AKRON, Ohio - The No. 1 University of Akron men's soccer team turned in a dominating performance in a 3-0 shutout of No. 15 Ohio State Wednesday night in front of another record crowd at Lee Jackson Field.

With the win, the Zips (8-0-0) stayed perfect on the season before 2,473 fans and improved to 3-0 against top 15 teams in 2009. Wednesday's record-setting crowd surpassed the previous mark of 2,443 set earlier this season against Indiana on Sept. 18.

It was also UA's fifth straight shutout and seventh overall on the year. The Zips have not allowed a goal in their last 484:00 of play.

Freshman goalkeeper David Meves recorded a pair of saves and UA's starting backline of Kofi Sarkodie, Chris Korb, Chad Barson and Zarek Valentin keyed a suffocating defense that held OSU to one shot in the second half. The loss was Ohio State's (5-1-3) first on the season.

Third-year sophomore Michael Nanchoff, who matched a school record last weekend with four assists against Bowling Green, stayed hot with a pair of assists and junior Blair Gavin provided the game-winner off a penalty kick in the 25th minute as Akron out-shot its in-state rival 20-3 for the contest, including 13-2 in the first half.  

Akron was on the ball from start to finish but neither team was able to get a shot off in the early going. Sophomore Teal Bunbury recorded the first shot of the game in the 13th minute but his header sailed wide of the net.  

From that moment on, however, the UA offense really found its grove. After a flurry of shots, the Zips cashed in when sophomore Darlington Nagbe was taken down in the box at the 24:23 mark. Gavin, who is a perfect 2-for-2 on penalty kicks on the year, gave Akron a 1-0 lead by slipping the ball into the left corner of the net past OSU 'keeper Matt Lampson.

The score remained unchanged until Nanchoff initiated a pair of scoring opportunities for the Zips in the second half. His first came in the game's 53rd minute on a perfectly lofted cross from the right sideline that set up a header by Nagbe, who punched it home for his fourth goal of the season.

The Zips provided the game's final margin in the 68th minute when Nanchoff found Ben Zemanski, who cut across the middle of the box, from the left side of the field. It was Zemanski's second goal of the year and second in as many games.

Akron will next embark on a four-game road swing starting at Florida Atlantic Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Zips next home game will be on Oct. 17th when Northern Illinois visits Lee Jackson field.

Zips Notebook: Akron is 24-6-2 all-time versus Ohio State, including a 14-1-1 mark at Lee Jackson Field ... Nanchoff leads the Zips with seven assists in eight games. UA's single-season record for assists is 15, set by Michael Apple in 1998 ... UA has now shut out 44 opponents in 71 games under head coach Caleb Porter ... UA is 36-0-0 when leading at halftime since 2006.