The University of Akron Athletics
No. 17 Akron Visits Northern Illinois Saturday
October 12 | Men's Soccer
No. 17 Akron (8-3-1, 2-0 MAC)
at
Northern Ill. (10-3-1, 3-0 MAC)
Date: Saturday, October 14
Time: 2:00 p.m. CDT
Location: DeKalb, Ill.
Stadium: Huskie Soccer Field
About the Zips...
- The Zips came out firing and dominated from start to finish in a
2-0 nonconference win over Wright State Tuesday night at Lee
Jackson Field.
- Matt Tutich put home the game winner in the 34th minute, his
second goal in the last three games.
- Ashley Kozicki added an insurance score in the 81st minute for
his fourth goal of the season. Kozicki is now second on the team in
goals scored (four) and total points (nine).
- Akron finished with 20 shots on the night, compared to just six
for the Raiders. Ten of the 20 shots were on goal, while Wright
State managed just one shot on frame.
- The Zips also finished with a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks.
- Sophomore goalkeeper Evan Bush was credited with his seventh
shutout of the season, picking up just one save in the win over
Wright State. Bush now has 21 clean sheets in 35 career starts (60
percent).
- Bush is now tied for fifth with Justin Christafaris (2001-04) on
the Zips' career shutouts chart with 21.
- The 2-0 win over Wright State marked Akron's first goals in a
nonconference game since its 1-0 win over Oakland on Sept. 13.
During the span the Zips were held scoreless by Indiana (0-2), Ohio
State (0-1) and Penn State (0-0).
- Akron has not allowed a score over the last 309:51 of play.
- The Zips take a break from their Big Ten schedule to jump back
into league action Saturday at Northern Illinois. The Big Ten slate
then continues on Wednesday with Michigan at Lee Jackson Field.
- The Zips have won eight-straight MAC regular season games dating
back to the 2004 season.
- Akron is one of three teams that remain unbeaten in Mid-American
Conference play. The Zips are 2-0 in league action, while Northern
Illinois is 3-0 and Buffalo is 2-0 in MAC play. Akron and Buffalo
close out the regular season on Oct. 27 in Akron.
- Akron has outshot is opponents, 166-92 this season, and hold a
commanding 86-24 advantage in corner kicks. In the second half
alone, the Zips have taken 45 corners to their opponents' 17.
- After Saturday afternoon, the Zips have just four regular-season
games remaining, two nonconference matches and two MAC tilts.
About the Huskies...
- Northern Illinois is 10-3-1 on the season, 3-0 in MAC play.
- The Huskies are riding a five-game win streak and have allowed
just one goal during that span.
- Marcus McCarty is the leading scorer with seven goals and four
assists. Luis De La Cerda has four goals and one assist on the
season.
- Joe Zimka and Matt Corcoran have split time in goal, with
Corcoran making eight starts, allowing 12 goals in 744:51 of action
for a 1.45 GAA. Zimka has made seven appearances and has yet to
allow a goal in 580:44 minutes of play.
- Northern Illinois is 0-1-1 in games vs. ranked teams. The Huskies
dropped a 5-0 decision at No. 4 Washington on Sept. 15, and played
No. 21 Notre Dame to a 0-0 tie on Sept. 20.
Series History...
- Akron leads the all-time series, 11-1-0.
- The Zips won last year's meeting by a 5-1 score at Lee Jackson
Field on Oct. 21, 2005.
- Ross McKenzie picked up the hat trick for Akron with three
scores, along with one goal each from Sinisa Ubiparipovic and
Brendan Murphy.
- Akron has won 11 in a row in the series after dropping the
first-ever meeting, 1-0 in overtime on Sept. 15, 1990.
- Akron is 5-0 vs. Huskies in DeKalb.
- The Zips are 10-0 in MAC games vs. Northern Illinois.
Last Time vs. The Huskies...
October 21, 2005
A bizarre opening 30 minutes of play, which resulted in three
penalty kicks, gave way to a dominating performance by the Akron
offensive attack as the top-ranked Zips' (13-0-1, 4-0-0
Mid-American Conference) men's soccer squad recorded a 5-1 victory
over Northern Illinois (9-4-2, 2-1-0 MAC) at Lee Jackson Field.
