The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Soccer Tops South Florida in Exhibition, 3-1
August 22 | Men's Soccer
AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron men's
soccer team breezed to a 3-1 victory over visiting South Florida in
an exhibition match in front of 1,756 fans Friday night at Lee
Jackson Field.
The Zips, who are ranked No. 1 in the nation by Top Drawer
Soccer, No. 3 by the NSCAA and No. 6 by College
Soccer News, dominated the stat sheet, outshooting the Bulls
16-3, including an 8-1 edge on shots on goal. South Florida is
ranked No. 11 in the NSCAA poll and No. 13 by CSN.
"It's a good start for us considering that we've only have four
days of training," said UA head coach Caleb Porter. "I was real
pleased with the looks we had offensively and even thought we could
have scored more than we did. We were very effective in the final
third."
After a tentative start by both teams, UA took control about 10
minutes into the contest. In a four-minute time span, the Zips
fired off three shots - two by sophomore Teal Bunbury that
sailed high and a header by Darlington Nagbe that went
wide off a perfectly-placed cross from Kofi Sarkodie - but were
denied each time. But the momentum of the game had clearly shifted
into UA's favor.
Bunbury was especially active in the early going and finished with
four shots overall. "Teal was a handful all night," Porter
said.
Not to be denied, the Zips kept the pressure on and Nagbe put UA on
top, 1-0, in the 21st minute. Following a free kick, Nagbe
corralled a loose ball in the center of the box and sent it past
the keeper from 12 yards out. Nagbe matched Bunbury with a
team-high four shots on the night.
"I thought Darlington was tremendous tonight," Porter said. "He is
a special player and has the potential to be one of the best
players in nation."
USF pulled even in the 32nd minute when Felipe Libreros pushed the
ball past true freshman goalkeeper David Meves after a fine
cross from Bernardo Anor.
"We had a little lapse on defense and gave up what I thought was a
soft goal," Porter said. "But we'll look at the film and address
that. I was very happy, however, with the way we responded."
UA wasted little time regaining the lead. Sarkodie, who also
recevied praise from Porter following the game, lofted a
perfectly-placed ball from mid-field that found Nagbe, who was
streaking towards the goal. USF had little recourse but to foul the
speedy sophomore in the box and Blair Gavin made the Bulls
pay by connecting on the subsequent penalty kick to give the Zips a
2-1 lead at the intermission.
Akron didn't relinquish its intensity in the second stanza,
out-shooting USF 9-2, and rolled to the victory. Third-year
sophomore Michael Nanchoff, who was a
medical redshirt in 2008, provided the final margin of the game in
the 88th minute with a goal from six yards out that was assisted by
Bunbury.
"Overall, I was happy with the way we played tonight against a
top-15 program and a quality opponent," Porter said. "I was also
really pleased with the play of our freshmen. Specifically, Ben
Speas, who started the second half, showed that he can really
make an impact."
Porter also singled out team co-captains Ben Zemanski and Blair
Gavin for "controlling the middle of the field." As for the
huge turnout in the stands?
"We have outstanding support here at Akron and the people in the
stands and the AK-Rowdies are big reasons why we play so well at
home," Porter said. "Their support makes a huge difference."
The Zips will play one more exhibition contest next weekend when
they travel to Ft. Wayne, Ind. to take on Wisconsin before
officially kicking off the 2009 season against SMU at the Tulsa
Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. on Sept. 4.
