The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Soccer Gears Up For NCAA Quarterfinal Match vs. Cal
December 03 | Men's Soccer
AKRON, Ohio -
The third-seeded University of Akron men's soccer team, which has been defeated just once during the regular run of play in its last 47 matches, will host sixth-seeded California Saturday at Lee R. Jackson Soccer Field in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Zips and Golden Bears will kick off at 4 p.m. (ET)
NCAA TOURNAMENT Quarterfinals: No. 3 Seed Akron Zips
(20-1-1) vs. No. 6 Seed California Golden Bears
(14-2-3)
Saturday, Dec. 4 • 4:00 p.m. (ET) | Lee R. Jackson Soccer
Field • Akron, Ohio
Radio: None. | Television: None.
| Internet Stream: Zips Zone (Free) | Live
Stats: GoZips.com
NCAA Tournament All-Access
• General admission tickets are on sale now for Saturday's
match and can be purchased for $10 (adult) and $5 (youth; ages
3-14). To purchase your tickets, go online via the ticketing page
on GoZips.com, call 1-888-99-AKRON (25766) or stop
by the ticket table on the day of the game.
• GoZips.com will offer live stats as well as a live video
stream, both free of charge.
Akron At The NCAA Tournament
• The Zips will be competing in the NCAA quarterfinals for
the second consecutive season - and fourth time in school history -
Saturday. UA defeated Tulsa, 1-0, at Lee R. Jackson Soccer Field in
the Elite Eight last year.
• The Zips are currently competing in their 25th NCAA
Tournament, dating back to 1961, where they own an all-time record
of 14-23-3 (.388). Akron has fared significantly better since the
arrival of fifth-year head coach Caleb
Porter, the 2009 NSCAA National Coach of the Year, however with
a 6-3-1 (.650) mark since 2006.
• UA is 6-1-0 in NCAA Tournament games at home under Porter
and has won six straight dating back to the 2008 season. The only
team to defeat the Zips at home in the NCAA Tournament was South
Florida in a 1-0, double-overtime heartbreaker during Porter's
second season in 2007.
• Akron is also 2-0 all-time in NCAA quarterfinal games at
home and 2-1 overall. In addition to taking down Tulsa last season,
UA defeated Penn State, 2-1, in overtime at Lee R. Jackson Soccer
Field in 1986 in the Round of Eight.
• UA is making its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA
Tournament under Porter. The Zips have earned first-round byes all
four years and have advanced to the Round of 16 in each of the last
three.
• Porter led Akron all the way to the national championship
game in 2009 - marking the Zips' second ever appearance in the NCAA
final. UA, which has never won a team national championship in any
sport, also advanced to the final in 1986 where it was defeated by
Duke, 1-0.
• A win Saturday would send the Zips back to the College Cup
for the second straight year and for the third time in school
history.
• Akron's No. 3 seed represents the second-highest
designation achieved in school history and the sixth time the Zips
have been seeded overall. UA was the No. 1 seed in 2009, No. 5 in
2008, No. 14 in 2007, No. 9 in 2005 and No. 15 in 2003.
About California
• The sixth-seeded Golden Bears (14-2-3), champions of the
PAC 10, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory over Brown
last Sunday to match the school's deepest run at the NCAA
Tournament.
• Cal has a veteran squad led by seven seniors and brings a
6-0-2 road record to Akron Saturday. The Bears have yet to trail in
a road match this season and are 3-0-1 against ranked-opponents on
the road in 2010.
• The Zips and Bears share just one common opponent in
Indiana. Cal earned a 2-1, double-overtime victory in Bloomington
in its first game of the season.
• The Bears have played a number of close games this season
as 11 of their 19 matches have gone into overtime and 10 have been
decided by one goal. Cal is 6-2-3 in overtime games and 8-2-0 in
contests decided by one goal.
• Both of the Bears' losses came at home against Saint Mary's
(1-2, 2OT) and then-ranked No. 13 UCLA (0-1, 2OT).