With the win, Akron clinched the No. 1 seed for the
MAC Tournament, held Nov. 11-13 at Jackson Field.
Cold, rainy conditions gave way to a spirited contest with 38
fouls and seven cautions between the two schools. The Huskies were
flagged for a hand ball in the box, setting up a penalty kick for
Ross McKenzie which gave Akron a 1-0 lead at 19:09. The advantage
was short-lived as a tripping call on the Zips in the box allowed
Kevin Woerner to convert his PK attempt at 20:41.
McKenzie narrowly missed a goal in the 25th minute when his shot
bounced off the post and back into the field, but he got another
chance, converting his second free kick of the game at 29:59 as NIU
was again called for a hand ball. That would end the scoring in a
first half which saw Akron hold a commanding 11-2 advantage in
shots taken.
The Zips wasted little time taking a 3-1 lead just two minutes
into the second period as McKenzie recorded his third goal of the
night, the second time this season he has recorded three scores in
a single match. This score came in the field of play as he juggled
the ball on his foot around the defense, bringing NIU keeper Steve
Goletz out of the net and shooting around him for the score.
McKenzie led Akron with five shot attempts, three of which were on
goal.
Sinisa Ubiparipovic got in on the scoring act with his 11th goal
of the season in the 67th minute. Coming off an NIU foul,
Ubiparipovic sent his direct free kick over the top of Goletz' head
as the Zips took a commanding 4-1 lead.
Northern Illinois' best shot of the second half came at 77:11 as
Fraser Gibson's indirect free kick sailed toward the net, but
freshman Andrew Tipton, who earned the start in place of an injured
Matt Augustin, cleared the shot out to keep the Huskies scoreless
in the second half. Akron has now outscored its opponents 33-1 in
the second half of play.
Brendan Murphy tallied his second goal of the season with a tap-in
at 84:58 off a well-played ball from Kristian Gaustad and Amico
DiFranco.
Did You Know...
Akron is 36-1-3 in its last 40 regular season and tournament
Mid-American Conference matches at Lee Jackson Field. That is a
string of games that dates back to the middle of the 1997
season.
Did You Know, Part 2...
Sophomore goalkeeper Evan Bush has a 0.10 goals against average in
Mid-American Conference games In nine career starts against MAC
foes (830 minutes), Bush has allowed just one goal, a penalty kick
vs. Northern Illinois in a 5-1 Akron win on Oct. 21, 2005.
Akron vs. Wright State Recap...
The Akron men's soccer team defense again did its job with its
third consecutive shutout, and sophomore Matt Tutich and senior
Ashley Kozicki each contributed a goal in a 2-0 nonconference win
over Wright State Tuesday night at Lee Jackson Field.
The Zips (8-3-1) came out attacking, earning a corner kick in the
first :23 of play. Akron's first shot of the night came off the
corner as defender Devin McKenney took the rebound shot with Wright
State (6-7-0) goalkeeper Tebias Mason making the save.
Akron had a chance to go up a goal at 21:08 as Geir Nyheim had
slipped behind Mason with the ball, but the Raiders defense manage
to come in and clear the ball out to keep the game scoreless.
Just over 10 minutes later Akron did put one in the net as Tutich
recorded his second goal of the season. Playing the ball out wide
on the right, Steve Kalan generated a perfect service into Tutich,
who slotted the ball to the right of Mason for the score at
33:28.
Tutich had a game-high five shot attempts for Akron, two of which
were on goal. The Zips finished with a commanding 20-6 advantage in
shots taken, with 10 of its 20 shots on goal. Mason recorded seven
saves for Wright State in 90 minutes of action.
The Zips continued to control possession for most of the second
half and broke through for their second goal of the evening in the
80th minute. A ball played in was initially stopped by Mason just
outside the Wright State goal mouth, but the keeper fumbled the
ball and Kozicki was there to collect the rebound for his fourth
goal of the season.
"We had some great chances tonight, and maybe for us it is going
to be a different guy stepping up each match to get the scoring
done," said head coach Caleb Porter. "Tonight it was Ashley who
came in off the bench and added a spark. We are going to keep
rotating guys up top to keep fresh. We'll get our scoring done by
committee if need be."
