, but in the end, he got so attached he could never leave it. And right now, that's kind of where I'm at." Caleb Porter

[bobbyake]

[ZachTheZip]

They even included the "I Believe"!

[ZachTheZip]

PARTY ALL NIGHT!

I'M GOING TO SHOUT THROUGH THIS WHOLE POST...

I HEAR THE ZIPS GET BACK FROM 6-7 AM....BIG GROUP OF US ARE GOING TO MEET THEM ON VINE STREET WHEN THEY GET BACK. JOIN IN, LETS FIGURE OUT FOR SURE WHEN IT IS AND BE READY TO THROW THAT GOAL IN THE CANAL!!!!!!!!

And I hear there's a major blizzard that's likely to delay their flight.

More time to party!

Good luck to all who are attempting this welcoming party. I'll be at work.

I hope the team gets back on the ground safely. It's a mess by the airport.

Take lots of video and put it up for us. Sure would be neat if the fans built a Snow Zippy to greet the team on campus.

[ZachTheZip]

So apparently the team won't be back on campus until Tuesday morning. Not today.

[johnnyzip84]

Nice Article on Caleb from his home-town press.

[Dave in Green]

I hope we've turned DiG into a soccer (i.e., football) fan for life. .....

A Zips soccer fan, for sure. I'll definitely have more interest in soccer in general going forward. And I'll never post another comment about not being able to get into soccer because there isn't enough scoring.

When you really get into closely following games, as I did during the Zips championship run, you begin to see and appreciate that there's a lot more going on beyond the occasional ball going into the net. I've already developed a good appreciation for how the Zips move the ball on offense and defend against their opponents moving the ball.

[Blue & Gold]

I also used to think that futbol was boring. I never played. However, I did play baseball, and it used to irk me when someone would say baseball was boring. I just knew they didn't really understand the sport very well. Once you understand a good baseball game, you realize that there is strategy behind every pitch selection. As I've begun to learn a little about futbol, I realize it's just like that. There is so much going on out there. And a good soccer match?! CRAZY!!! What an absolute rush! There is no sport as consistently... relentlessly... MERCILESSLY tense and stressful for the spectator than a good futbol match! I believe a good futbol match LITERALLY induces hypertension. No wonder fans chant & cheer throughout the entire course of the contest and absolutely explode on GOOOOOOOOOOAAAALLL!!! You've just gotta release that energy or you'll have a stroke!!!

I'm truly just beginning to appreciate this heartwrenching/exhilarating sport which Europe - and most of the rest of the world - has loved for a long time now. The highs and lows of futbol are simply magnificent! This sport is like a drug!

Great job Zips! You've made us all exceptionally proud!

[GoZips88]

Even a WVU fan here at work is getting a kick out of Akron's win and the final two minutes of suspense.

Watch the reaction of the Louisville player who had the point-blank shot deflected away by Barson. Even more fun - watch the reaction of the 'teammate' who was standing behind him! Basically a reaction of "You IDIOT! HOW did you miss that shot!?!"

Man it's fun to win GAMES THAT MATTER!!!

[johnnyzip84]

Another ESPN Summary Have to love the following quote from Caleb:

I had been preaching to them that there's no better place than Akron. There's the saying that all that glitters isn't gold. And as much as people on the outside might not think Akron is much of a place, it is very good place. It's a nice city in which to raise a family, and soccer means something to people there. People care.

[ZachTheZip]

BAD soccer is boring, just like any sport where the quality of competition is poor. 95% of the college game is bad soccer. Either one or both teams don't play the game in a way that's bearable to watch. But when you have two quality sides like we saw yesterday, it's entertaining even without lots of scoring.

[GoZips88]

Rasor's Blog has a link to a lot of high-quality pics from Sunday's match.

Can't believe how BIG that soccer goal looks in this pic!

Aaron Horton must STILL be replaying that opportunity in his mind!

As Caleb said, it was just meant to be!

[MDZip]

Stayed a few extra days in California (should have stayed more) but thought I'd give my impressions of the weekend. The only issues of UCSB hosting the cup (odd seating arrangements and parking have been covered and they were minor) but they did a great job otherwise of hosting the cup. Had a terrific festival behind the stadium, there was plenty or room, the atmosphere was fantastic and of course the weather cooperated nicely. Got to meet Z.I.P which was good, always fun to meet ZN.O members. Did see him (and us) on TV when we got back. Actually, Z.I.P. was on a lot.

Michigan:

Sat in with the Rowdies at the beginning. Love those guys, they are a great student section, and they were joined by a number of UCSB students which was also cool (loved when the UCSB students flung tortillas on the field when we scored) Much as I liked them, eventually had to move because we could neither see nor hear what was going on . In a way it was good, because we never saw Michigan score because of it. Crowd was a bit deflated, but it was great because there was no one who felf that the Zips wouldn't still win it. Still a lot of confidence. When Kofi scored the second goal, the place went nuts and the only time I ever felt a clock going slower was in the last few minutes of the championship game. The best the Michiganders could come up with was a sign that read "LeBron hates you Akron" and little else. The one time I heard them attempt a chant it was something pretty lame like "You're from Ak-ron" to which the Rowdies responded "You have De-troit". The Rowdies were also admonished by either an NCAA or UCSB official after using the words "swallow" and "Douchebag" in separate cheers. After that they had had several cheers of "We're not swear-ing".

Saturday night there was a little bit of a Zips rally at the Santa Barbara Brewing Company. Became a little strange when a Santa Claus pub crawl group came in (most have been 50 or more of them) but that added to the fun. Have to give George Van Horne and Tom Wistrcill credit because they went out of their way to say hello and talk to everyone that was there. Doc Nash (one of Akron's original soccer coaches) was also there and is a really good guy.

Louisville:

The next morning there was a "tailgate" pep rally at the Elephant Bar near the stadium. Lots of fans there and they had a nice spread for us to eat. Dr. P adressed the crowd and there was a lot of excitement and nobody seemed the least bit concerned about Louisville. Then on to the game. Lots of entertaining Rowdy banter again, and of course an outstanding game. No need to recap any of that. Did like the guy who shouted out "Ken, you made the wrong choice". After the game, the guys just were showing unbridled joy, so much fun to see how much they were enjoying themselves. I even got to touch the National Championship trophy while Darlington Nagbe was holding it. Afterward the team went back to the hotel where lots of folks were there to congratulate them. Never saw the Ocean dip but I did see them all head for the pool where they acted like a bunch of 18-22 year olds. Again, really fun to see. Louisville's "celebration" on the front porch was a bit more subdued.

As I heard them celebrate, I thought about how unlikely it would have been say five years ago to ever conceive of a Zips National Team Championship in anything. What a great way to enjoy the sunset into the Pacific Ocean on an absolutely beautiful night.

I do have some pictures and videos, which I'll try to post as soon as I can. Birmingham is not my favorite city, but I'd be happy to go there next year again.