CARY, NORTH CAROLINA – Virginia and Akron advanced to the final of the NCAA Men’s College Cup, as the Cavaliers scored a golden goal early in overtime and the Zips won on penalty kicks after 110 minutes of scoreless play.

The final will pit the Cavaliers, with coach George Gelnovatch trying to win his first national title since taking over the program from Bruce Arena in 1996, against Caleb Porter’s Zips, who technically lose their perfect season after a scoreless draw, but remain undefeated and on the precipice of a dream season.

The matches were played in cold but clear conditions in front of a full house at WakeMed Soccer Park. The field was in good condition despite heavy rains earlier in the week.

Virginia 2, Wake Forest 1 (OT)

Virginia’s Brian Ownby ran down a perfect long ball from Jonathan Villanueva and scored 2:44 into overtime to lift George Gelnovatch’s Cavaliers past Wake Forest 2-1 and into the College Cup final.

The Cavs had surrendered a goal late in regulation, but struck quickly in the extra period to advance. Ownby sat out last week and only entered the match late in regulation time due to a sports hernia injury for which he will undergo an operation next Friday. Wake Forest had looked the brighter of the two teams for a good part of the match, but Virginia defended well and benefited on a few occasions from some poor finishing by the Demon Deacons.

The Cavaliers scored at 55 minutes on a rebound goal from Tony Tchani after good work by Villanueva, but Wake equalized in the 70th minute on a good individual effort by Corben Bone.

Villanueva admitted that his play on the winning goal was not necessarily carefully thought out.

“I basically kicked it as hard as I can, as far as I can,” he said. “I knew that he’s faster than anybody else that I know so I figured he’d catch up to it wherever it went.”

The attacking midfielder who played club soccer at Dallas Texans said the team needed to regroup after surrendering it’s first goal in more than 1,100 minutes.

Gelnovatch admitted Wake Forest was the brighter of the two teams at the start of the match, but credited his squad with having a winning attitude throughout.

“The first two times we played them it did not look like that. I think they put us on our heels. I thought they were very sharp to start the game, as share as I have seen them, but I think as the half went on, we found ourselves,” Gelnovatch said. “I thought our demeanor and our resolve to start the overtime right from the start, right from the kickoff, I thought that we believed we were going to win that game. Whether it was overtime, whether it was PKs, it didn’t matter. That’s how we’ve been all season.”

Wake Forest coach Jay Vidovich was gutted.

“I think the result at the end of the game was something that I wasn’t expecting, so my words aren’t ready to be articulated here,” he said. “I’m very proud of my team and the efforts they put out during the season.”

1st Half

Wake (17-4-3) missed a golden opportunity in the 12th minute when Zach Schilawski made a weaving run across the top of the area and hooked a left-footed chip over Virginia goalkeeper Diego Restrepo and off the crossbar. Andy Lubahn reached the rebound first but headed the opportunity over the bar.

Wake had another decent chance in the 23rd minute as Luke Norman made a trademark run down the right, hit a good cross and watched as Schilawski’s redirect went into the side of the net.

A lot of the 1st half play was in the middle of the field, with teams struggling to hold the ball, string together passes or establish any sort of rhythm. Virginia’s Tony Tchani and Wake Forest’s Sam Redmond were both especially effective at disrupting the opposition attacking efforts.

In the 32nd minute, Jonathan Villanueva made a run toward the area for the Cavaliers (18-3-3), but Wake’s Anthony Arena delivered an inch-perfect tackle to dispossess. After Virginia’s Ross LaBauex won the ball he delivered a good pass wide left to Neil Barlow, but his long-range shot went well over.

A minute later, Wake had a good attacking sequence, with Greg Monaco making an important tackle in the area for Virginia and Corben Bone’s well-placed shot being saved by Cavaliers’ goalkeeper Diego Restrepo. Monaco followed with a shot on the other end that Wake goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald handled easily, with the match finally settling down and some good soccer and scoring chances resulting.

2nd Half

While Wake Forest looked the brighter of the teams as the 2nd half began, Virginia drew first blood. Jonathan Villanueva produced an excellent individual effort, beat two defenders in the area before firing a hard shot on goal. Wake goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald could only parry the effort and Tony Tchani was on hand to knock home the rebound and put the Cavs up 1-0 in the 55th minute.

While Wake immediately began looking for the equalizer, it was evident that knocking high balls into the UVA box was not likely to be its most effective option. Jay Vidovich’s team prides itself on being able to play on the ground and so the situation in the game proved a great test of the Demon Deacons’ resolve to be patient and play a sophisticated attacking style.

At the 67 minute mark, Wake's Andy Lubahn and Zach Schilawski produced some skillful interplay at the top of the area, before the latter set up Austin da Luz. The ensuing chipped shot clipped the bar on the way over and Virginia dodged the bullet.

After the TV timeout midway through the half, Wake made the first substitution of the match for either team, putting Chris Estridge in for Lubahn. Estridge immediately won a corner and on the ensuing set piece, Corben Bone took a pass from da Luz and beat two players along the end line before hitting a shot from the sharpest of angles that hit Restrepo but went into the back of the net to tie the match.

The goal ended the Virginia shutout streak at 1,176 minutes and 51 seconds.

Virginia’s Villanueva earned a free kick 20 yards out that he took himself, but Fitzgerald was on hand to make the save. With 2 minutes remaining, Villanueva slipped a good pass to late sub Brian Ownby, but Fitzgerald rushed out to smother the sophomore’s shot inside the area. On the other end, Schilawski curled a drive that went just wide and the match went into overtime.

Lightning then struck in the opening minutes of OT as Villanueva played a ball from deep in the Virginia end. Ownby outraced two Wake defenders to the ball and finished perfectly from inside the area to put Virginia in the final.