Wright State's best scoring opportunity of the game came at 25:00
in the first half. Akron goalkeeper Evan Bush came out to collect a
long serve from Wright State, but the ball bounced over his head
leaving a wide open net for the Raiders. Akron's defense recovered
on the play, forcing Jonah Baskin's shot wide. Bush was forced to
make just one save in the match.
The shutout was Bush's seventh of the season and 21st of his
career, tying him with former Akron standout Justin Christafaris
(2001-04) for fifth on the Zips' career shutout list. The Zips'
team defense earned high praise from Porter, particularly the back
line of McKenney, Andrew Tipton, Jonathan McClain, Ossie Michalsen
and Matt Augustin.
"I have all the confidence in the world in those five guys,"
Porter said. "Our entire team defense was tremendous tonight. If
you defend like that, you can't lose. With their play, Evan hasn't
had to make a lot of saves for us, but I know if the situation
arises, he can get it done."
Zips In The National Polls...
With a tie at Penn State its only game of the week, the Zips moved
up one spot in the Soccer America and Soccer Times polls:
Poll :This Week/Previous Week
College Soccer News: not ranked/not ranked
Soccer America: 17/18
Soccer Times: 22/23
NSCAA/adidas: not ranked/not ranked
Double Duty for McClain
For University of Akron senior Jonathan McClain, being a standout
in one sport for the Zips just isn't enough. The starter for the
nationally-ranked Akron men's soccer team has now taken his talents
over to the football field where he is now the Zips' PAT and field
goal kicker.
McClain, a second-team All-MAC defender for an Akron soccer team
that was ranked No. 1 for most of the 2005 season, heard that UA
head football coach J.D. Brookhart was looking to shore up the
Zips' special teams play. Most notably, he was in need of a
reliable kicker.
On Sept. 27, McClain and several of his soccer teammates showed up
at football practice to tryout. Two days, McClain had a uniform and
was on Akron's travel roster for the game at Kent State on Sept.
30. Making his debut against the Golden Flashes, McClain was
1-for-1 on PAT attempts. In last Saturday's game at Cincinnati,
McClain was a perfect 2-for-2 on PAT's.
Getting to the Cincinnati game was a bit of a challenge for
McClain. With the soccer team playing at Penn State Friday night
and the football team scheduled to play at Cincinnati on Saturday,
one of the football coaches had to stay behind to escort McClain to
Cincinnati on Saturday morning.
McClain's ability on the football field should be a surprise to no
one as he earned Western Ohio All-League honors as a place-kicker
from 1998-2000 and finished with 202 points in his kicking career.
What makes this story so unique is that he is making his mark on
the football field while also competing on the soccer pitch.
McClain has started all 10 games for No. 18 Akron in the left back
position and has one assist.
For McClain, it now becomes a juggling act. After leading the
soccer team to a 2-0 win over Western Michigan at home on Sept. 29,
McClain went over to the football team hotel where he joined up
with the Zips for the following day's game at Kent State. This week
is a bit easier as football has its bye week.
Lost and Found...
The scoring touch that sophomore midfielder Matt Tutich displayed
during his freshman campaign seems to have resurfaced as Tutich as
recorded two goals in the Zips' last three outings, including the
game winner in a 2-0 victory over Wright State on Oct. 10. Tutich
also slotted home the deciding score in Akron's 2-0 win over
Western Michigan on Sept. 29.
Tutich's performances over the last three games resemble his
breakout season of 2005 where he recorded eight goals and an assist
as the Zips went 18-1-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the
NCAA Tournament. For his efforts he was a first-team All-MAC pick
and was selected by College Soccer News to its all-freshman third
team.
On the season Tutich has started all 12 games and has two goals
and one assist for five points. His 22 shot attempts ranks third on
the squad.
"Ubi" To the Rescue...
