CHICAGO – The No. 1 University of Akron men's soccer team kept its perfect season intact with a 3-1 victory at UIC Wednesday night in a game that saw all four goals scored in the final 20 minutes of regulation.

The Zips (10-0-0), who are one win shy of matching their best start in school history, were knocking on the door for much of the game with three shots on goal in the first half alone yet played to a scoreless tie with the Flames (3-3-4). UA didn't allow shot by UIC in the opening period while Michael Nanchoff, Teal Bunbury and Darlington Nagbe all had their attempts rejected by UIC goalkeeper Jovan Bubonja, who finished with six saves on the night.

But Blair Gavin, who is developing a flair for dramatic goals in 2009, gave the UA offense the spark that it needed in the game's 72nd minute with his third game-winning goal of the campaign following a corner kick by the Zips. Gavin now has three goals on the season and all three have been game-winners as the midfielder also netted decisive scores against SMU (1-0) and Ohio State (3-0).

"This was a good result against a very organized and technical team," said UA head coach Caleb Porter. "I credit UIC and Coach (John) Trask for tactically making it very difficult. At the same time, you could tell it was only going to be a matter of time before someone broke the game open. I thought our spacing and movement was better in the second half, which allowed us to dictate the ball enough to wear them down."

Sophomore Kofi Sarkodie appeared to put the game away for good in the game's 86th minute with his second goal of the year off a fine run by Nanchoff but UIC made it interesting when forward Kevin Stoll found the net off a redirect from teammate Josh Beard with less than two mintes to play.

UIC's rally was quickly put to rest, however, when Bunbury scored his seventh goal in five games just 36 seconds later on a breakaway to provide the game's final margin.

"With this team, I never know who's going to score but I always know someone will find a way eventually," Porter said. "Toinght it was Blair who made a special play to put us ahead. It was disappointing to give up the goal but it might be the best thing to happen considering we haven't done that in quite some time. I was pleased with the way we responded though when Teal pulled the goal right back."

For the game, the Zips owned advantages over the Flames in shots (12-5) and shots on goal (9-2) while each team drew four corner kicks.   

Akron wil next jump back into Mid-American Conference play when it travels to Kalamzaoo Saturday to meet Western Michigan at 2 p.m. (EST).

Zips Notebook: Nanchoff has not recorded at least one point in his last seven games ... UA, which has scored 19 goals in its last five games, improved to 7-1-1 all-time versus UIC ... With a win Saturday, the Zips can match the school record for best starts to a season. The 2005 Akron team won its first 11 contests of the year and was undefeated in its first 17 ... UA saw its shutout streak come to an end against UIC. The Zips had shut out their last six opponents entering play Wednesday.