The Portland Timbers have officially named University of Akron men's soccer coach Caleb Porter head coach for the 2013 season.

The team's website made the annoucement Wednesday confirming the 37-year old Porter will  finish out the 2012 campaign with the Zips before taking the reins of the Timbers after the season concludes.

Porter led the Zips to their first NCAA Championship in 2010, the first in school history. In addition, he was named head coach of the  U.S. Under-23 Men's National Soccer Team.

Former Zip standout Darlington Nagbe is a member of the Portland Timbers, where he serves as the team's midfielder/ forward. Nagbe won the Hermann Trophy in 2010 as the best college soccer player in the nation.

In his seven seasons at Akron, Porter compiled a record of 106-17-14. 14 platyers currently playing in Major League Soccer were coached by Porter, including 9 first-round draft picks.

The University of Akron men's soccer team should continue to be a national power for the next few years after the Zips landed four of the nation's top recruits.

Top Draw Soccer has ranked the six member class as the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation.

-----------

News Release From The University Of Akron

University of Akron head men's soccer coach Caleb Porter officially announced the six members of the Zips' 2012 signing class Wednesday.

Included in the group are four of the top 11 recruits in the country, according to Top Drawer Soccer, which ranked the six-member class No. 1 in the nation. The group, which features a wealth of youth national team experience, includes two midfielders, two forwards, one defender and a goalkeeper.

Of the six recruits, five are members of their respective youth national teams, including four former members of the U.S. Under-17 team, and one that won a national championship in 2010 as an NSCAA Youth All-American.

Joining the Zips, who lost just two starters from last season's NCAA Round of 16 appearance, will be striker Alfred Koroma (Southlake, Texas/Southlake Carroll), defender Andrew Souders (Amherst, Ohio/Amherst Steele), goalkeeper Fernando Pina (Houston, Texas), midfielder Dillon Serna (Brighton, Colo./Horizon), winger Omari Morris (Toronto, Ontario/Pickering) and midfielder Matt Foldesy (North Olmsted, Ohio/St. Ignatius).

"My staff and I are extremely excited to welcome six very talented young men into the Akron program," Porter said. "Each of them bring a wealth of playing experience domestically and internationally and are also first-class individuals off the field.

"Over the past five years, we have been fortunate that many of the top players in the country have chosen Akron and without question, this is one of the finest recruiting classes we have ever assembled. I know their impact will be felt immediately and, with a very strong core group of returning players, we expect to continue competing for national championships in the years to come."

Despite losing seven starters from their 2010 NCAA National Championship squad to the Major League Soccer SuperDraft, the 2011 University of Akron men's soccer team defied the odds by capturing their seventh consecutive Mid-American Conference regular season championship and advancing all the way to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
 

Along the way, the Zips, who will return eight of 11 starters in 2012, rewrote the NCAA's all-time record for longest home unbeaten streak, finished among the top 15 teams in the country for both scoring offense and goals against average, and posted the second-highest team grade-point-average in Division I with an exceptional mark of 3.44.

One local coach last year finished as a national champion. Now he will get a chance to lead a special group of young men to qualify for the Olympic Games next summer.

Caleb Porter, head coach of the defending national champion University of Akron men’s soccer team, has been named head coach of the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team, U.S. Soccer announced Thursday.

Porter, who will continue his role as the head coach of the Zips, will lead the U-23 team in its quest to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in March of next year.

Luke Holmes scored a goal and added an assist in his Zips' debut as The No. 4 University of Akron men's soccer team earned a 3-1 victory over Ohio State in front of a record crowd of 5,819 fans Wednesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field.

It was a commanding performance overall for UA (6-0-2), which extended its NCAA-record home unbeaten streak to 43 matches before an electric crowd that featured 2,855 students alone. The Zips, who dominated possession throughout the majority of the contest, out-shot the Buckeyes 15-5 overall and 7-2 on frame.
Akron found itself having to break down an entrentched OSU defense for much of the match but was patient with its attack and the goals eventually came.

After nearly scoring on a corner kick just minutes earlier, UA broke through in a flash at the 20:59 mark thanks to a deep run by DeAndre Yedlin. The true freshman split a pair of defenders on the right flank and slipped the ball past the keeper from a near impossible angle and off the far post for his first goal of the year.

The score remained 1-0 in Akron's favor at halftime. The Zips' possession and swarming defense limited Ohio State to just two shots in the first 45 minutes. Meanwhile, UA sophomore Darren Mattocks was causing all kinds of trouble with four shots of his own, including two on frame, in a busy opening period.

The Buckeyes (5-4-1), who had relied almost exclusively on set pieces and counter attacks for much of the game, began to press midway through the second half and had their best scoring opportunity thwarted when Yedlin came off the line to clear a shot by Parnell Hegngi in the 67th minute.

Thomas Schmitt made OSU pay for the missed opportunity with his first goal of the season in the 69th minute by cleaning up a rebounded shot from Holmes, who initiated the action with a deep run down the left side of the field.

The Buckeyes did not go down without a fight, however, and got the goal back when Sebastian Revas slotted a shot off a long pass from Omar Vallejo in the 74th minute.

But Holmes, the 2010 NAIA National Player of the Year, put the game away for good with his first goal in an Akron uniform in the 82nd minute. Freshman Wil Trapp found the Notre Dame College transfer with space on the left flank with a pass from just past midfield. Holmes shook his defender and fired a rocket off the crossbar and into the back of the net.

Akron will next open Mid-American Conference play this Saturday when it travels to Western Michigan to take on the Broncos. Kick off is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET)

Zips Notebook: Akron, which was one of just eight unbeaten teams in the country entering the week, has now gone undefeated in its last 17 games – dating back to the end of last season ... UA improved to 4-0-1 against Ohio State since 2008 and 15-4-5 against schools from the Big Ten Conference under sixth-year head coach Caleb Porter ... Akron is now 25-6-3 all-time against their in-state rivals ... Wednesday's victory was the 96th in Porter's head coaching career.