The first half was a flurry of Akron passes, as the Zips were outpossessing the Cardinals 61-41 at one point; however, Louisville came out of the first half with more opportunities, and seemingly most of the momentum.
The first 43 minutes of the second half were a different story. Akron continued to dominate possession, but also kept the ball in Lousville's half much longer than the first 45 minutes. The lone goal of the game came from Scott Caldwell off an an Anthony Ampaipatakwong cross in the 79th minute. Caldwell's first shot was blocked, but he quickly found it again and drilled it through the top of the net.
What ensued next was the most bizarre final two minutes of a soccer game I've ever seen. Louisville pushed the ball forward and kept it there, firing shot after cross after cross after shot into the box. At one point, David Meves came off the line to punch a ball but missed it, leaving him out of the goal, but Chad Barson stepped in to deflect the next shot, and then after about 10 more seconds of city-wide heart attack, the ball rolled safely out of bounds.
Needless to say, this win is huge for Akron. This men's soccer program has been building up for years, and after last year's disappointing finals loss in penalty kicks to Virginia, another runner-up finish would have only proven to the naysayers that mid-major programs aren't capable of winning it all. With great head coaches like Caleb Porter and Keith Dambrot, and a (good?) hire of Rob Ianello for football, the Zips athletic program is skyrocketing.
2) In much less exciting news, the men's basketball team was trounced, pummeled, steamrolled, and then curb-stomped for good measure by the Temple Owls. The final score was 82-47. The Zips scored a grand total of 5 points in the final 14:27 of the 1st half, shooting 6/30 in the entirety of the half.
Alex Abreu and Steve McNees each scored 11 to lead the team.
It won't get any easier. The next game is away at Minnesota on Wednesday. Tune into the Big Ten Network at 8:30pm for coverage.
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