Written by: Zack West

A great era in Zips soccer ended on Nov. 25 with an early exit from the NCAA tournament.

Head coach Caleb Porter coached his last game at The University of Akron in a technical tie with Creighton that ended with the Bluejays edging out the Zips in penalty kicks.

Porter will move to the Major Leagues in 2013 to coach the Portland Timbers.

His seven-year tenure at UA proved to be the ultimate resume for coaching in the MLS.

Porter, the sixth head coach in UA men’s soccer history, graduated from Indiana University in 1998 and started coaching at UA in 2006.

He brought with him an attack-oriented system that proved to work well at the collegiate level.

In his seven seasons, he amassed a career record of 123-18-17.

In 2009 and 2010, he led the team to back-to-back College Cup finals.

In 2009, he was the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Coach of the Year.

He and his team brought UA their first national championship in any sport with a 1-0 victory over Louisville to cap off the 2010 season.

Porter went on to coach the men’s national under-23 soccer team in the off-season, from 2009 to 2011. He was selected because of his reputation and his ability to develop young talent.

In his tenure, he has sent 14 Zips to the MLS. In 2011, seven Zips were selected in the MLS draft, five of which were first-rounders, which is a league record.

Porter will join Darlington Nagbe — former Zip, All-American striker, Hermann Trophy winner, and the former No. 2 pick in the 2011 draft — on the field with the Timbers in 2013.