Bunbury and Zips Earn 23rd Win, Move to NCAA Semifinals

The Akron of Ohio Zips, with Minnesotan Teal Bunbury, notched their 23rd win of the season on Saturday taking out the Tulsa Hurricane 1-0. Bunbury, who leads the nation with 17 goals on the year, was a force all game with five shots including three on-goal.

IMS interviewed Bunbury recently. Please go HERE to listen to or download that interview.

This is the second time the Zips have made it to the Final Four. They lost to Duke back in 1986 for the Championship.

Akron have now tied the Division I record for most consecutive victories in one season. Indiana set that record in 1997 and ironically, Zips head coach Caleb Porter was on the Hoosiers roster that season.

The Zips will now move onto the 2009 College Cup and will play 5th-seeded North Carolina (16-2-3) in the semifinal on Friday evening December 11. The game will be played at 6:30 CT at Wake Med Park in North Carolina, home of the Carolina RailHawks.

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Teal Bunbury - Photo from Go Zips.com

The top-seeded University of Akron men’s soccer team defeated eighth-seeded Tulsa, 1-0, before 4,254 fans Saturday night at Lee Jackson Field to advance to the College Cup for the second time in school history and for the first time in 23 years.

With the win, the Zips (23-0-0) not only earned the right to face fifth-seeded North Carolina (16-2-3) in Friday’s NCAA semifinal in Cary, N.C., but matched the longest single-season win streak in NCAA history and kept their hopes alive of becoming the first team in 35 years to win a national championship with a perfect record.

It all starts this weekend at the College Cup, where the Zips will be the only non-ACC school represented – joining the Tar Heels, No. 3 Wake Forest (17-3-3) and No. 2 Virginia (17-3-3).

“I am proud that we get to go and showcase our program,” said UA head coach Caleb Porter. “I am excited to play quality opponents and some that we have never played before. It starts with North Carolina, who plays in one of the top conferences in the country, on Friday.

“It is important to not forget what we are in the College Cup to do and that is to win a national championship. We are not satisfied with where we are at now. We went into this year wanting to win a national championship. We will enjoy this experience, but we are there to win a national championship.”

Kofi Sarkodie scored the game’s lone goal in the 17th minute by putting the finishing touch on a perfectly-placed through ball from Blair Gavin near mid field. Sarkodie took the pass in-stride, made a strong run to the right post and slipped the ball over the goalkeeper’s right shoulder into the upper-left corner of the net.

“All wins are rewarding in their own way,” Porter said. “When we go through the year and dominate as much as we have, a 1-0 game may not feel as dominant as some of the other wins. But I thought we made some very good plays in the first half and Kofi Sarkodie’s goal was incredible. At the end of the day, the one goal was all we needed.”

The early goal highlighted an opening half that was all Akron from the get-go as the Zips owned a 9-1 shots advantage over the Golden Hurricane (15-5-2), who entered play ranked third in the nation in scoring. Akron dictated the game with its precision on the attack and signature swarming defense while limiting Tulsa to just one shot through the first 74 minutes of the contest.

When TU finally got some scoring chances, UA goalkeeper David Meves was up to the task as the true freshman made a pair of outstanding saves – denying two close-range shots by Justin Chavez – in the game’s final minutes. Meves, who broke Evan Bush’s school record (2005) with his 15th shutout of the year, finished with three saves while logging all 90 minutes between the pipes.

As a team, the Zips added to their school-record total with their 17th shutout in 23 games. Overall, the Zips out-shot Tulsa, 12-6, and survived four second-half corner kick opportunities by TU.

Sophomore Teal Bunbury, who leads the nation with 17 goals on the year, was a force all game with five shots; including three on-goal.

The Zips made their one and only appearance in the NCAA semifinals in 1986 when they defeated Fresno State, 1-0, to advance to the national championship game where they suffered a 1-0 loss to Duke.

The game time for Friday’s semifinal game against North Carolina has yet to be announced.

“North Carolina is a very good team with talented individuals,” Porter said. “But so are we. We have very explosive players and while we’re going to respect their attack, they will have to respect us as well. We are looking forward to what is going to be an exciting soccer game.”

Zips Notebook: Akron has yet to allow a goal in the NCAA Tournament, our-scoring its opponents, 5-0, in three matches … Saturday’s crowd shattered the previous attendance record at Lee Jackson Field of 2,806, set last weekend against Stanford … All five of the top crowds in Lee Jackson Field history have been recorded this season … The Zips matched Indiana for the longest single-season win streak in NCAA history. Coach Porter was a midfielder on that record-setting 1997 Hoosiers club … Since 2005, UA has posted the best winning percentage in the nation with an overall record of 86-12-11 (.839) … The Zips finished the season undefeated in their last 26 games (25-0-1) at Lee Jackson Field.