It’s safe to say that the Lipscomb men’s soccer team probably wouldn’t still be alive in the NCAA tournament without goalkeeper Chris Zappia.
The fifth-year senior made eight saves against both No. 17 Washington and No. 9 Central Florida to help the Bisons pull off two improbable upsets and advance to the Sweet 16 against No. 3 Kentucky.
“Chris is shining right now,” Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said. “I’d say he’s playing his best, but it’s not like he’s not on par with what his best was last year. He’s been a great goalkeeper for us for several years now.”
Zappia boasts a 10-4-1 record in net and has made 61 saves on the year. Entering Saturday’s match against the Wildcats, he has a .782 save percentage and is allowing just 1.07 goals per game.
But unlike the six Lipscomb freshmen that are currently playing big roles for the Bisons, Zappia had to patiently wait his turn to become a significant contributor.
His first three years in the program were spent behind Micah Bledsoe, who now plays for Nashville SC of the USL. From 2013-16, Bledsoe won 26 starts, had a save percentage of .735 and finished his career with 15 clean sheets.
Zappia took over goalkeeping duties in 2017 and was instrumental in leading Lipscomb’s to its first-ever ASUN tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance. He finished the season with 11 wins and a .698 save percentage in 21 starts.
“You can look at Chris and what’s he done as a model of perseverance and [how] good things come to those who wait and work hard,” Morrow said. “He’s been phenomenal.”
However, Zappia’s final season of eligibility didn’t begin as planned. He suffered a concussion in a 3-1 loss to East Tennessee State on Sept. 15, forcing him to miss the next three matches.
“It happened about seven minutes into the game,” Zappia said. “Your adrenaline gets you going. I felt okay in the moment, and then the next day I woke up and realized I probably shouldn’t have finished that one out.”
The Bisons lost all three matches that Zappia missed with the concussion, and the team later dropped midweek games to Evansville and Memphis in which he did not participate.
But since the defeat to ETSU, Zappia has not lost a decision. That stretch includes the two NCAA tournament victories, as well as upsets of No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast and No. 10 Louisville during the regular season.
“Chris had been making saves all season long that he was supposed to make,” Morrow said. “But what’s different in this run is that he’s making a save or two a game that keeps us in a game or helps us win a game.”
Zappia has pitched shutouts in each of Lipscomb’s last three matches, and he hasn’t conceded a goal in 372:34 minutes. The Bisons have mustered just enough offense to back him up.
“We know what we have in him and we know we can lean on him in those tough situations,” senior forward Logan Payner said. “We try to pay him back and get a goal when we can.”
Zappia’s recent performances drew attention from TopDrawerSoccer.com, which named him to its Men’s Team of the Week on Nov. 20. Morrow said that Zappia may also catch the eye of professional teams like Bledsoe did.
“I think that the way Chris is playing right now, it reminds me a lot of Micah,” Morrow said. “Ultimately, I think that Chris should, and hopefully, will get a chance to play after college.”
The North Carolina native is working on his MBA after completing an undergraduate degree in Strategic Communications last year. While he said he would be interested in playing professional soccer, he doesn’t have his heart set on a career path just yet.
“I’m going to play it by ear,” Zappia said. “I would love the opportunity to play soccer, and I certainly wouldn’t say no if the opportunity presented itself. At the same time, I want to be open to everything.”
For now, the All-ASUN second teamer is focused on the task at hand. Lipscomb will likely need another heroic performance from him to stand a chance against the Wildcats, who dealt the Bisons a crushing 3-2 defeat in overtime on Sept. 18.
“We had our hearts broken at a very pivotal point in the season,” he said. “That sort of stuck with everyone. So, we are all very excited about playing Kentucky [again].”
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics