The University of Akron Athletics
No. 4 Zips to Wrap Up Regular Season at Ohio State
November 06 | Men's Soccer
No. 4 Akron Zips (14-1-3) at Ohio State Buckeyes (9-6-2)
Friday, Nov. 7 • 7:30 p.m. (EST) • Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium • Columbus, Ohio
Media: Live Stats • OhioStateBuckeyes.com
No. 4 Zips Look To Stay Hot at Penn State, Hartwick
The fourth-ranked University of Akron men's soccer team (14-1-3)
will get its final tune-up for the postseason when it travels to
Ohio State Friday night in a game with key RPI implications. The
Zips and Buckeyes will square off at 7:30 p.m. (EST)
UA played then-ranked No. 25 Ohio State to a 1-1 double overtime
tie at Lee Jackson Field last season and leads the all-time series
with the Buckeyes, 21-6-2 (.759).
Poll Position
After jumping up to the No. 2 spot in the NSCAA/adidas
poll last week, the Zips dipped back to No. 4 after a 1-1 tie at
Penn State last Wednesday and a 2-1 victory at Hartwick
Saturday.
UA also slipped one spot to No. 3 in the Soccer America and Top
Drawer Soccer polls, while maintaining it's No. 2 designation in
College Soccer News. Akron also managaed to maintain its the top
spot in the regional rankings.
The setback at Penn State may have been a much-needed wake-up call
for the Zips, however, as the team bounced back with one of their
best performances of the year in a dominating contest against the
Hawks. UA out-shot Hartwick 17-7, including 7-1 in the first
period, and allowed just a 85th minute goal to complete the sweep
of the MAC.
Undefeated Wake Forest (16-0-1), which defeated Ohio State to win
the 2007 NCAA Tournament last year, received all 23 first-place
votes in the NSCAA/adidas poll.
Zips Ranked No. 5 in RPI
Akron is ranked No. 5 in the latest RPI index, released by
the NCAA last week. The rating system is based 50 percent on the
team's win-loss percentage, 25 percent on the team's strength of
schedule and 25 percent on the strength of schedule of the team's
opponents. The RPI is used to determine seeding for the NCAA
Tournament and is released every two weeks.
Indiana, ranked No. 18 in the NSCAA/adidas poll, currently owns the
top RPI in the country, followed by St. John's (N.Y.), Wake Forest,
Loyola (Md.) and Akron. Saturday's opponent, Ohio State is ranked
38th in the latest RPI index.
Zakuani Continues to Garner National Spotlight With
Exceptional Play
Following his fourth multiple-goal game of the season,
sophomore Steve Zakuani was named to Top Drawer Soccer's
National Team of the Week for the fourth time Monday.
Zakuani was also named Mid-American Conference Player of the Week
for the fifth time, the league office announced. It was the eighth
time in 10 weeks that an Akron player has won or claimed a share of
the award.
Zakuani, a Hermann Trophy candidate, scored a pair of goals while
posting his team-leading sixth game-winner of the year in leading
the Zips to a 2-1 victory over Hartwick in their Mid-American
Conference regular-season finale. The victory completed UA's
seventh undefeated MAC season as Akron ran the table with a 6-0-0
mark.
Zakuani, who enters play as the nation's leader in points and goals
scored, has exceeded lofty expectations this season. After
recording six goals as the MAC's Newcomer of the Year and a
freshman All-American in 2007, the talented forward has taken his
game to an elite level with 17 goals and 39 points in 18 contests
thus far.
The Soccer America preseason All-American was especially hot during
an eight-game stretch during the middle of the season that saw him
find the net 12 times, including the first two hat tricks of his
career. Overall, he has scored in all but seven contests in 2008
while the Zips have played the fifth-most difficult schedule in the
country, according to last week's No. 5 national RPI ranking.
The native of London, England has been named MAC Player of the Week
four other times this year and has developed quite a following on
the national scene as well. Zakuani was named National Player of
the Week by Top Drawer Soccer on Oct. 6 and has been named to
College Soccer News' National Team of the Week three times and
Soccer America's National Team of the Week on two occasions.
Moreover, Zakuani has received rave reviews from a number of
national media outlets, including ESPNSoccernet.com and ESPNU.com,
which recently touted him as the frontrunner of the Hermann Trophy,
considered the highest individual honor in college soccer.
Zakuani Zips up Charts
With the 16th and 17th goals of the year last week,
Zakuani matched MLS star Sinisa Ubiparipovic for sixth place on the
school's single season list. UA's recordholder for most goals
scored in a single season is Pete Milich, who found the net an
astounding 31 times during the 1961 campaign.
With 39 points on the season, Zakuani is two shy of matching
Ubiparipovic and Ross McKenzie for six place on the single-season
chart. Milich also set the school record for points in 1961 with 75
to his name.
Zips Defense Standing Tall
Despite allowing single tallies to Penn State and Hartwick
last week – marking the first time the Zips have allowed goals
in back-to-back games all year, the Akron defense enters play
ranked second in the nation with six goals allowed in 18 contests.
Only No. 2 Creighton has allowed fewer goals (4), though the
Bluejays have played four fewer games (14) entering the week.
