No. 1 Men's Soccer falls 1-0 to Akron in National Championship

Sunday, December 12

Santa Barbara, Calif.

4:00 PM

University of Louisville

20-1-3

Akron (Final)

22-1-2

AKRON

Louisville Cardinals

No. 1 Men's Soccer falls 1-0 to Akron in National Championship

December 12, 2010 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Dec. 12, 2010

Santa Barbara, Calif. - The top ranked Louisville men's soccer team falls to Akron 1-0 in the National Championship game on Sunday afternoon in Santa Barbara, Calif. The Cardinals finish the season with a 20-1-3 overall record. The game was played in front of an attendance of 9,672.

The game started out with Akron possessing the ball for the majority of the first five minutes. The Zips had the first opportunity of the half in the fourth minute as Darren Mattocks received a cross into the box, but his attempt went wide right of the goal.

The Cardinals had several chances in the eighth minute of the game as Charlie Campbell had his header ricochet off the post. Paolo DelPiccolo also had a shot, but it sailed wide right of the goal. The first save of the game for Louisville by Andre Boudreaux came as he was able to stop a shot from Darlington Nagbe preserving the scoreless tie.

Louisville had a great look at the goal when Nick DeLeon passed to Dylan Mares in the middle of the field, but his shot was saved by Akron keeper David Meves. In the final minute of the first half, DelPiccolo took a free kick from 30 yards out in which the keeper was able to save.

The Cardinals finished the first half with a 5-4 shot advantage, while both teams had one corner kick each. Boudreaux finished the half with two saves and Meves finished with three.

The second half started out quick for the Cardinals as All-American Colin Rolfe had a header saved by Meves in the 49th minute off a free kick from Mares. The Zips had two early corner kicks, but Louisville was able to defend the goal and keep the score at 0-0.

Akron had a breakaway chance to score in the 66th minute as Nagbe received the ball past the Cardinal defense. He was all alone with Boudreaux, but his attempt went wide right. In the 70th minute, Boudreaux came up with another big save on Anthony Ampaipitakwong's shot as he made a diving save.

The Cardinals were able to get two corner kicks in the 72nd minute and All-American Austin Berry had a header on both attempts that were knocked away by the Zip defense. Akron had a long shot from Michael Nanchoff that Boudreaux was able to save as he launched it from about 20 yards out.

Akron scored a goal in the 78th minute as Scott Caldwell collected a loose ball in the box off a rebound slipping it past Boudreaux as it went into the top shelf of the net. The Cardinals had a couple of opportunities in the final minute of the game, but the Zip defense held on coming up with an open goal save by one of the defenders on a shot by Aaron Horton.

Akron finished the game with 19-15 shot advantage and a 9-4 corner kick advantage. Boudreaux finished the game with six saves, while Meves also finished with six saves.