The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Soccer To Conclude Road Swing At Michigan State Wednesday
October 30 | Men's Soccer
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AKRON, Ohio – The No. 2 University of Akron men's soccer team will play its final road match of the regular season Wednesday at Michigan State. The Zips and Spartans will kick off at 3 p.m. (ET) at DeMartin Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.
UA, which is 4-0 versus the Big Ten this season, will be looking to sweep its regular-season schedule against the conference for the third time under head coach Caleb Porter. The Zips were 5-0 during the regular season against the Big Ten in 2009 and 4-0 in 2010 (UA would finish 5-0 overall against the Big Ten overall after defeating Indiana 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament).
There will be no video stream for Wednesday's match but fans can follow the live stats at MSUSpartans.com or receive in-game updates via Twitter at @ZipsMSoc.
Match #17: No. 2 Akron Zips (13-1-2) at Michigan State Spartans (8-7-1)
Date/Time: Oct. 31, 2012 • 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Venue: DeMartin Stadium • East Lansing, Mich.
Match Notes: Akron at Michigan State (PDF)
Televison: None • Radio: None
Live Stats: MSUSpartans.com • Video Stream: None
Poll Position
• For the second straight week, the Zips are ranked No. 2 in the nation behind Maryland (14-0-2) – according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). UA received three first-place votes.
• UA is also ranked No. 2 in three of the remaining four major polls, including Soccer America, Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News. As of Tuesday morning, the Soccer Times poll had not yet been released.
• Akron is ranked No. 4 in the latest NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). The RPI is a mathematical formula designed to objectively compare results and strength of schedule and is used by the NCAA to help determine the 48-team field for the postseason tournament.
Porter vs. The Big Ten
• UA is 21-6-5 (.734) all-time versus teams from the Big Ten under Coach Porter, who played and coached at Indiana prior to arriving on campus in 2006.
• During that time, the Zips have out-scored their competition, 55-22.
• Akron's record against the league has been even more impressive recently as the Zips are a combined 17-2-1 (.875) versus the conference since 2009.
About Michigan State
• The Spartans (8-7-1, 3-2-0 Big Ten) have won three straight matches and six of their last eight, including a 3-1 upset over No. 16 Indiana Sunday in East Lansing, and enter the week tied with the Hoosiers for third place in the Big Ten Conference. It has been quite a turnaround for MSU, which was 3-5-2 prior to its recent hot streak.
• Including its win against IU, Michigan State is 1-3 versus schools ranked in the NSCAA top 25 this season. MSU suffered setbacks to UCONN (1-0), Notre Dame (2-0) and Marquette (2-1).
• In addition to Notre Dame and Indiana, Michigan State has shared a number of other opponents with Akron in 2012, including Bowling Green (W, 2-1), Western Michigan (W, 2-1), Ohio State (W, 2-1) and Penn State (L, 2-1).
• Six of the Spartans' seven losses have been one-goal decisions, including three overtime defeats.
• The Spartans, who are 4-4-1 on their home field this fall, are led in scoring by sophomore Adam Montague, who has tallied four goals and four assists in 16 starts.
• Freshman goalkeeper Zach Bennett has started the last six matches for MSU, posting a 5-1 record and GAA of 0.67. He relieved junior netminder Bryce Dobbins (2-6-1, 1.22 GAA), who made the first 10 starts of the season.
Michigan State Series Notes
• Wednesday's match represents the 37th all-time meeting between the Zips and Spartans in a series that dates back to 1962. UA, which won 21 straight matches against MSU from 1970-92, leads the all-time series 24-11-1.
• The Spartans defeated the Zips for the first time since 1969 last fall with a 1-0 win at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field. The setback snapped Akron's NCAA record-setting run of 48 consecutive unbeaten contests on its home field, which began in 2008.
• It was an unlucky result for the Zips, who had out-shot the Spartans 17-5 for the match and 14-4 in the second half alone. Rubin Bega recorded the game-winner in the 87th minute.
• Akron earned a 1-0 victory in its last match at Michigan State in 2010. The Zips out-shot the Spartans 14-3 that day and Darren Mattocks recorded the game-winner in the 52nd minute. UA is 11-5-1 all-time vs. MSU on the road and at neutral sites.
Zips Reset
• Akron scored a pair of goals in each half to take care of Hartwick Saturday in a win that clinched the program's eighth consecutive Mid-American Conference regular-season championship.
• The Zips out-shot the Hawks 18-3 overall and 12-0 on frame in the lopsided victory. Eric Stevenson netted the game-winner just 105 seconds into the game at UA never looked back.
• Chad Barson, Reinaldo Brenes and Alfred Koroma also found the back of the net for the Zips while Dillon Serna and Robbie Derschang each contributed a pair of assists.
• For their efforts, Barson and Brenes were named to National Teams of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News Monday.
The Department of Defense
• With 12 shutouts in 16 matches, the Zips are tied with North Carolina for the highest shutout percentage (0.75) in the nation. UA has recorded a clean sheet against 10 of its last 11 opponents, including a run of eight straight from Sept. 14 to Oct. 16, and has allowed just one goal over its last 1,001:30 of play.
• Including their shutout streak, which ranks as the 10th-longest in NCAA Division I history, the Zips compiled 713 scoreless minutes over a 10-game period from Sept. 7 to Oct. 20. UA matched the NCAA's all-time consecutive shutouts record with 11th straight clean sheets in 2011.
• Akron has also allowed just six goals in 16 matches this season, which represents the second lowest total in the country. Only UNC has allowed fewer (4) through the same number of contests.
• A key to this Zips' success this season has been the exceptional play of senior goalkeeper David Meves, who became the school's all-time shutouts leader last week with the 49th clean sheet of his career. Meves, who recorded the 50th shutout of his career against Hartwick, is also the school's career leader in minutes played (8,048) and wins (72).
• Since 2006, Akron has shut out its opponent 94 times in 152 contests – or 61.8 percent of the time – while limiting opponents to one goal or less 135 times (88.8 percent).
Akron On The Attack
• The Zips enter the week ranked seventh in the nation in scoring offense (2.31 goals per match) and total goals (37).
• Individually, Brenes, who entered the season with just one goal in his first two years at UA, has broken out in a big way with a team-leading 10 goals, including four game-winners, in 14 games in 2012. The native of Costa Rico is currently ranked 18th in the country with an average of .71 goals per game and 22nd in points per match (1.57) with 22 (10 G, 2 A).
• Even more remarkable has been the fact that Brenes has scored all 10 goals in his last eight games, beginning with his first career hat trick in a 4-0 win against Buffalo on Sept. 29. In all, he has found the back of the net in each of the Zips' last three matches and scored at least one goal in seven of his last eight.
• A key to the Zips' success this season and in years past has been their ability to draw first blood. Akron has out-scored opponents 21-1 in the first half in 2012 and is now 108-3-4 (.957) when scoring first since 2006. Moreover, UA is 80-2-2 (.964) when it leads at halftime and 88-1-3 (.973) when it scores two or more goals during that time.
• Along those lines, Akron has scored 18 goals in the first 30 minutes of matches this season, including seven in the first 15 minutes of play. Conversely, the only school to find the net in the first half against the Zips in 2012 was Creighton, which netted a goal in the 24th minute but settled for a draw when Alfred Koroma recorded the equalizer in the 57th minute.
