The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Soccer Falls, 1-0 in MAC Tournament Final
November 05 | Men's Soccer
Missed opportunities was the story of the afternoon as Akron
(13-5-1) dropped a 1-0 decision at Northern Illinois (14-5-1) in
the Mid-American Conference championship game on Sunday afternoon
at Huskie Soccer Field in DeKalb, Ill. As the tournament winner,
NIU receives the MAC's automatic berth into the NCAA
Tournament.
"I am so proud of our effort and the type of soccer that we played
today," said UA head coach
Caleb Porter. "These guys
played their hearts out and left everything on the field."
Akron missed a chance to take a 1-0 lead at 15:58 when
Ashley Kozicki's
(Kresgeville, Pa./Pleasant Valley/St. John's) penalty kick attempt
was stopped by NIU goalkeeper Joe Zimka. With MAC Player of the
Year
Sinisa Ubiparipovic
(Mentor, Ohio/Mentor/UIC) charging the net, the senior dished off
to
Matt Tutich (Westmont,
Ill./Hinsdale Central) and Tutich was taken down in the box for the
free play.
"If we score on that play, this becomes a completely different
game," Porter said. "That would have forced NIU to open things up a
bit."
That play came back to haunt the Zips as the Huskies took a 1-0
lead at 23:58. With the ball played to the Akron goal, the Zips
tried to clear it but it was intercepted by NIU and Luis De La
Cerda pushed the ball to Marcus McCarty who scored. It looked as if
the Zips had tied things up two minutes later when Ubiparipovic put
the ball past Zimka, but the Zips were called offsides on the
play.
The Zips nearly netted the equalizer at 60:35 when Ubiparipovic
had an on-goal header, but Zimka made a leaping save to keep the
game scoreless.
Akron controlled a majority of the run of play as Northern
Illinois went with numbers around their net. The Zips continually
made efficient passed through the midfield but were met with a wall
of defenders in the final third. At 75:30,
Jonathan McClain (Huber
Heights, Ohio/Wayne Wright State) had a volley on the far post but
did not have an open teammate in front of the net as the Huskies
were able to clear the ball out.
The Zips offense continues to press the Huskies up until the final
seconds, including two shot attempts from
Ben
Zemanski (Akron, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy), along
with looks from Kozicki and Tutich.
Ubiparipovic, Kozicki and McClain represented the Zips on the MAC
All-Tournament team.
The teams finished with 14 shots each, with the Zips holding a
10-7 advantage in the second half. Akron goalkeeper
Evan Bush (Concord,
Ohio/Lake Catholic) finished with six saves on the afternoon.
It now becomes a waiting game as Akron will have to watch and see
if it is awarded an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. The 2006
NCAA Tournament field will be announced between 4-5 p.m. EST on
ESPNews. The Zips have closed out the season on a hot streak with a
7-2-1 record and are averaging 3.8 goals per game over their last
five matches.
"I truly hope this team gets an opportunity to play again," Porter
said. "We are playing some of our best soccer here down the stretch
and I think we can compete with anyone in the country.