Penn State's goal in the 79th minute last Wednesday snapped a
string of 600:12 minutes of scoreless play recorded by the Zips'
defense spanning six contests.
Akron also leads the country with 12 shutouts and is fourth in
Division I with a shutout percentage of 0.67.
Record Watching
Akron is in the midst of one of the best seasons in
program history and is threatening to break a number of school
records. With 12 shutouts and six goals allowed in 18 games (0.32
GAA), the Zips are three shutouts shy of the school record (15) and
are on pace to break the single-season mark for
goals-against-average (0.50). Both records were set during the 2005
campaign.
Moreover, the fewest goals allowed in school history was eight
during the 1958 season. To break this milestone would be an
incredible accomplishment, however, as the '58 club played just 10
games that season.
Zemanski Continues to Serve It Up
Junior Ben Zemanski is ranked 14th in the nation with an
average of 0.50 assists per game. Zemanski has posted at least one
assist in seven of his last 10 contests and leads the team with
nine on the year. Interesting to note is that the Akron native
entered the season with zero assists in 38 career games.
Senior teammate Matt Tutich has also enjoyed a breakout season
setting a career high with eight assists and is ranked 28th
nationally with an assists-per-game average of 0.44. The team
tri-captain entered the year with seven assists for his career.
Season Trends
The Zips are 13-0-1 when scoring first in games, 11-0-0
when leading at halftime and 12-1-1 when they out-shoot their
opponents. UA, which came from behind to defeat Cleveland State
(Sept. 21), has never trailed at halftime this season.
Akron Claims Fourth Straight MAC Regular Season
Championship, Will Host Tournament
By defeating Western Michigan on Oct. 25, the Zips locked
up their fourth consecutive MAC regular season title and will host
the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed at Lee Jackson Field
from Nov. 13-16. Akron has won a league-best 11 regular season
titles since joining the MAC in 1993 and has brought home the
championship trophy in three of the last four MAC Tournaments.
Different from past years, Lee Jackson Field will be the host site
for the MAC quarterfinals as well on Thursday, Nov. 13. The first
game of the day will feature the No. 2 seed versus the No. 7 seed
starting at 11 a.m. and will be followed by the No. 3/No. 6
match-up at 2 p.m. and the No. 4/No. 5 match-up at 5 p.m.
As the top seed of the tournament, Akron will have a bye in the
first round and will play the winner of the No. 4/No. 5 seed game
on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
MAC Dominance
Since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1993, the
Zips have posted an overall mark of 76-10-6 (.859) in league play
while capturing 11 regular season titles and five tournament
championships. UA is undefeated in its last 13 MAC contests
(12-0-1) dating back to the 2006 season and hasn't suffered a
regular-season loss to a conference opponent since a 1-0 setback at
Northern Illinois on Oct. 14, 2006.
Hartwick became the first MAC opponent to score a goal in a
regular-season game against the Zips' defense since the 2006
season. The Hawks recorded their lone goal in the 85th minute
Saturday to prevent UA's 11th consecutive shutout against a league
opponent in the regular season. The Zips out-scored MAC opponents,
19-1, in 2008.
Home Cookin'
Locking up the No. 1 seed for the MAC Tournament was not
only a goal for the team this season, but should be a key factor to
the Zips' postseason aspirations. Akron closed out their home
schedule with a perfect 10-0-0 record this season and have been
defeated just twice in 45 games at Lee Jackson Field since 2005,
posting an outstanding record of 40-2-3 (.922). The two losses came
at the hands of No. 20 Indiana (0-2 in 2006) and South Florida
(0-1, 2OT) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last
year.
During that stretch, the Zips have out-scored their opponents,
115-18 and are allowing an average of just 0.40 goals per game.
Akron is 29-2-2 (.909) at Lee Jackson Field in two-plus seasons
under head coach Caleb Porter.
Akron vs. Ohio State
• Akron will face its fourth and final Big Ten
Conference opponent Friday at Ohio State. The Zips played
then-ranked No. 7 Indiana to a scoreless tie on Aug. 31, defeated
No. 21 Michigan 1-0 on Oct. 22, then tied Penn State 1-1 on Oct.
29.
• UA leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes, 21-6-2,
including a 1-1 tie at Lee Jackson Field last fall. Akron out-shot
OSU, 11-8, and attempted twice as many shots on goal, 6-3, in their
last meeting yet had to play catch-up after the Bucks took a 1-0
lead on an own goal in the first half. Corey
Sipos turned a corner kick by Anthony
Ampaipitakwong into a score in the second half to send the game
into overtime.
• Ohio State, which enters play with a 9-6-2 record, suffered
a 2-1 defeat to Wake Forest in the finals of the NCAA Tournament
last season and is coming off back-to-back losses to Indiana (3-2)
and Michigan (1-0).
• The Buckeyes are 1-0 against teams from the MAC this season
after posting a 1-0 victory over Bowling Green on Oct. 1.
• OSU has out-scored opponents, 24-16, in 2008 and is
averaging 15.1 shots per game. The team is led offensively by Danny
Irizarry, who has recorded six goals and one assists in 17
games.
