The University of Akron Athletics
Zips' Season Ends on Penalty Kicks at Maryland
December 03 | Men's Soccer
Dec. 3, 2005
Box Score
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Battling back from a 1-0 deficit, the No. 9-seeded University of Akron men's soccer team tied its NCAA quarterfinal match at 1-all, but saw its season end after 110:00 minutes of action as No. 1 seed Maryland (17-4-2) advanced to the College Cup on penalty kicks, 4-1 over the Zips (18-1-4) Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 4,129 at Ledwig Field.
The Terrapins, who will face SMU in national semifinal action Friday in Cary, N.C., connected on all four of their penalty kick attempts against goalkeeper Evan Bush (Concord, Ohio/Lake Catholic), while only Yohann Mauger (Rennes, France/Marc Bloch/Rennes Int'l School of Business) converted for Akron.
Maryland goalkeeper Chris Seitz came up with saves on attempts by Justin Sadler (Boiling Springs, Pa./Cumberland Valley/Drexel) and Ossie Michalsen (Bergen, Norway/Soccer Academy of Danielsen).
"He (Seitz) was going off of what he saw from us in our last game," said UA head coach Ken Lolla. "Some guys made the adjustment, others did not."
The Zips, who hadn't advanced this far in the NCAA Tournament
since reaching the national finals in 1986, had an opportunity to
win it in the 102nd minute, but Sinisa Ubiparipovic's (Mentor,
Ohio/Mentor/UIC) free kick sailed high. The Zips were awarded the
kick just outside the penalty box when a streaking Amico DiFranco
(Chesterland, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) was cut down by
David Glaudemans who was issued a yellow card on the play.
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"I thought we had them a couple of times," Ubiparipovic said. "We just couldn't finish."
With 2:46 left in the second overtime period, UA's Steve Kalan (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) rifled a shot off a rebound but sent it wide. The Zips had two corner kicks in the final minute of the second overtime but could not convert on either attempt.
With 3:22 to go in the first overtime, Ubiparipovic drove the ball down to Maryland's goal but had his shot blocked, setting up a corner kick. On the ensuing corner, Matthew Tutich (Westmont, Ill./Hinsdale Central) saw his header sail high.
The Zips found themselves on their heels for most of the second half as Maryland maintained possession. The Terps had several on-goal chances, but saw their shots fly high or wide. Maryland held a 19-17 shot advantage in the game, with both teams getting five shots on goal.
Bush came up with a save on a point-blank shot from Jason Garey, clearing out the Hermann Trophy candidate's attempt right in front of the net 23 minutes into the second half. With under 10 minutes to play, Maryland had a chance at an open net when Bush came out to play the ball, but defender Matt Augustin (Silver Lake, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) stepped in to clear the ball.
Garey had another attempt at an open net with nine seconds remaining in regulation, but his shot began to roll wide and Augustin came in to clear the ball out once again.
At 71:30, Amico DiFranco (Chesterland, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) found himself open in front of the net but could not find his footing and the ball was sent out of play.
The Terps held a 15-12 advantage in shots taken at the end of regulation, with each keeper collecting four saves in the first 90 minutes.
Maryland took a 1-0 lead at 20:55 on a Kenny Bertz goal. Chris Lancos sent the ball into the box on a restart, and the Zips possessed the ball but sent it to Bertz in a scramble, who then rifled the shot in from six yards out for his third goal of the season.
The Zips evened the match at 1-all just 1:15 before the end of the first half on a perfectly played ball by Sadler to Ubiparipovic for the score. Sadler played the ball down to the goal line before sending it in to Ubiparipovic in the box. An untouched Ubiparipovic slid the ball into the lower right corner for his 17th goal of the season.
Akron finished the half with seven shots, but five of those looks came in the final six minutes of action. The Zips came out firing as a shot from Steve McClain (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne/Wright State) saved by Seitz. Bush kept Akron in the game early with two saves on Garey shots, including a spectacular one that came as he dove to his left.
"Our guys have been resilient all year," Lolla said. "We had to deal with being No. 1 and having the target on our back, here in this tournament we had to go on the road after the first game. Through it all, these guys showed their ability and toughness."
The winner of the Maryland-SMU match will face either Clemson or New Mexico, which were each victorious in Friday quarterfinal action, in the national final on Sunday, Dec. 11.
