The University of Akron Athletics
Late Score Gives No. 1 Akron a 1-0 Win over Kentucky
October 30 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 30, 2005
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio -- - In a slow, sluggish game that was marred by fouls and cautions, the University of Akron men's soccer team found a way to overcome the level of play with a 1-0 victory over visiting Kentucky (6-7-5) on a sunny afternoon at Lee Jackson Field.
With the win, Akron improves to 16-0-1 on the year with one regular-season game remaining at Indiana on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
Prior to the match, the Zips honored seniors Ross McKenzie (Whangamata, New Zealand/Mount Albert), Justin Sadler (Boiling Springs, Pa./Cumberland Valley/Drexel), Jeremy Field (Hamilton, New Zealand/Univ. of Waikato), Paul LaGuardia (Akron, Ohio/Hoban), Dino Campellone (Seven Hills, Ohio/St. Ignatius), Amico DiFranco (Chesterland, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) and Yohann Mauger (Rennes, France/Marc Bloch/Int'l Business School of Rennes) who were playing in their final regular-season game at Lee Jackson Field.
The Zips' lone goal of the afternoon came at 74:56 off a
restart. Mauger tapped the ball back to Geir Nyheim (Bergen,
Norway/U. Pihl) who sent the ball into the left-hand corner of the
net past a diving UK goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum. The Zips finished
with a 15-7 shot advantage, including five on-goal looks for UA and
just one for the Wildcats.
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Akron's first scoring opportunity of the game came 15 minutes in as McKenzie had a look at the net but had his shot deflected out by a diving Gruenebaum. At 30:22, defender Andrew Tipton (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake) served a perfect ball to McKenzie up top, but the senior's shot sailed high to keep the game scoreless.
The physical game saw a combined 37 fouls and seven cautions between the two squads, six of which came in the second period.
Freshman Matthew Tutich (Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central) nearly gave the Zips the lead five minutes into the second half, but his header off Sinisa Ubiparipovic's (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor/UIC) corner kick bounced off the top of the cross bar and out of play. Four minutes later, Matt Augustine's (Silver Lake, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) shot was blocked, and Brendan Murphy's (Chesterland, Ohio/West Geauga) attempt off the rebound sailed wide.
Kentucky's best attempt of the day came with 25:17 to play as Ben Langwith managed to beat the UA defense, but his shot bounced off the top of the goal to preserve the shutout. He had another shot sail wide 10 minutes later. Freshman goalkeeper Evan Bush (Concord, Ohio/Lake Catholic) had another solid day between the pipes, directing the UA defense and finishing with one save for his 11th shutout of the season.
Leading 1-0, Akron had two more chances to add to their lead, but Gruenebaum had another spectacular diving save on Steve Kalan's (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) shot, and Sadler's attempt with just 1:16 to play was kicked out by a sliding Gruenebaum.
1 2 Total
Kentucky 0 0 0
No. 1 Akron 0 1 1
UA: Geir Nyheim (Yohann Mauger)- 74:56
