The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Soccer To Begin Postseason Journey Friday In MAC Semifinal
November 14 | Men's Soccer
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MAC Championship Central | Zips Athletics To Host NCAA Selection Watch Party Monday
AKRON, Ohio – Winners of five of the past six Mid-American Conference Tournament championships, the No. 8 University of Akron men's soccer team will begin postseason play Friday night in the second of two league semifinal matches at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field.
Top-seeded Akron, which claimed its ninth-consecutive MAC regular season crown last weekend, will face fourth-seeded West Virginia at 7 p.m. ET.
Match #19: No. 8 Akron Zips (14-3-1) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (7-6-5)
Date/Time: Nov. 15, 2013 • 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field • Akron, Ohio
Match Notes: MAC Semifinal - Akron vs. West Virginia (PDF)
Television: None • Radio: None
Live Stats: GoZips.com • Video Stream: MAC-Sports.com (Free)
Tracking The Zips
• Zips Athletics will provide live stats and a free video stream for all three MAC Tournament matches this weekend.
• Follow @ZipsMSoc on Twitter on Twitter for Akron updates throughout the weekend.
MAC Tournament Schedule
Fri., Nov. 15: Semifinal 1 - No. 2 Western Michigan vs. No. 3 Hartwick, 4 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 15: Semifinal 2 - No. 1 Akron vs. No. 4 West Virginia, 7 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 17: Final - Semifinal 1 Winner vs. Semifinal 2 Winner, 1 p.m.
Ticket Information
• Reserved ($15) and General Admission ($10) tickets are on sale now for all three matches.
• Students of all four participating schools will be admitted free of charge with valid ID at Gate 2.
• Family Plans ($35) are also available and include a combination of two adult and two youth tickets or one adult and three youth tickets.
• A single ticket grants fans access to both semifinal matches Friday.
• To purchase your ticket, click on GoZips.com/Tickets, call 1-888-99-AKRON (25766) or visit the C.P. and Cornelia S. Chima Athletics Ticket Office at InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field (located at the southwest corner of the venue, near Gate 1, at the corner of East Exchange and South Union streets).
• Tickets may also be purchased at Gate 1 of FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field. Sales will begin at 3 p.m. Friday and 12 p.m. Sunday.
Parking Advisory
• Parking is free for the MAC Tournament.
• Soccer fans are strongly encouraged to use the Exchange Street Parking Deck (205 E. Exchange St.) and the South Campus Parking Deck (261 E. Exchange St.) Friday as many of the campus lots will be used for fans attending the Highland vs. Massillon high school football regional semifinal at InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field and the Zips volleyball match against Bowling Green at James A. Rhodes Arena. Highland and Massillon will kick off at 7:30 p.m. while the Zips and Falcons will get started at 7 p.m.
Zips Reset
• The Zips captured their ninth-consecutive MAC Regular Season Championship in dramatic fashion last Saturday afternoon at Western Michigan.
• With a one-point lead in the standings going into the match, UA needed a win to secure the title and the right to host this weekend's MAC Tournament. Reinaldo Brenes gave UA a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute but Oliver Mayer found the late equalizer for the Broncos, who were seeking to claim their program's first MAC Regular Season crown with a win or draw, with 10 minutes left in the second half.
• With just six minutes remaining in the second overtime period, Robbie Derschang bagged the Golden Goal to win the match for UA, 2-1, and bring the MAC Tournament to Akron.
• Fueling the Zips to the win was freshman Adam Najem, who assisted both goals. His five helpers on the season lead the team.
Akron At The MAC Tournament
• The Zips will be making their 20th consecutive appearance at the MAC Tournament this weekend. Akron owns an all-time record of 23-8-5 (.708) at the league championship since 1994.
• UA leads all league members with nine MAC Tournament titles and has brought home the trophy seven times since 2004.
• As the No. 1 seed, Akron has been the host site for the MAC Tournament each year since 2007. The MAC Tourney was held in Northern Illinois in 2006 after the Zips and Huskies shared the regular-season title.
• Akron has advanced to the championship match of the MAC Tournament in eight of the last nine seasons.
Akron Versus The MAC
• The Zips finished the year with a 5-1-0 mark in league play and improved their record to 34-1-0 (.971) versus the conference during the regular season since 2008.
• Akron saw its NCAA record-setting conference unbeaten streak snapped at 49 matches (46-0-3) with a 2-0 set back to Hartwick at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field on Oct. 5.
