KANSAS CITY, Kan.: The University of Akron Zips bonded during a May trip to Brazil. They gained confidence in September, not just from road victories at Georgetown, Maryland and UC-Santa Barbara, but from a loss to Wake Forest on a handball call and from a physical, hard-fought double-overtime draw with Ohio State.
UA peaked at the right time. It went 15-1 down the stretch and won its final six games. A strengthened schedule resulted in a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, assuring the Zips of three home games. They reached the NCAA semifinals for the fourth time in the history of the program dating back to 1955.
Yes, the ending was cruel. After playing to a scoreless double-overtime draw with eighth-seeded Stanford, the College Cup battle Friday night at Sporting Park went to penalty kicks.
Seeking another title to go with its 2010 championship, UA (18-3-3) was eliminated 8-7 in a 10-round shootout.
It was the same way the Zips finished the 2014 season, ousted 13-12 on penalty kicks in an NCAA first-round match at Ohio State.
Raw emotions made it hard to see what had been accomplished as UA made its ninth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, a feat accomplished by just four other Division I schools — Indiana, Maryland, UCLA and Virginia.
“The goal at the beginning of the year is to win the national championship. We came up a little short, but being one of the last four teams standing has been great for the program,” redshirt junior defender and co-captain Brad Ruhaak of Copley High School said afterward.
In his third season, UA coach Jared Embick began to build his own legacy. He proved UA could go back to the College Cup without Caleb Porter, who took the Zips to the title game in 2009 and ’10 and departed for the Portland Timbers after the 2012 season.
“I took it over and the expectations were really high. There was only one way to go, and that’s down,” Embick said Friday night. “We proved that was not going to be the case. We still have a lot of good players left, and a lot of good support. The community is still behind us, and as long as those things remain the same, we will stay successful for the rest of time.”
The 2015 Zips have only three seniors — defender Andrew Souders, forward Sean Sepe and goalie Jake Fenlason. Junior midfielder Adam Najem, a member of the New York Red Bulls’ homegrown program and named a second-team All-America last week, seemed intent on graduating after the 2016 fall semester in a recent interview.
Sophomore midfielder Richie Laryea, a third-team All-America, had a breakout year with 29 points, second behind Najem’s 31, after contributing four points as a freshman. Laryea could draw some interest leading up to the Jan. 14 MLS SuperDraft.
Embick is high on his next recruiting class. According to College Soccer News, it will include Emmanuel Sabbi, a forward from Columbus who is a member of the Chicago Magic’s hometown program, and midfielder Jesus Perez of Chicago, affiliated with the Chicago Fire. CSN rated Sabbi No. 13 in the Class of 2016, Perez No. 39.
Embick went to one of his promising players for the future, redshirt freshman Ezana Kahsay, in overtime against Stanford, trying to use the unique skill set of the 6-foot-2 defender. Seeing his first action since the second-round NCAA game vs. Rutgers, Kahsay nearly headed in a corner kick in the first extra period.
Whether the pressure and great expectations that come with playing at UA proved to be too much Friday night was hard to say, but Embick will try to turn the disappointment into valuable lessons. The Zips lost the 2009 title game to Virginia 3-2 in penalty kicks, then came back to beat Louisville for the championship the next season.
“Everyone was a little nervous, given the occasion and magnitude of the game,” Souders said afterward. “I felt it was a matter of time before we broke something open, but unfortunately we didn’t.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.