(All photos courtesy of Virginia Athletics)

CARY, NORTH CAROLINA – In a tense match throughout with a highly dramatic finish, Virginia defeated Akron 3-2 on penalties to win the NCAA Men’s College Cup after a scoreless draw.

The Cavaliers had made their first 3 spot kicks after 110 minutes of scoreless play, but Akron’s Zarek Valentin had his PK saved and Kofi Sarkodie hit the upright. The Cavaliers seemed poised to win with Jonathan Villanueva stepping to the spot, but Akron’s David Meves made a big save, and then saved against Greg Monaco to keep his team alive.

The Zips’ Blair Gavin fired over the crossbar however and the Cavaliers emerged victorious, giving UVA coach George Gelnovatch his first national title as a head coach.

The subplots going in, included Virginia trying to win its first national championship since George Gelnovatch took over the program from Bruce Arena in 1996, and Akron looking to finish an undefeated season and playing through various rumors about head coach Caleb Porter’s potential whereabouts next season.

Porter admitted afterward that personnel from MLS club DC United had contacted his athletic director at Akron, and were told to wait until the season was over to discuss the professional team’s vacant head coaching position. He gave no indication of how interested he is in the job.

Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said afterward he had told his athletic director that another national championship for the program was a matter of when, not if.

“I knew it would come. I was hell-bent on making sure of that,” Gelnovatch said. “Over the last couple of years I’ve been saying it, and here we are.”

Virginia defender Mike Volk was the man of the match, winning ball after ball in the Cavaliers’ back line and stepping up in several important situations to clear in emergency situations or to intercept dangerous-looking attempts by the Zips.

Volk said the team, which recorded its 16th shutout of the season, didn’t set out to play a deeper defensive line against the Zips, but agreed it kind of worked out that way.

“They put us under a lot of pressure. We decided to keep them in front of us, especially with all the 1-2s and things they like to do,” Volk said. “From day one in our season we’ve had each other’s backs in the back line. With each game we’ve gotten better and better. We stayed unified and played really tough.”

Porter said it was especially tough to not win the championship after going six NCAA Tournament matches without conceding a goal, plus leading college soccer this season in goals scored and fewest goals allowed.

“You have to have a winner. Penalty kicks in our sport is how they determine that,” Porter said. “I’ve won championships this way, so I’m not saying it’s the wrong way to do it, but in the end we go home empty-handed and that’s very tough.”

Gelnovatch admitted that the Cavaliers had an advantage to watch Akron take penalties in their semifinal win over North Carolina Friday night. Goalkeeper coach Mike McGinty was motioning to Restrepo before each PK Sunday, reminding him which way the Zip players had gone with their attempts previously. Porter added that he had planned to insert a couple of different PK takers, but noted Anthony Ampaipitakwong was injured and that Teal Bunbury also declined to take a spot kick, citing a groin injury.

1st Half
Virginia had the first chance when Hunter Jumper’s cross from the left was headed off the near post by Will Bates, Akron goalkeeper David Meves scrambling to smother the rebound.

The Cavaliers had the Zips on their back foot in the early going, with midfielder Tony Tchani pulling the strings. Akron’s Ben Zemanski did get a volley from distance on target, but Virginia goalkeeper Diego Restrepo handled it easily.

As Akron started to get more into the match, Zarek Valentin, surging forward from his fullback position, sent a cross in that fell nicely in the area for Anthony Ampaipitawong to shoot, but the low effort lacked conviction and Restrepo got down to save it.

On the other end, Jumper sent a good ball forward for Bates, but Akron defender put in an excellent challenge to end the danger 20 minutes into the half.

After the dreaded TV timeout, Neil Barlow sent Jumper down the left wing. Jumper played a lovely cross into the area and Tchani met it with a header from 10 yards out but missed badly.

The rains were picking up and the match see-sawing a bit. Ben Speas was looking strong for Akron and had a weaving run into the area interrupted by Virginia defender Mike Volk, then a shot from distance that sailed over. The fouls seemed to become more frequent and harder as the half wore on as the contest definitely wasn’t for the faint of heart.

