Read the arguments from Sports Geek and Loyal Homer about which will be the best game of THIS weekend.
They say that you will never understand a person until you walk a mile in their shoes. Well, today I am going to try that approach by taking a page out of Loyal Homer’s book. Hopefully, this will help me understand all you Loyal Homers out there a little bit better…
Because the ACTUAL best game of the weekend has already taken place, with the Browns ending the Steelers hopes (HA!!!) for a repeat run at the Super Bowl, I have decided to shift my focus elsewhere for this weekend’s excitement.
The best game that will be taking place this weekend is not just one single match, but actually a series of three matches that will begin tonight and end Sunday afternoon, culminating in the crowning of a national champion. The event is the 2009 College Cup, which will feature the Final Four in NCAA Division I Soccer.
The Loyal Homer in me will be watching because my alma mater, The University of Akron Zips, are entering tonight’s semi-final matchup against the Tar Heels of North Carolina as the favorites not only to win the game, but to actually win the Cup, and they could make NCAA history in the process (more on that in a moment). As a fan of the Zips, it is not very often that I get to celebrate my school’s athletic prowess, but there can be no denying the domination that the Zips have displayed on the pitch this season. The Loyal Homer in me is just busting at the seams to see the Zips as they strive claim the first National Championship for a MAC program since 1965!
The Zips have played as a team of destiny this season. Consider the following statistics:
- Akron has outscored opponents in 2009 by a combined score of 58-7
- Akron has allowed an average of only 0.30 goals against (the fourth best result in NCAA history)
- Akron has outshot opponents 4:1
- Akron has not given up a single goal in the NCAA Tournament to this point
- Akron has already tied an NCAA record by winning 23 consecutive games within the same season, and, if they finish off the championship run, will become the most successful team in the 51-year history of the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship
Akron’s head coach, Caleb Porter, is no stranger to this situation, though. As captain of the Indiana Hoosiers soccer team in 1997, Porter actually led the Hoosiers on to set the 23 consecutive game win streak that the Zips have tied this season. It was at this point in the 1997 tournament, however, that Porter’s Hoosiers were upset by UCLA in their semi-final match, and Porter is determined not to let his 2009 team repeat.
His path to the championship will not be an easy one. With very little happening in the way of upsets during the 2009 tournament, the Final Four truly is a collection of the best teams from the season! The three teams that round out the Final Four, each from Division I’s most dominant soccer conference, the ACC, will pose some of the toughest opposition that the Zips have faced all season.
Akron’s first test will be against the fifth-seeded UNC Tar Heels, a team that will essentially be playing in front of a home crowd in Cary, North Carolina. As last season’s tournament runner-up, the Tar Heels are on a quest of their own to take that final step they fell just short of in 2008. The winner of that match will be set to square off against the winner of the other semi-final match between the second-seeded Virginia Cavaliers and the third-seeded Demon Deacons from Wake Forest.
With competition like that, the team which ultimately emerges as the 2009 National Champions will have undoubtedly proven they truly are the best of the best! Putting all personal bias aside (GO ZIPS!!!), the 2009 College Cup will feature competition from the best programs in college soccer, complete with all of the emotion, drama, and intensity that is found in any national championship tournament.
