In recent years, University of Akron men’s soccer players and coaches left the NCAA Tournament watch party with chips on their shoulders.
Only in 2009, when the Zips went undefeated in the regular season, did they receive the seeding they thought they deserved.
When they won the only team national title in school history in 2010, they were seeded third. In 2013, the Zips finished the regular season 9-0-1, but were not among the top 16. After UA defeated defending champion Indiana in the first round, IU coach Todd Yeagley said the two should not have met that early in the tournament.
A year ago, the Zips were sent on the road for a first-round game at Ohio State even though they had the higher RPI and defeated the Buckeyes 3-1 in Columbus during the regular season. After playing to a double-overtime draw, UA was eliminated 13-12 on penalty kicks.
The aura of disrespect was nowhere to be found Monday afternoon as the Zips gathered at Rhodes Arena to watch a streamed version of the NCAA selection show. Sixth in the latest RPI poll released Sunday, UA (15-3-2) was seeded fourth in the 48-team NCAA field and received a first-round bye.
The Zips will host the winner of Thursday’s match between LIU Brooklyn (11-5-4) and Rutgers (12-6-1) on Sunday at 4 p.m. at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The No. 4 seeding gave UA the possibility of three home games. Third-round games will be played Nov. 28 or 29, the quarterfinals Dec. 4 or 5. Soccer’s version of the Final Four, the College Cup, is set for Dec. 11 and 13 at Sporting Park in Kansas City.
UA reached the NCAAs for the 30th time since 1961 and will make its ninth consecutive appearance, a feat shared in Division I by Indiana, Maryland, UCLA and Virginia.
The Zips have had their eye on a top-four seed and another national championship since August.
“We created a family, we’re more mature. We worked hard through these 20 games. I think we’re ready to get a national championship,” junior midfielder Victor Souto said.
“We knew if we could get a top-four seed we’d play all of our games at home going into the Final Four,” junior midfielder Adam Najem said. “Just the environment around here, having the best fans in the country, one of the best stadiums in the country, it’s really an advantage for us. Anyone who comes here is going to be nervous to play us at our home field.”
UA is 8-2-1 at home this season, with its only losses to Wake Forest, seeded No. 1 in the tournament, and UCLA, unseeded. The Zips’ average attendance of 2,115 ranks eighth nationally after finishing 14th (1,825) a year ago.
“The two years we went to the Final Four [2009, ‘10] we had all three home games and that helped,” UA coach Jared Embick said. “That’s a position of strength for us, that’s where you want to be in the tournament. If we can get everyone there, get the crowd behind us and make this a difficult place to play, it’s only going to spur us on to hopefully do what we really want do, which is win another national championship.”
The Zips feature a balanced attack that has Najem and sophomore midfielder Richie Laryea leading the team with nine goals, redshirt sophomore Sam Gainford with eight, Souto with six and sophomore Stuart Holthusen with five, four in the past three games.
The Zips are 8-1-1 in their past 10 matches and Najem cites chemistry and confidence as the reasons.
“The team chemistry has really evolved since last year,” Najem said. “The team has an overall belief that we can win this thing. Everyone has the confidence we can do it and that’s showing on the field now.”
Ticket information
Tickets for Sunday’s game are $15 (reserved), $10 (general admission) and $35 (family four-pack). Five hundred free tickets will be provided to UA students with a valid Zip card, after that they will cost $1.
They will be on sale at the Student Union near the Union Market Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Saturday’s football tailgate in lot 13 near Rhodes Arena and on Sunday starting at 3 p.m. For information, call 1-888-992-5766 or go to gozips.com/tickets.
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.