As a result, Hunter Jumper was booked for a hard foul on Speas near the midfield stripe, but the match remained scoreless going to the break.

2nd Half
Neil Barlow made a weaving run into the Akron area but lost his footing before he could shoot. Shortly afterward, Anthony Ampaipitakwong limped off, prompting the first substitution of the game as Scott Caldwell came on for the Zips.

Virginia seemed resigned to kicking Akron’s attacking midfielder Ben Speas every time he got the ball, but the Zips continued trying to attack with some sophistication. In the 54th minute, Speas sent an excellent cross into previously-quiet forward Teal Bunbury, but the header flashed wide of the target. Bunbury then combined with Kofi Sarkodie to earn a corner, but Virginia’s folk dealt with the ensuing cross to end the threat.

Challenges were flying in and Virginia’s Neil Barlow, who had been pushed into the advertising signage earlier, was booked for a foul from behind on Blair Gavin at midfield. Akron's Yoram Mwila, moments after being introduced into the match, received a yellow as well for barging over Virginia’s Ross LaBauex.

The match was growing more tense and in the 72nd minute, a Villanueva corner found Virginia sub Jordan Evans, but he misdirected his header from 6 yards out.  On the other end, Akron had its best chance of the day when Speas played a good ball for Bunbury and the big forward’s cross rolled through the UVA 6-yard box, but nobody was on hand to get a decisive touch with 15 minutes remaining. The Zips’ Blair Gavin received a yellow card shortly thereafter, ostensibly for a hard challenge on Virginia’s LaBauex. Akron goalkeeper Meves had to tip a 40-yard lob from Shawn Barry over the bar with Virginia’s Evans charging in on him. The ensuing corner was overcooked and the match remained scoreless with 13 minutes left.

Bunbury misplayed a cross into the box to waste a chance for Akron, and Tchani played Ownby into the area with a good ball but, under the attentions of Chad Barson, Ownby’s shot trickled meekly to Meves.

Villanueva had a partial breakaway in the closing seconds, but after he slipped a pass to Ownby, Akron’s Zarek Valentin managed to tackle the ball away and the match went to overtime.

1st Overtime
Meves was quickly off his line to snuff out an early half chance for Virginia. Volk put in another good tackle to stop a run through the middle by Speas. Gavin dithered on the ball in his own end and Tchani won it, then drew a free kick 30 yards out. Villanueva’s shot was blocked in the area by Zarek Valentin. Chris Korb drew a yellow for a hard foul against Ross LaBauex and a Virginia bench player got away with shoving Korb right in front of the referee, but no further scoring attempts transpired in the 10-minute period..

2nd Overtime
Teal Bunbury had a nice turn and shot that Restrepo could only parry, and Mike Volk provided the timely clearance. In the final minute, Bunbury created a mad scramble in the area but the Zips could not finish off the chance the match went to penalties.

Penalties
With Meves in goal for Akron and Restrepo between the sticks for Virginia, post-match penalties went as follows:

Tony Tchani scored high right – Virginia 1-0
Zarek Valentin had his shot saved by Restrepo – Virginia 1-0

Ari Dimas scored high left – Virginia 2-0
Ben Zemanski scored low left – Virginia 2-1

Sean Hiller scored high right – Virginia 3-1
Kofi Sarkodie hit the post – Virginia 3-1

Jonathan Villanueva had his shot saved by Meves – Virginia 3-1
Scott Caldwell scored high left – Virginia 3-2

Greg Monaco had his shot saved by Meves – Virginia 3-2
Blair Gavin missed his penalty high – Virginia wins 3-2.

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

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

College Cup All-Tournament Team
Zach Loyd, North Carolina
Corben Bone, Wake Forest
Zarek Valentin, Akron
Teal Bunbury, Akron
Ben Speas, Akron
Blair Gavin, Akron
Diego Restrepo, Virginia,
Jonathan Villanueva, Virginia
Brian Ownby, Virginia
Mike Volk, Virginia
Tony Tchani, Virginia

MVP Offense – Jonathan Villanueva
MVP Defense – Diego Restrepo