• UA now leads all conference members with 16 regular-season championships. For comparison sake, Kentucky – which competed in the MAC from 1995-2004 – is ranked second with four regular-season titles.
About Akron
• The Zips are unbeaten in their last eight matches (7-0-1) and have been defeated just once (11-1-1) since Sept. 15.
• UA enters the week ranked No. 8 in the NSCAA national poll and No. 18 in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
• After scoring more than one goal in a contest just four times through the first 14 matches of the season, UA has recorded two goals in each of its last four.
• Derschang's elevated play has been a key factor during this recent run. The former SMU transfer, who had scored two goals in his first 47 games at UA, has essentially willed the Zips to wins with four goals – including three game winners – in his last four contests. Derschang's hot streak was sparked by a position change from left back to left striker prior to Akron's match against Northern Illinois.
• Akron's possession-style attack has provided opposing teams very few scoring chances this season. As a unit, the Zips are ranked ninth in the nation with a goals-against-average (GAA) of 0.62 and 27th with a shutout percentage of 0.44.
• UA has displayed a flair for dramatics in 2013 with half (7) of its wins coming on game-winning goals after the 75th minute of play. Moreover, with Derschang's game winner at WMU, the Zips improved to 4-1-1 in double-overtime games.
• Along those lines, all but three of Akron's 18 games have been decided by one goal this season. The Zips are 13-2 in that scenario. A 2-0 win at the College of Charleston in the season opener stands as UA's only win by more than one goal.
• While Akron is averaging just 1.28 goals per game this fall (4th in MAC, 94th in NCAA), the team has benefited from a number of masterful performances by individuals as four different Zips have recorded more than one goal in a match. Derschang (at Michigan; Oct. 30), Adam Najem (at Cleveland St.; Oct. 9), Aodhan Quinn (vs. Penn St.; Nov. 6) and Eric Stevenson (vs. San Diego St.; Sept. 6) have each recorded two-goal games in 2013.
• Akron is led in points (13) by Najem, a true freshman midfielder. The New Jersey native is tied for second on the team for goals scored with four in addition to pacing the Zips with five assists. Moreover, four of his five helpers have led directly to game-winning goals, including both of Derschang's winning strikes against Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
About West Virginia
• The Mountaineers clinched the fourth and final spot for the MAC Tournament by way of a 3-3 draw against Bowling Green last weekend in Morgantown. WVU had to rally back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to do so after out-shooting BGSU 22-15 overall and 9-4 on net.
• The WVU attack features the league's top goal scorer in junior forward Andy Bevin, who enters postseason play with nine goals on the year. As a team, West Virginia averages 1.56 goals per contest, which is also tops in the MAC.
• West Virginia has recorded 42 assists on 28 goals this fall. Its average of 2.33 helpers per game is third-highest in the country.
• While the Mountaineers have scored a lot of goals, they have also conceded 23 in 18 matches. Junior goalkeeper Lee Johnston has started all but two contests, logging 1,558 minutes and a goals-against-average of 1.16.
• West Virginia, which is 1-2 versus nationally-ranked foes and 2-3-1 on the road this fall, is unbeaten in its last six matches (2-0-4).
West Virginia Series Notes
• Friday's game will represent the 14th all-time meeting between the Zips and Mountaineers. Akron leads the series with a record of 10-2-1 (.807) dating back to the 1966 season.
• UA has won seven straight matches against WVU, including a 1-0 result in Morgantown in September. Brenes scored the game winner in just the fifth minute of play and Akron held on for the win while out-shooting West Virginia 14-10 overall and 7-3 on goal.
• Friday will also represent the first meeting between the Zips and Mountaineers in the MAC Tournament and the third meeting overall in postseason play. UA defeated WVU 5-0 in 2005 and 3-2 in 2010 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Both games were played in Akron.
• Akron is 8-1 all-time against West Virginia on its home field.
About The Field
• Second-seeded Western Michigan (8-8-1, 4-1-1) had a chance to claim its first MAC Regular Season Champion with a win or draw against Akron last weekend. The Broncos are the last team to eliminate the Zips from the MAC Tournament and did so in 2011. After the teams played to a 1-all draw at the end of the second overtime period, WMU advanced on penalty kicks, 4-3.
• Third-seeded Hartwick (5-8-4, 3-2-1) handed Akron its first defeat in league play since 2006, snapping an NCAA-record string of 49 consecutive unbeaten matches, in a 2-0 decision at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field in October.
