BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The No. 1 University of Akron men's soccer team used a pair of second-half goals to defeat Bowling Green, 2-0, Saturday afternoon at Cochrane Field in the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.

Kofi Sarkodie broke a scoreless tie in the 64th minute and Darren Mattocks, who also assisted the first goal, found the net for the second time in as many games in the 81st. For the Zips (3-0-0), the late goals were reward for a relentless attack that held a 16-1 shot advantage over the Falcons at the half and a commanding 29-6 margin for the game.

"I worried about this game all week from a standpoint of fighting a natural letdown after our wins last weekend," said UA head coach Caleb Porter. "Overall, our play was sharp in the buildup but our lack of aggressiveness in the final third allowed Bowling Green to hang on longer than they should have. These types of games are never easy and in the end, we broke through with a couple of goals and that's all we needed to get the result.

"I know our guys aren't completely satisfied with the scoreline, especially after being on the ball all game and getting so many shots. But that's soccer and goals aren't always easy to come by. We knew eventually it would come and it did. We are very excited to finally play a game at home and open up our stadium next weekend in front of our fans. I know our guys will be flying at kickoff."

UA also held large advantages over BGSU for shots on goal (13-3) and corner kicks (13-2).

With the victory, Akron extended a couple of impressive streaks. UA is now unbeaten in its last 20 league matches (19-0-1), dating back to the 2006 season. Furthermore, the Zips ran their consecutive shutout streak to eight games, going back to the 2009 posteason. It is the ninth-longest consecutive shutout streak in NCAA history.

Mattocks led the Zips with six shots, three on frame, while Darlington Nagbe and McKauly Tulloch each finished with five apiece. In all, eight different UA players had at least one shot on goal. Sophomore goalkeeper David Meves finished with three saves while logging all 90 minutes bewteen the pipes.

The Zips officially kick off their home schedule next weekend with The University of Akron Tournament. UA will host Cal State Northridge Friday at 7:30 p.m. before welcoming in-state foe Cincinnati Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Zips Notebook: The last goal UA surrendered came in a 2-1 victory over Hartwick in the 2009 MAC Tournament championship. Since that time, Akron has logged 840:59 scoreless minutes ... Saturday's game marked the 50th all-time meeting between Akron and Bowling Green in a series that began in 1966 ... The Zips are 39-8-3 all-time against the Falcons and have now won the last 11 meetings, dating back to 2002 ... The Zips are 21-1-1 (.935) all-time against MAC foes in the regular season under fifth-year head coach Caleb Porter.