The University of Akron Athletics
No. 1 Men's Soccer Holds Off Spartans for 2-1 Win
November 05 | Men's Soccer
AKRON, Ohio - A successful penalty kick by
junior Blair Gavin in the 75th
minute lifted the No. 1 University of Akron men's soccer team to a
2-1 victory over Michigan State Wednesday night at Lee Jackson
Field.
With the game tied at 1-all, freshman midfielder Ben Speas
was pulled down in the right side of the box to set up Gavin's
fourth successful PK in as many tries this year. With the win, the
Zips (17-0-0) stayed perfect on the season and completed a
five-game sweep of the Big Ten Conference.
The Spartans, who were ranked No. 24 in the most recent Soccer
America poll, fell to 10-5-2 on the season after winning the
Big Ten championship a year ago.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game and, in all honesty, this
is what we needed," said UA head coach Caleb Porter. "We have not
faced too many opponents who have tested us - especially when we're
defending.
''We haven't been through much adversity and I think you can tell a
lot about a championship-level team in the moments of
adversity.'
The Zips shot out of the gate and took a 1-0 lead when forward Teal
Bunbury chipped in a shot from 20 yards out following a through
ball from Darlington Nagbe just 3:18
into the game. It was Bunbury's team-leading 15th goal of the
season and the fourth consecutive contest he has found the net at
least once.
UA had a number of other scoring opportunities before halftime -
out-shooting MSU, 9-5 - but couldn't capitalize. Michigan State
made the Zips pay with a goal of its own in the 39th minute when
Tim Granaderos put the ball into the left corner following a
scramble in front of the net. Rubin Bega fed Granaderos the ball
shortly after MSU's lone corner kick of the evening.
It was the first time Akron had allowed a goal in the first half
all season - snapping a string of 28 straight contests, dating back
to October of 2008.
"I felt that after we scored our first goal, we went on cruise
control for whatever reason," Porter said. "There have been several
games this year where that has happened, but our opponents haven't
been able to punish us."
The Zips turned up the intensity in the second half, however, and
had MSU on their heels. With possession for the large majority of
the time, UA methodically broke the Spartans down despite facing a
packed backfield while also twarting MSU's numerous counterattack
chances.
"I told our team at halftime that our edge will always be our
ability to defend, invidually and collectively, better than the
other team," Porter said. "We are a good attacking team, but we
have to defend with equal intensity. There are a lot of good
attacking teams out there, but there are very few attacking teams
that also commit to defending as much as our players do."
UA took the message to heart and didn't allow a shot on goal in the
second half. For the contest, Akron owned advantages over Michigan
State in shots (16-6), shots on goal (8-2) and corner kicks
(3-1).
Speas delivered the big blow by streaking down the right side of
the field and drawing contact in the box. The true freshman was
starting in place of third-year sophomore Michael Nanchoff, who
was held out of the game due to an injury.
"We're a deep team and we don't revolve around one player," Porter
said. "We missed Mikey and his playmaking ability tonight but I
thought Ben came in and did a tremendous job helping us win this
game."
The Zips will conclude the regular season at home Saturday night
against Hartwick at 7:30 p.m. UA's four seniors C.J.
Kaufman, Stefan Ostergren, Ivan
Sandoval and Ben Zemanski will be
recognized prior to the match as part of Senior Night.
Zips Notebook: Despite allowing a first half goal,
the Zips extended their streak to 53 games since it last trailed at
halftime ... UA is 22-0-1 in its last 23 games versus Michigan
State ... Wednesday night's game represented the first meeting
between the two schools since 1993 ... Akron out-scored its Big Ten
opponents 14-2 this season while also posting victories against
Indiana (1-0), Ohio State (3-0), Michigan (5-1) and Penn State
(3-0) ... The Zips are 9-1-3 versus schools from the Big Ten since
2007.
