Here is some additional information following the University of Akron 2-0 win over Stanford in an NCAA Tournament third-round men’s soccer game:
UA will host Tulsa on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Elite Eight.
Sophomore forward Teal Bunbury and junior midfielder Anthony Ampaipitakwong each scored a first-half goal to help the No. 1 Zips (22-0-0) defeat No. 17 Stanford University (12-6-2) before a Lee Jackson Field record crowd of 2,806.
The crowd experienced one of UA’s best halves of the season. They played their style (dominant soccer) and Stanford had a hard time dealing with it.
The bleachers in front of the press box and the student section behind the one goal on the hill were full. I wonder if they could possibly get 3,000 or more into the next game.
Quotes
Caleb Porter
"I thought it was a very businesslike game for us, and that is something we have tried to focus on. I think there is a tendency sometimes for teams to change things, and because now you're playing for a national championship, for some reason you put extra pressure on yourself or you get extra excited.
"I think you need to do the exact opposite. You need to continue to do what you have done all year. For us, that is playing our style, dictating the game on both sides of the ball, jumping on a team early with our pressure, with our speed of play and our movement."
"I thought that first half was one of the best halves of the year. In fact, I'm not so sure I have seen a college soccer team do what we did to a team in that first half in any season that I have been a part of. This team has a whole 'nother gear that they go into at certain times. I know there is even another level they will hit in the next round and future rounds."
Teal Bunbury
On the victory: "We came into this game thinking we were going to win and we got it done. We will enjoy this [Sunday night] and then [Monday] we'll get ready for Tulsa on Saturday."
On his 17 goal of the season, which leads the nation: 'It was kind of bouncing around and I saw the opportunity and I wasn't going to miss it. I just drove it home and got the goal."
Anthony Ampaipitakwong
On his eighth goal of the season: 'It was just another set piece. I work on it in practice."
David Meves
"I thought our team played well and my defense played great in front of me. They limited the shots they had, and I was fortunate to make the saves on the ones I had to."
"It was a total team effort."
Stanford coach Bret Simon
"I'd like to congratulate Akron, what a beautiful team. Coach Porter has assembled a team that plays an attractive style on offense and defense. I think that is the best team I have seen in a number of years."
Notes
– The Zips held an advantage over the Cardinal in shots (16-4), shots on goal (9-3) and corner kicks (8-4).
– UA is three wins away from a national title.
– Tulsa (15-4-2) defeated visiting Northwestern 1-0 on Sunday.
– The Zips defeated the Golden Hurricane 1-0 on Sept. 6 in the Tulsa Tournament in Oklahoma. That was UA's second game of the season.
– Bunbury gave the Zips a 1-0 lead with 16:58 remaining in the first half when he headed the ball from six yards away into the upper left of the net past Cardinal senior goalkeeper John Moore.
– Bunbury's goal came after the ball was volleyed by several players. Ampaipitakwong started the play with a corner kick, senior Ben Zemanski got a touch on it and freshman Chad Barson recorded the assist on the goal.
– Ampaipitakwong extended the Zips' lead to 2-0 with an unassisted goal with 8:05 left in the first half when he booted a direct free kick 26 yards into the upper left of the net past Moore.
– UA outshot Stanford 9-0 in the first half and held a 5-0 advantage in shots on goal.
– UA shut out its 16th opponent of the season, which sets a school record surpassing the 2005 team's mark. Zips freshman goalkeeper David Meves was credited with his 14th shutout, which ties the school-record that goalkeeper Evan Bush set in 2005.
– Barson, sophomore Kofi Sarkodie, junior Chris Korb and freshman Zarek Valentin contributed in the back as the Zips' starting defenders.
– Junior midfielder Blair Gavin, sophomore forward Darlington Nagbe and freshman midfielder Ben Speas also contributed as UA starters.
– This is the Zips' third trip to the Elite Eight. The 2005 team was eliminated in the Elite Eight to eventual national champion Maryland, and the 1986 team finished national runner-up to champion Duke.
