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As stated by sports business contributor Jed Hughes on Bleacher Report:
Go read the whole thing for more specific numbers and details.
Akron's Reinaldo Brenes (7) and
Creighton's Andrew Ribeiro (28) (Photo via GoZips.com)
“Well, there’s a lot of pain in that locker room over there, a lot of emotion. I feel the same. I don’t think this is anything we saw coming.”
Those were the words of an emotional University of Akron head coach Caleb Porter following his Zips' suprise 5-4 loss on penalties to Creighton in the 2012 NCAA College Cup third round match at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field.
Tied 1-1 after 90 minutes via an Akron 12th minute goal from 2012 Zips breakout star Reinaldo Brenes and a Creighton 83rd minute equalizer from Timo Pitter, neither team was able to find another goal after the two overtime periods. Despite outshooting the Bluejays 31-11 for the match and 11-2 in the extra periods, the Zips could not pull out the win. Their best chance came in the first overtime period when Akron was given a penalty after a Creighton handball in the box. Zips captain Scott Caldwell struck the ball well only to be foiled by a strong save from Creighton's keeper.
It was a surprising and abrupt end not only to the Zips’ incredible season but also to Porter’s seven years in Akron.
Though the match meant the end of this phase of Porter’s career and he will be met by an eager Timbers fan base excited for his time to begin in Portland, it was a loss that was definitely felt hard.
To put Porter’s accomplishments at UA in perspective, here’s some numbers to consider:
-He finished his Akron career with a seven-year record of 123-18-17
-During his watch, Akron posted the highest winning percentage among all Division I schools
-Porter led the Zips to the school's first team national championship in any sport in 2010 and became one of the fastest coaches in NCAA history to reach 100 career wins in 2011
-The Zips' 18 wins in 2012 included 16 shutouts
-Akron allowed just eight goals in 22 matches this year
Needless to say, Porter leaves behind a formidable legacy. The Akron Beacon Journal has a nice recap of the match as well as a photo gallery of the difficult night in Akron.
But Porter wasn’t the only Timbers connection in the match. The 12th seeded Creighton side that beat the Zips featured two Timbers U-23s players in senior co-captain Andrew Ribeiro—who assisted on the game-tying goal and converted his penalty kick in the shootout—as well US U-20s defender Eric Miller. The Bluejays now move on to face 4th seeded UConn.
That duo, along with Louisville’s Brock Granger, are the only remaining Timbers U-23s left in the tournament. The Cardinals eliminated Northwestern 2-1 on Sunday and next take on 2nd seeded Maryland in the Elite Eight.
For a full bracket of the tournament, visit NCAA.com.
Eric Stevenson (Photo via GoZips.com)
Caleb Porter and the Akron Zips began their quest for the 2012 NCAA Championship with a 2-1 victory over the Univ. of Michigan Sunday afternoon in front of 3,264 fans at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field.
Led by goals from Eric Stevenson (right) and Thomas Schmitt, the victory kept UA undefeated at home this season (10-0-1) as well as a perfect 6-0-0 against Big Ten schools. They have not lost at home in five years.
Porter spoke postgame about what it meant to win this game:
Senior Zips goalkeeper David Meves made four saves on the day and with a full 90 minutes on the pitch, he became the NCAA's all-time minutes leader with 8,498 over his four-year career. Meves already holds the NCAA the record for all-time shutouts.
The Akron Beacon Journal’s Marla Ridenour has a great profile on Meves. In her observations of the game, she wrote about a diving stop Meves made early in the match on a shot destined for the upper corner, “If keepers could fly, Meves had wings. ‘Yeah, I got up there a little bit,’ Meves admitted.”
Next up, on Nov. 25 Porter and the Zips host 12th seeded Creighton who defeated the University of Washington 4-2 yesterday in Omaha. Timbers U-23s Eric Miller (also a US U-20 national team member) and Andrew Ribeiro featured for the Jays in that match as did goalkeeper Spencer Richey who started for UW.
The Zips remain ranked No. 1 overall by TopDrawerSoccer.com and No. 2 on MLSsoccer.com.