• 25 players from Cal's 26-man roster are from California
(reserve goalkeeper Justin Taillole is from Arizona). The Bears
made one trip east this season (to the adidas IU Credit Union
Classic in September) but have not have not left the west coast
since.
• Saturday's game will mark the first ever meeting between
Akron and Cal.
Coach Talk
• UA head coach Caleb
Porter shared his thoughts on Saturday's match:
• "Cal is a well coached and organized team with one of the
top goalkeeper's in the country from what we hear. On the attacking
side, they are also a technical team that looks to play, which
should make for a quality match. They have a good record and have
been in a lot of tight games against strong opponents. On the
season they have only given up 14 goals and have been in 11
overtime matches, which shows they have been capable of grinding
out results all year."
• "Although I'm not sure they have seen an opponent that
plays exactly like Akron and has as much talent as we do, over the
last several years we have proven to be a very difficult team to
play against especially for the first time. Our style of play is
hard to prepare for until you actually experience it firsthand. The
same goes for playing at Lee Jackson (Field). With the intimacy of
our crowd on three and a half sides and the AK Rowdies on the berm,
it creates an atmosphere for opponents to deal with that is unlike
any other. For this game we are expecting a record crowd and I know
our supporters will be extra motivated to help us finish the home
schedule undefeated again."
• "These are things that Cal will be well aware of and I
expect Coach Grimes to have his team tactically organized and ready
to give us their best shot. The bottom line is our team is on a
mission right now to get to Santa Barbara and they want this
national championship very badly. We are 90 minutes away from
getting back to the College Cup for the second consecutive year and
I am confident you will see a group that refuses to lose on
Saturday."
Defending the Home Front
• UA is unbeaten in its last 38 home matches (37-0-1), -
including conference tournaments and postseason play - which is the
longest active streak in the nation and matches the second-longest
in NCAA history. With a win Saturday, the Zips would match Tulsa,
which won 39 straight home games from 1988-92, for the NCAA
record.
• But that's not the only milestone Akron is chasing as it
has now won 27 consecutive matches (including conference
tournaments and postseason play) at home, dating back to 2008. This
is tied for third on the NCAA's all-time list.
• With a win Saturday, the Zips would move into sole
possession of third place in the record book.
• The Zips are 12-0 at home this season where they have
out-scored opponents 37-6.
• Akron is 55-2-3 (.942) in 60 games at Lee Jackson Field
under Caleb
Porter. The last team to defeat the Zips on their home field
was South Florida (1-0, 2OT) in the second round of the 2007 NCAA
Tournament.
• UA is 7-0 against top-25 teams (NSCAA) at home since the
start of the 2009 season including postseason matches. The Zips
defeated No. 2 Tulsa (4-0) and No. 9 Creighton (1-0) by a combined
score of 5-0 this season.
Zips Reset
• Behind a pair of second-half goals, both coming in a
two-minute span, third-seeded Akron took down 14th-seeded Indiana,
2-1, last Sunday in front of 3,225 fans at Lee R. Jackson Soccer
Field to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second straight
year.
• Leading the charge for UA was freshman striker Darren
Mattocks, who played a key part in both Akron goals against the
Hoosiers (10-8-2).
• A give-and-go between Mattocks and Michael
Nanchoff produced the game's first goal in the 53rd minute.
After receiving a pass from Nanchoff amid a cluster of defenders,
Mattocks delivered a quick touch pass back to Nanchoff, who slipped
the ball past IU goalkeeper Luis Soffner just inside the far post
to give the Zips a 1-0 lead.
• Then, in a flash, Mattocks made the Hoosiers pay for a
mishap just one minute and eight seconds later when he intercepted
a short pass from Soffner intended for an Indiana defender and beat
the keeper for his team-leading 18th goal of the year.
Mattocks On The Attack
• First-year striker Darren
Mattocks continues to establish himself as one of the most
dangerous scorers in the nation. Among freshmen nationwide,
Mattocks, who has tallied 18 goals in 22 matches (0.82 goals per
game), trails just one player in scoring - Michigan's Soony Saad,
who has 19 goals in 22 games (0.86).