– Speas started in place of injured sophomore Michael Nanchoff.
– Zips freshmen reserves Yoram Mwila and Scott Caldwell also contributed in the win.
– UA is undefeated in the last 25 home games at 24-0-1, which dates back to 2007. The Zips are 53-2-4 since 2005 at home.
– Under Porter since 2006, the Zips are 44-0-0 when leading at halftime and 49-0-0 when they score two or more goals in a game.
– The fourth round matchups: Akron vs. Tulsa, North Carolina vs. Drake, Wake Forest vs. UCLA, Maryland vs. Virginia.
– The College Cup (Final Four) will be played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. The semifinal is Dec. 11 and the final is Dec. 13.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Great win! Looking forward to the Tulsa game. Any updates on the status of Nanchoff?
Heard during the broadcast that they are expecting him to be back for this game. It was only a groin strain, so I think a week and a half off would be plenty of time to nurse it off. However, considering the level of play we witnessed this past saturday WITHOUT Nanchoff, I wouldn't worry about him missing another game too much.
I firmly believe Mike is the ultimate playmaker of this team. Yes, we did OK last Sunday, but Stanford truly didn't put up a half-decent fight even. We absolutely need Nanchoff on Saturday in OK – playing on the enemy's turf without the exceptional ball striker that he is will hurt us. Utlimately, since there's no stadium in the plans for our outstanding soccer team, I believe Nanchoff will join Teal, Darling, and Anthony in staging a revolt against the university spearheaded by no other but Caleb himself: they will pack up and leave for either Harvard (it is rumored that Harvard is offering Caleb a $500K/year 5-year contract) or Stanford. And guess what? – Akron U totally deserves it, since obviously it doesn't care none for the fact its team is No.1 and has been all year long.
Alex,
The game will not be played in Oklahoma regardless of the weather conditions in Akron. After last year's debacle and the NCAA forced Akron to play at Northwestern due to poor field conditions, they instituted a new rule this year that would prevent that from happening. The new rule states that if a field is not playable, then the game will still be played in the state of the higher seed, but a new field will be selected. There would be no justification for moving the game to Oklahoma, especially since this rule is now on the books.
My preferred final 4: Akron, Drake, UCLA, Maryland. Go Zips!!! Looking forward to yet ANOTHER dominating performance Saturday afternoon.
GoZips88: your preferred final you can dream about in bed. The MOST PROBABLE semi-finals FOUR will be: Akron, Indiana, Drake, Wake Forest. Mark my word.
Alex,
at least know the bracket before you comment or anything else in that matter. Indiana lost…even if they didn't, they would have to play drake to get to the final four(college cup)…and the plans are already in place for a new stadium on current site. They have 4 bids, and construction will start in April 2010. Why would these guys transfer when they're now into their majors, and besides, Darlington might leave early for the draft…if you are going to bring down on this program and possibly give them distractions before saturday on all this @@$$&%#%, then please do it 11 miles to the east my friend, we don't need you. I have met those players, and have talked to them personally, and that is not their mentality…the rest of the hoopla can wait at the end of the year…
Alex = Troll?
GoZips88,
I agree it would be wonderful if the North Carolina teams weren't in the final 4 getting home field advantage, but its hard to picture a final 4 of anything other than Akron, North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Virginia. Assuming we get past Tulsa (not going to be easy, for sure) I would expect very unfavorable ref calls in NC.
aaron, i think we are probably used to the bad calling…:cough:hartwick:cough:…but yea…itll probably be worse in north carolina…
Huh, didn't I tell ya? Indiana just fired its head soccer coach. On their blog, they're openly talking about bringing Caleb Porter back into the fold, and prophecies of Teal, Anthony, and Darling transferring to Indiana abound. This is the beginning of the end for the Akron soccer team, all thanks to the fact that the student body and the administration here didn't (and don't) give a &%^$#.