Virginia Lineup
GK: Diego Restrepo
D: Greg Monaco, Mike Volk, Hunter Jumper, Shawn Barry
M: Neil Barlow, Ross LaBauex, Jonathan Villanueva, Tony Tchani, Ari Dimas
F: Will Bates
Subs: Jordan Evans, Brian Ownby

Wake Forest Lineup
GK: Akira Fitzgerald
D: Anthony Arena, Justin Lichtfuss, Kyle Adams, Ike Opara
M: Austin da Luz, Corben Bone, Sam Redmond, Luke Norman
F: Andy Lubahn, Zack Schilawski
Subs: Chris Estridge

Akron 0, North Carolina 0 (Akron advances on penalties, 5-4)
Caleb Porter’s Zips outlasted the Tar Heels in a slugfest, short on entertainment but long on grit. The drama was mostly saved for the end when Akron's Ben Speas cleared a header off the line in the 2nd overtime, and the Zips converted all five of their spot kicks to advance to the final.

Porter agreed that the match had a slower tempo than he expected and admitted his team was not as effective offensively as he would have hoped, but credited team defense and overall heart and attitude with keeping the Zips’ season alive.

“The tempo was a little slower than I thought it would be. I’m not sure why that was. We had a lot of possession. We got on the ball and they dropped in and we had a tough time breaking it down,” Porter said. “They had a couple of chances that were scary, but other than that it was pretty much us on the ball trying to score a goal and we didn’t.

“I thought we could have done a little bit better in the final third in creating chances and being a little more aggressive … At the end of the day we move on.”

1st Half

North Carolina had a long-range chip from Kirk Urso and Akron responded with a running shot from Teal Bunbury that went wide, both in the game’s first 90 seconds.

As the game settled down, Akron’s Anthony Ampaipitakwong in the advanced slot, and North Carolina’s Dustin McCarty a little deeper, were pulling the respective strings on the field. Both teams were being a little bit cagey in being sure not to get caught on the break.

Darlington Nagbe earned a free kick for Akron in the 21st minute after taking a smart pass from Blair Gavin just outside the area. Anthony Ampaipitakwon struck the free kick expertly, curling it around the wall and forcing a great save from UNC goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty. On the ensuring corner, Nagbe sent a looping header goalward, but Haggerty gathered it comfortably.

The Tar Heels created the game’s next chance, 27 minutes in, when Kirk Urso slipped a good pass into the area for Cameron Brown. Brown’s sliding effort was blocked at point-blank range by Akron goalkeeper David Meves. Michael Farfan hit a long-range effort just afterward that Meves tracked well. On the other end, Akron’s Ben Speas made a good run and hit a curling shot just wide as the match started to open up a bit.

Just as quickly the teams reverted back to kicking the ball back and forth and the clock thankfully ran out on the first 45 minutes.

2nd Half

Teal Bunbury and Darlington Nagbe continued to look dangerous in the Akron front line, but North Carolina seemed to hold a bend-don’t-break mentality in the back. Carolina was looking for some chances on the break, Enzo Martinez was making some dangerous passes to cause Akron a few problems.

But mostly the game was going on without much drama, until the 70th minute when Carolina’s Brett King was given a 2nd yellow card and dismissed for fouling Teal Bunbury on an attempted through ball.

Down to 10 men, North Carolina inserted little-used Daniel Tannous to play right back and switched Jordan Graye to fill King’s spot on the left. It was the Tar Heels who got the next chance when Kirk Urso got behind a shot from 25 yards, but Akron goalkeeper David Meves held it well.

The teams played out the string of regulation and moved on to overtime.

OVERTIME

Scott Caldwell nearly wrong-footed UNC goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty with a shot after taking a feed from Nagbe, but the save was made, and that was the closest thing resembling action in the first 10-minute OT period.

A dipping shot from Akron’s Ben Speas early in the 2nd forced Haggerty to push the shot away, but the resulting corner came to nothing. On the other end, Michael Farfan sent a curling shot in that Meves had to push over the crossbar. On the resulting corner, Ben Speas cleared a header by Jordan Graye off the line, and then Meves made a point-blank save on Enzo Martinez’s follow up and the match went to penalties.

PENALTIES

With Meves in goal for Akron and Haggerty for North Carolina, the PKs went as follows:

UNC’s Michael Farfan sent Meves the wrong way, UNC 1-0.
Akron’s Zarek Valentin sent Haggerty the wrong way, 1-1.

UNC’s Zach Loyd scored straight up the middle, UNC 2-1.
Akron’s Ben Zemanski scored lower left, 2-2.

UNC’s Jordan Graye shot over the bar, 2-2.
Akron’s Kofi Sarkodie scored upper right, Akron 3-2.

UNC’s Drew McKinney scored upper right, 3-3.
Akron’s Scott Caldwell scored upper left, Akron 4-3.

UNC’s Kirk Urso scored despite a deflection by Meves, 4-4.
Akron’s Blair Gavin sent Haggerty the wrong way and Akron wins on penalties, 5-4.

North Carolina Lineup
GK: Brooks Haggerty
D: Brett King, Zach Loyd, Drew McKinney, Jordan Graye
M: Cameron Brown, Dustin McCarty, Kirk Urso, Michael Farfan
F: Alex Dixon, Billy Schuler
Subs: Enzo Martinez, Alex Walters, Daniel Tannous

Akron Lineup
GK: David Meves
D: Zarek Valentin, Chad Barson, Chris Korb, Kofi Sarkodie
M: Ben Speas, Anthony Ampaipitakwong, Blair Gavin, Ben Zemanski
F: Darlington Nagbe, Teal Bunbury
Subs: Yoram Mwila, Michael Nanchoff, Scott Caldwell