COLUMBUS, Ohio --
It’s been three years since Caleb Porter and Wil Trapp left Akron. Their paths diverged -- Porter to coach the Portland Timbers, Trapp to sign a Homegrown contract with Columbus Crew SC -- and wound through the inevitable ups and downs. MLS Cup brought them back together again in this familiar setting.
Both of them have a lot of history in Ohio -- Porter spent 12 years of his career in the Midwest, first as an assistant at Indiana and then as the coach of the Zips, while Trapp was raised shortly outside Columbus before moving upstate for college -- and with each other. This meeting and this location hold special meaning for those reasons and several more.
After winning a national title at Akron in 2010, Porter decided to stay for two more seasons before joining the Timbers. His journey there led him back to MAPFRE Stadium with a chance to win his professional title. It is a venue he remembers fondly because Indiana sent legendary coach Jerry Yeagley off as an NCAA champion on this field back in 2003.
“I’ll never forget it … I thought about it immediately and pretty much haven’t thought about it since because I’m focused on getting the job done tomorrow,” Porter said. “And what matters is not anything peripheral, it’s about getting the job done and it comes down to performing. Simple."
Porter could be nostalgic about much during his time in Ohio, including the relationships he formed with the litany of Ohio-born players he recruited during his time at Akron. One of those players happens to be Trapp, Crew SC’s young, center midfielder.
It’s easy to pick out what Porter saw in Trapp when he brought him to Akron. Trapp is a composed midfielder who likes to sit deep and spray passes to retain possession. Now Porter must devise a game plan to thwart a player that he had a large role in developing.
"I think he did an excellent job of developing young players and moving them on to the next level as you can see the number of Zips in MLS and abroad currently,” Trapp said. "He was a major contributing factor to where I am now."
For Porter, he’s just happy that he’s been able to see so many of his old players make it to the pros.
“There was a time where I thought I’d never coach these guys again. Or coach against them,” Porter said. "I’ve got a bunch of guys I’ve coached on other teams around the league. You know, I quietly root for them, unless they’re playing us. But it’s not usually something I think about. But it’s a real nice bonus to be able to coach guys again. Guys that you have a great relationship with."
Trapp received his first cap for the senior U.S. men’s national team earlier this year and recovered from a concussion to take his usual place in the Columbus midfield. Meanwhile, his team proceeded through a campaign in which forward Kei Kamara would tie for the league lead in goals in goals, Ethan Finlay would prove to be more than a one-season wonder and Porter would watch from the other side of the country with an eye on his old player.
Porter had an interesting season as well, with his team failing to score goals early despite leading the league in shots and looking like they might miss out on the playoffs for the second year in a row. But another Akron grad, Darlington Nagbe, switched to a position in the middle of the park and swept the Timbers through the Western Conference playoffs.
Now that both of Porter’s former charges at Akron are in great form, it will be interesting to see Trapp and Nagbe try to navigate past each other -- which they never got to do at Akron because Nagbe joined the Timbers during Trapp’s freshman year -- and how Porter coaches against his old player.
No one wants to bring a championship to Columbus more than Trapp, who was raised a few miles down the road in Gahanna, Ohio and worked his way through Columbus’ academy system. Now that he has a chance to bring Crew SC a first title since 2008, Trapp would do anything to beat his old coach and hold the trophy at the end of Sunday’s game.
"Any time you can bring a championship to Columbus, Ohio, people are excited. So it’s an added bonus being a local kid,” Trapp said.
It’s been three years since Trapp and Porter both left Akron and five since Porter’s last championship. It is now time to meet once more and see who emerges with the trophy in hand.