Tomorrow marks an entire day of high school soccer as all soccer classifications from 1A to 6A and from boys to girls will gather at two different fields in Hillsboro to crown a slew of Oregon state champions. With games kicking off as early as 10:30am you'll be able to see some of the top teams in the state battle it out at Hillsboro Stadium and Liberty High School:
@ Hillsboro Stadium
» 10:30am - 5A Girls - Sherwood vs. Summit
» 1pm - 5A Boys - Woodburn vs. Mountain View
» 3:30pm - 6A Girls - Thurston vs. Clackamas
» 6pm - 6A Boys - Lincoln vs. Jesuit
@ Liberty High School (Hillsboro)
» 10:30am - 3A/2A/1A Girls - Valley Catholic vs. Oregon Episcopal
» 1pm - 3A/2A/1A Boys - Riverdale vs. Oregon Episcopal
» 3:30pm - 4A Girls - Mazama vs. Gladstone
» 6pm - 4A Boys - Philomath vs. La Salle Prep
Lincoln High School--just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Timbers home field of JELD-WEN Field--will take on Jesuit in the 6A Boys championship at 6pm. The Cardinals had a wild ride to the final and if you want a taste of the fun and exuberance that is high school soccer, watch this postgame video filmed by Oregonlive.com after Lincoln defeated Clackamas in the semifinals on Tuesday night:
Tickets are only $8 for adults, $5 for students and can be purchased on-site at the stadium.
The opening matches of the 2012 NCAA College Cup tournament got underway today--Michigan State beat Cleveland State 2-1 while Virginia downed Lafayette 1-0--and there are numerous teams in the full field of 48 that are the beloved alma maters of Portland Timbers players:
Eric Alexander - Indiana University with the No. 16 seed
Freddie Braun - Louisville with the No. 10 seed
Bright Dike - Notre Dame with the No. 1 seed
David Horst - Old Dominion
Andrew Jean-Baptiste - UConn with the No. 4 seed
Jack Jewsbury - Saint Louis University with the No. 8 seed
Kosuke Kimura - Western Illinois
Darlington Nagbe - Univ. of Akron with the No. 5 seed (more on that in a bit)
Brent Richards - Univ. of Washington
Chris Taylor - Univ. of Tulsa with the No. 11 seed
Rodney Wallace - Univ. of Maryland with the No. 2 seed
Clearly, the college game is still churning out talent.
But in that mix of seeds, the placement of Akron at No. 5 did leave some scratching their heads. Future Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter's Zips finished ranked No. 1 on numerous national polls and yet still missed out on a Top 4 seed. While they will host their first match and possibly second, to get to the final four, they'll have to go on the road--most likely against UConn. Their seeding has drawn some questions--most noticably from the Akron Beacon Journal.
While Porter was a bit "ticked off," he's focused on winning the whole thing,“Once that wears off though, it is back to business. For me it comes down to we have to win five games to win the national championship. It just so happens the road could be a little tougher.”
(The initial post listed 10 mistakenly omitting Eric Alexander's Indiana. Thanks to @IUMensSoccer for the correction.)
The USMNT battled back to pull off a 2-2 draw with Russia in a friendly early this morning--well, early in Portland anyways. The draw was due in no small part to Roma midfielder Michael Bradley who scored this beautiful volley via Chivas USA's Juan Agudelo to pull the Americans even at 1-1:
But then Bradley also played this incredible ball forward in stoppage time that Mix Diskerud eventually got on the end of to pull off a miraculous draw:
MLSsoccer.com has a recap of the match and the MLS Analyst Matt Doyle breaks the game down with "Three Things We Learned."
Plus, don't forget, Timbers forward Bright Dike will be with Nigeria today as they take on Venezuela in Miami at 4:55pm PT on ESPN3.com and midfielder Franck Songo'o's Indomitable Lions of Cameroon take on Albania in Switzerland at 11:45am PT.
Will Bright Dike make his international debut tomorrow in Nigeria's friendly against Venezuela at Marlins Park in Miami? Watch the match online at ESPN3.com (4:55pm PT--certain cable subscriptions required) to find out.
Can't wait till then? Then be up and at 'em early tomorrow to watch the USMNT take on Russia on ESPN2 (7am PT). You can also watch the match stream on ESPN3.com. In the meantime, check out this USsoccer.com piece on Dutch-based American forward Jozy Altidore who made his way back into Jurgen Klinsmann's side for this upcoming friendly:
adidas Timbers Team Store
Don’t let the turkey tryptophan get to you this Thanksgiving – the Timbers are geared up for the holidays, starting with Black Friday and Cyber Monday!
