Akron men defeat Hartwick
November 8, 2010
ONEONTA, N.Y. - The No. 2 University of Akron men' soccer team scored a pair of late goals to earn a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against Hartwick in the regular season finale Saturday night at Elmore Field.
With the win, the Zips (16-1-1, 6-0-0 Mid-American Conference) completed a perfect league schedule for the third consecutive season. In the process, UA extended its conference unbeaten streak to 29 matches (27-0-2), dating back to the 2006 season.
"I am so proud of this team tonight," said UA head coach Caleb Porter. "Hartwick did everything they could to not let us play and we could have easily buckled. But we didn't. We kept fighting through it and showed a lot of heart to win this game."
It was a physical game throughout with Hartwick drawing four yellow cards and a red. Junior midfielder Tim Daigle was sent from the game in the 56th minute shortly after Hartwick took a 1-0 lead.
"This wasn't a soccer game but a war and to win tonight it took us doing things out of our comfort zone," Porter said. "This team proved they are willing to pay the price no matter what it takes. I'm confident we can deal with anything now as we enter the postseason."
After falling behind 1-0 in the 55th minute on a direct free kick from Hartwick's Owen Botting, Zips' sophomore Ben Speas netted the equalizer from straight on following a pair of passes from Michael Nanchoff and Chris Korb in the 68th minute.
Junior Michael Nanchoff recorded his third game-winning goal in the 80th minute on a penalty kick. It was his seventh goal on the season, which matches the second-highest total on the team.
For the game, Akron out-shot Hartwick, 12-9, including a slim 5-4 advantage on goal. Nanchoff matched a career high with five shots.
Elsewehere in the league, Western Michigan defeated Buffalo, 2-1, Friday night and Bowling Green topped Florida Atlantic by the same count Saturday in a pair of games with major seeding implications for the MAC Tournament, which gets underway at Lee R. Jackson Soccer Field next weekend.
As the top seed at the tournament, the Zips will host No. 4 Buffalo Friday at 5 p.m. (ET) in the first of two semifinal games. With a 4-2 league record, the Broncos grabbed the the No. 2 seed and will face the third-seeded Falcons in the second match at 8 p.m. (ET). Bowling Green and Buffalo finished with identical 3-3-0 league records but BGSU won the tie breaker based on their 2-0 win over the Bulls in October.
Zips Notebook: Akron improved to 25-1-1 all-time against MAC foes during the regular season under Porter ... Saturday's game represented just the seventh time the Zips have trailed all season. UA trailed for nine minutes and 25 seconds against the Hawks ... UA is 7-1-2 all-time versus Hartwick.
With the win, the Zips (16-1-1, 6-0-0 Mid-American Conference) completed a perfect league schedule for the third consecutive season. In the process, UA extended its conference unbeaten streak to 29 matches (27-0-2), dating back to the 2006 season.
"I am so proud of this team tonight," said UA head coach Caleb Porter. "Hartwick did everything they could to not let us play and we could have easily buckled. But we didn't. We kept fighting through it and showed a lot of heart to win this game."
It was a physical game throughout with Hartwick drawing four yellow cards and a red. Junior midfielder Tim Daigle was sent from the game in the 56th minute shortly after Hartwick took a 1-0 lead.
"This wasn't a soccer game but a war and to win tonight it took us doing things out of our comfort zone," Porter said. "This team proved they are willing to pay the price no matter what it takes. I'm confident we can deal with anything now as we enter the postseason."
After falling behind 1-0 in the 55th minute on a direct free kick from Hartwick's Owen Botting, Zips' sophomore Ben Speas netted the equalizer from straight on following a pair of passes from Michael Nanchoff and Chris Korb in the 68th minute.
Junior Michael Nanchoff recorded his third game-winning goal in the 80th minute on a penalty kick. It was his seventh goal on the season, which matches the second-highest total on the team.
For the game, Akron out-shot Hartwick, 12-9, including a slim 5-4 advantage on goal. Nanchoff matched a career high with five shots.
Elsewehere in the league, Western Michigan defeated Buffalo, 2-1, Friday night and Bowling Green topped Florida Atlantic by the same count Saturday in a pair of games with major seeding implications for the MAC Tournament, which gets underway at Lee R. Jackson Soccer Field next weekend.
As the top seed at the tournament, the Zips will host No. 4 Buffalo Friday at 5 p.m. (ET) in the first of two semifinal games. With a 4-2 league record, the Broncos grabbed the the No. 2 seed and will face the third-seeded Falcons in the second match at 8 p.m. (ET). Bowling Green and Buffalo finished with identical 3-3-0 league records but BGSU won the tie breaker based on their 2-0 win over the Bulls in October.
Zips Notebook: Akron improved to 25-1-1 all-time against MAC foes during the regular season under Porter ... Saturday's game represented just the seventh time the Zips have trailed all season. UA trailed for nine minutes and 25 seconds against the Hawks ... UA is 7-1-2 all-time versus Hartwick.
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