• Among all scorers, Mattocks is tied for third nationally
with 18 goals, one behind Michigan's Soony Saad and two behind
Division I leader Corey Hertzog. Hertzog's Penn State team was
eliminated from the NCAA Tournament last weekend by Maryland in a
1-0 decision.
• Mattocks has been on an incredible run lately with six
goals and two assists in his last four games - all coming during
the postseason. The Jamaican striker scored a goal and assisted
another in UA's MAC semifinal game against Buffalo then scored two
goals in back-to-back games in the MAC Final against Western
Michigan and the NCAA Tournament Second Round match-up with West
Virginia. The freshman stayed hot with a goal and an assist against
Indiana last weekend.
• To put Mattocks' achievement into perspective, former UA
players and current Major League Soccer stars Steve
Zakuani, who was a finalist for the Hermann Trophy in 2008, and
Teal
Bunbury, who won the award in 2009, each recorded six goals
during their entire freshman campaigns with the Zips.
• Mattocks' current goal total has already surpassed
Bunbury's tally from a year ago, which led all Division I
scorers.
• Moreover, many of Mattocks' goals this season have been
game changers as he has netted a team-high six game-winners. He was
denied what would have been a seventh game-winner at Ohio State
when the Buckeyes tied the match with two seconds left in
regulation.
• Mattocks enjoyed a torrid streak from the end of September
to the middle of October when he scored nine goals in an eight-game
stretch, including game-winners in back-to-back contests at Oakland
and at Northern Illinois.
Dominant Soccer
• The Zips entered the week ranked No. 2 in the nation in
scoring offense (2.64 goals/game) and No. 4 in
goals-against-average (0.54). They are one of just two schools in
the country to be ranked in the top eight for both categories.
Maryland is the top scoring team in the nation (2.68) and is tied
with UA for fourth in goals-against-avaerage (0.54).
• Akron has excelled at drawing first blood in games under Caleb
Porter. In fact, the Zips have scored first 83 times in 110
all-time games (75.5 percent) since 2006 and are 81-1-1 (.982) when
doing so.
• Along those lines, the Zips have trailed in just four games
this season (at Ohio State, at Penn State, at Cleveland State and
at Hartwick) for a combined total of 28 minutes and 23
seconds.
• Akron, which has yet to trail at home in 2010, trailed the
Buckeyes for 8:25 before earning a 2-2 draw and the Nittany Lions
for 1:04 before claiming a 2-1 double-overtime victory. The Zips
then trailed Cleveland State twice for a combined 9:29 before
falling 2-1 on Oct. 30 and trailed Hartwick for 9:25 before scoring
two goals to defeat the Hawks on Nov. 6.
• In fact, UA has trailed in just six games since the start
of the 2009 season - a span of 47 games and 4,366 minutes and
counting - for a combined total of 72 minutes and seven seconds.
Coincidentally, half of those games have been against Hartwick.
Did You Know?
• Including postseason contests, Akron is 15-6-4 (.680)
all-time against top-25 teams (NSCAA) under head coach Caleb
Porter, including 13-2-3 (.806) since 2008.
• The Zips are 81-1-1 (.982) when scoring first and 57-0-0
(1.000) when leading at halftime since 2006. UA is also 65-0-1
(.992) when scoring two or more goals in a game during that
time.
• Since 2008, UA has posted an overall record of 60-4-6
(.900) and a 16-0-1 (.970) mark in MAC play while winning the last
three league regular-season and tournament championships. During
that time, Akron has posted 46 shutouts in 70 contests while
allowing more than one goal just five times.
• Akron has out-scored its opponents 58-12 this season,
including a 27-3 margin in the first half.
• 12 different players have scored at least one goal for the
Zips in 2010. On top of that, five have contributed four or more
goals.
• Nine different players have contributed game-winning goals
this fall. Mattocks leads the team with six.
• Akron matched an NCAA record with 23 consecutive wins in
2009 and advanced to the national championship game for the second
time in school history.