Black Friday – November 23, 2012
The adidas Timbers Team Store will open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday with free Stumptown coffee, hot chocolate and Voodoo Doughnuts. The first 20 customers in the store will receive a free gift bag including a primary or secondary replica jersey (total gifts valued over $100 per bag!). Not a morning person? Everyone who visits the store on Black Friday will also receive a free gift, such as a Timbers coin bank or a logo projector pen, and no purchase is necessary. Additionally, many items will be on sale once you have a chance to make it past all of the great giveaways at the door!
A new item will be featured and discounted online throughout the day in two-hour blocks starting at 8 a.m. Specials will include items such as outerwear and third jersey replicas and boxed sets. Follow the Timbers on Twitter and check back at shop.portlandtimbers.com to stay updated on the deals! Added bonus: all packages ordered on Black Friday will receive an extra surprise gift!
Cyber Monday – November 26, 2012
Shop for your favorite Timbers fan in your pajamas on Cyber Monday! Shop.portlandtimbers.com will be running sales throughout the day, also in two-hour blocks, including discounts on youth apparel and stocking stuffers starting at 6 a.m. Added bonus: all packages ordered on Cyber Monday will receive an extra surprise gift!
For updates on holiday sales and featured items, sign up for the adidas Timbers Team Store mailing list.
adidas Timbers Team Store Holiday Hours
Black Friday: 6 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Monday-Saturday: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday, December 23: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Christmas Eve, December 24: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
December 25 – January 1, 2013: CLOSED*
*The adidas Timbers Team Store will gladly handle all holiday returns and exchanges upon reopening January 2 at regular hours of 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Rubio Rubin (Photo via USsoccer.com)
Timbers U-16 Academy forward Rubio Rubin has been busy. Already named the No. 1 U.S. Player in the Class of 2014 by TopDrawerSoccer.com, he's also been traveling the world playing with the US U-17 national team. With eight goals for the US so far in 2012, the Beaverton, OR native was recently nominated for U.S. Soccer's Young Male Athlete of the Year.
Though Rubio is up against some stiff competition that includes USMNT senior squad member Terrence Boyd--who's on the roster for tomorrow's friendly against Russia (7am PT on ESPN2 & ESPN3.com)--the honor is controlled via fan voting.
What are you waiting for? Get voting for Rubin!
Photo: GoZips.com
Caleb Porter and the University of Akron Zips cruised to their ninth Mid-America Conference Tournament Championship overall and fifth in the last six seasons with a 2-0 victory over Northern Illinois University yesterday. Goals by Wil Trapp and Saad Abdul-Salaam led the way.
The game extended the Zips' run of 47 games without a loss in MAC play—a streak that goes all the way back to 2007. Prior to beating NIU, UA was victorious in the tournament semifinals on Friday with a 5-0 mauling of Bowling Green.
The Zips, who posted their 16th shutout of the season on Sunday, have won their last 14 games and are unbeaten in their 15. UA has earned a clean sheet in each of its last six matches and has allowed just goal in its last 1,361 minutes of play.
Listen to to head coach Porter talk about the championship win and watch highlights from the game:
Fresh from their big win, UA went on to acquire the 5th seed in the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship tournament. With the high seed, they receive a bye into the second round and will host the winner of Niagra and the University of Michigan on Nov. 18. Bright Dike’s alma mater, Notre Dame, received the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The Portland Pilots women had an emotional weekend themselves as they pulled out a win on penalties against the Washington State Cougars Friday night at Merlo Field in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Pilots junior goalkeeper Erin Dees made three (!) saves during the penalty shootout before WSU’s final attempt flew over the bar.
The Pilots had fallen behind twice before rallying to draw even at 2-2. WCC Defender of the Year Kendall Johnson—who played her high school soccer in the shadow of JELD-WEN Field at Lincoln High—got Portland on the scoreboard just before the half while Michelle Cruz found the equalizer.
Watch the thrilling highlights and see Dees’ string of saves here:
UP next face Michigan at State College, PA on Friday, Nov. 16 in the next round of the NCAA tournament.
