SANTA BARBARA, CALFIORNIA - It only takes a moment. One brief snapshot of time to have your world change and have your dreams and aspirations come true.
For the Akron Zips, that moment came in the 79th minute when Scott Caldwell found the back of the net to help defeat the Louisville Cardinals, 1-0, to capture the 2010 NCAA Men’s College Cup.

The win gives Akron its first national title in any sport and is a fantastic close to a season that as Head Coach Porter said plenty of time, started the day the Zips lost the 2009 title game against Virginia.

“The things that come to mind for me is the feeling that I have with how proud I am of my team. It’s been a long journey,” Porter said.  “Like I said coming into the weekend, it started December 14, after we lost, a bitter loss, painful loss, to Virginia last year. For these guys to recover from that and move and work even harder after having that type of year is an absolute credit to these guys’ character.”

Caldwell’s goal came after a clearance from a cross landed to him outside the 18-yard box. He faked his marker and took the shot but was blocked by the Louisville defense. Not giving up on the ball, he pounced on his second chance and rifled the ball to the top of the net past the outreached hands of Louisville goalkeeper Andre Boudreaux.

His game-winner ends an incredibly hot streak for Caldwell, who had scored five goals in six games, all in post-season play after going 35 games without a goal.

Louisville did have some clear chances at goal, the best coming in during the last minute of play.

An 89th minute hopeful drive almost found the back of the net for Louisville, but Buck Tufty’s shot was kick-saved by David Meves. The subsequent sequence saw a number of erroneous clearances for Akron amidst desperate challenges by the Cards, which eventually left Meves completely out of position, away from the goal.

Just yards away, the hero of the previous two matches, Aaron Horton had a glorious chance to send the match into overtime, however his shot on goal was stopped by the feet of Akron defender Chad Barson. The second Akron goal-line clearance would preserve the 1-0 lead and the Zips were champions of college soccer.

The game from beginning to end was a display of Akron’s athleticism and fitness, while Louisville used fives substitutes throughout the match, Akron only used one. And that came only after the winning goal with 10 minutes remaining.

“I’m exhausted. But it doesn’t matter, it didn’t matter to any of us how tired we were,” Anthony Ampaipitakwong said. “During the game none of us were tired. We pushed until we couldn’t go anymore and that’s why we won this thing.”

Akron did a great job to hold the ball, especially early on in the game. Being patient and realizing which were the wise choices to go up in the attack was a reason why the team didn’t tire quickly.

Even though the Zips did have the majority of the possession, the first half was won by Louisville, who had clear looks at goal.

Early, in the 9th minute, a sequence that would be mirrored in the final minute almost gave the Cardinals the lead. Charlie Campbell took advantage of some bad Akron clearances off a corner but his shot was cleared inches from crossing the line.

Akron’s stingy midfield would control the game until the 36th minute, when Nick Deleon sent a through ball to Dylan Mares. Meves rejected Mares’ shot, and the rebound seemed to have been handled by Valentin. However the referee didn’t call for the penalty kick.

After a scoreless half, Akron began to ramp up the offense. In the 49th minute Kofie Sarkodie’s shot took an odd hop and almost bounce over Boudreaux but he managed to get a paw on it.

In the 65th minute, Caldwell tested Boudreaux from distance and moments later; Akron almost found the back of the net on a clear opportunity by Darlington Nagbe.

Ampaipitakwong‘s midfield pass left both Nagbe and Darren Mattocks against Boudreaux. Nagbe called his number and tried to bend over the goalkeeper, but he hit it too hard and it went past the post.

Once again, in the 71st minute, Michael Nanchoff laid the ball off to Chris Korb who raced along the left flank and sent a cross to Mattocks, but Andre once again came big, and kept Louisville in the game.

Eight minutes later, Caldwell changed the game with his game-winner and forever cemented the 2010 Akron Zips as the team to bring the school’s first national championship.

With the loss, Louisville finished the season with 20 wins, the first ever by the team along with a first time appearance in the NCAA Championship match.

Andre Bourdreaux, who was named in the All-Tournament Team, played the game of his life. Without his stalwart performance between the pipes, the Cardinals would have gone down early, and most likely by a lot more.

Six Akron players were named in the All-Tournament Team with Scott Caldwell named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player and Kofi Sarkodie the Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

Akron Lineup:
GK: David Meves
D: Zarek Valentin, Chad Barson, Kofi Sarkodie, Chris Korb
M: Perry Kitchen, Michael Nanchoff. Anthony Ampaipitakwong, Scott Caldwell
F: Darlington Nagbe, Darren Mattocks
Subs: Ben Speas

Louisville Lineup:
GK: Andre Boudreaux
D: Chase Rodgers, Brock Granger, J.T. Murray, Austin Berry
M: Charlie Campbell, Paolo DelPiccolo, Andrew Farrell, Nick DeLeon
F: Colin Rolfe, Dylan Mares
Subs: Ryan Smith, Buck Tufty, Aaron Horton, Josh Lipka, Kenney Walker

All-Tournament Team
Sophomore Defender, Zarek Valentin, Akron
Junior Midfielder, Darlington Nagbe, Akron
Junior Defender, Kofi Sarkodie, Akron
Junior Midfielder, Michael Nanchoff, Akron
Senior Midfielder, Anthony Ampaipitakwong, Akron
Sophomore Midfielder, Scott Caldwell, Akron
Senior Midfielder/Defender, Charlie Campbell, Louisville
Junior Forward, Colin Rolfe, Louisville
Junior Defender, Austin Berry, Louisville
Junior Goalkeeper, Andre Boudreaux, Louisville
Senior Forward, Justin Meram, Michigan

Most Outstanding Offensive Player: Sophomore Midfielder, Scott Caldwell, Akron

Most Outstanding Defensive Player: Junior Defender, Kofi Sarkodie, Akron

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