The University of Akron Athletics
#17 Zips? Soccer Wins at Oakland, 2-1
October 30 | Men's Soccer
and Matt Tutich gave the 17th-ranked Akron men's
soccer team a 2-0 lead and the Zips held on for a 2-1 victory over
Oakland Tuesday afternoon at OU Soccer Stadium.
The Zips (12-3-2) struck first midway through the first half. Much
like he did at Buffalo, freshman Steve
Zakuani made a run with the ball. However, instead of taking a
shot and having a teammate bang home the rebound, he passed to
Bradbrook who converted an open look inside the box for his fifth
goal of the year.
Oakland (9-6-2) looked to tie the match with 10 minutes left before
halftime when it got a penalty kick. Junior Evan
Bush, who had two saves in the match, turned away the shot that
was sailing towards the right corner of the net to keep score 1-0.
Then, after Oakland hit crossbar in second half and still down 1-0,
Bush made another nice save right on the goal line to keep Zips in
front.
Just a few minutes after Oakland's near goal in the second half,
Akron pushed its advantage to 2-0 in the 57th minute. Anthony
Ampaipitakwong found Matt Tutich, who beat Oakland keeper Steve
Clark one on one for his fifth goal of the season. It marked
Ampaipitakwong's team-best ninth assist of the season.
Oakland cut its deficit in half with three minutes left. Martin
Sandell sent a ball in off a corner kick and Sabastian Harris
headed the ball past Bush for the goal.
"This was a good result against a strong Oakland program," said UA
head coach Caleb Porter. "We let our guard down a few time,
which almost cost us. We will learn from those mistakes. However,
we controlled the match a majority of the time and deserved the
win."
The Zips out-shot Oakland 9-7 and held a 6-3 advantage in corner
kicks.
Akron will conclude the regular season this Saturday (Nov. 3) at
Western Michigan. Match time in Kalamazoo is set for 2 pm. If the
Zips win, they will be 2007 MAC regular-season champions and host
the MAC Championships (Nov. 16 and 18) as the top seed at Lee
Jackson Field.