Despite being the focus of every team's defense, preseason
All-America and Hermann Trophy candidate senior midfielder Sinisa
Ubiparipovic continues to be the leader of the Akron attack with
five goals and five assists on the season. Three of those goals
came in two games in one week, including the game winner with :29
seconds left in a 1-0 win over Oakland. This season Ubiparipovic
has two game-winning scores. Last year the second-team All-American
recorded team-best six game winners. So far this year he has taken
40 shots, 16 of which have been on goal (40 percent).
Ossie, Ossie, Ossie...oy, oy, oy
Sophomore defender Ossie Michalsen has picked up right where he
left off last season as one of the top defensive players around.
After a shaky start in the season opener vs. UCSB, the defense has
settled down, allowing just four goals over the last nine games.
The Zips have recorded seven shutouts this season.
An All-MAC selection as a freshman last year, Michalsen has been
given the honor of team co-captain, along with senior Sinisa
Ubiparipovic. Michalsen is a smart player who can keep his cool
while organizing the team from his center back position.
Fresh Faces...
Junior transfer Devin McKenney has been a pleasant addition for
the Zips in the back, appearing in 11 games and starting 10.
McKenney missed all of the preseason after undergoing hernia
surgery on the first day of preseason camp. He spent his first two
seasons at Dayton and is a native of North Olmsted, Ohio.
Another player who has made his mark is junior Elliot Bradbrook.
Bradbrook joined the team in the spring after two years at Ashland
University. Bradbrook was a Division II third-team All-American in
2005 and has started nine games for Akron.
Freshman Ben Zemanski has made a smooth transition to the college
game. The high school NSCAA All-American out of Cuyahoga Valley
Christian Academy has appeared in 11 games, missing the Davidson
victory due to injury. After coming on off the bench in the first
half vs. Indiana, Zemanski played the entire second half for the
Zips. He has since started the last four games.
Fresh Start...
While they aren't new to the Akron pitch, several players have
seen the 2006 season bring new life to their playing careers.
Senior Ashley Kozicki appeared in just seven games a year ago after
transferring from St. John's University. This year Kozicki has
played in all 12 matches, starting seven. He had a goal in Akron's
2-1 win over St. Francis (Sept. 3) and came up with the winner with
just one minute left in the second overtime vs. St. Bonaventure on
Sept. 1. For his efforts he was named the MAC Player of the Week.
His four goal of the season came on Oct. 10 in a 2-0 win over
Wright State. He is currently second on the team in scoring (4g,
1a- 9 points).
Junior Pablo Moreira missed the 2005 season while recovering from
a knee injury. In his first two years at Akron combined he appeared
in 26 games with four starts, tallying three goals in 2004. This
year he has started all 12 games and is third on the team in
scoring (3g, 1a- 7 points) and is second in shot attempts (28). Two
of his scores have been game winners, tying him for the team lead
with Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Matt Tutich..
Zips Bits...
- The Zips saw their 21-game home unbeaten streak snapped with a
2-0 loss to Indiana on Sept, 20. Akron had gone 20-0-1 at home
prior to the game, with its last loss coming at the hands of
Western Michigan, 1-0 on Oct. 15, 2004.
- Nineteen Akron players hit the pitch in the 3-0 win over IPFW on
Sept. 17. Included in that group was redshirt freshman Ivan
Sandoval who made his first-ever appearance for the Zips.
- Freshman Vedran Ilic made his Akron debut on Sept. 3 against St.
Francis. That brings to three the number of true freshman who have
seen time on the pitch for the Zips this season (Ben Zemanski,
Rostand Erlichman). Zemanski has played in 11 of 12 games for
Akron, missing the win over Davidson on Aug. 27 due to injury.
Erlichman has made eight appearances, picking up an assist in the
win over Western Michigan (Sept. 29).
- Of the 11 goals Akron has allowed this season, six have come
during the run of play. The Zips have caught a few unlucky breaks,
with three PK goals coming off hand ball calls, and two
perfectly-played set pieces by opponents resulting in scores.
- Akron went 1-1 in the preseason with a 1-0 loss to No. 10
Creighton, followed by a 1-0 victory over No. 17 St. John's.
- Both matches were part of the second-annual Westfield Insurance
Cup held at Lee Jackson Field.
- Sinisa Ubiparipovic netted the game winner for Akron vs. St.
John's in the 71st minute off a pass from Jonathan McClain.
