Zips domintate #2 Tulsa

[Dr Z]

Source PD

AKRON, Ohio — The Akron Zips put their consensus No. 1 soccer ranking on the line Friday night against No. 2 Tulsa and showed once again that all accolades are justified. So dominant was the Zips' 4-0 victory over the Golden Hurricane that -- save for several shots on goal -- an Akron crowd that was boisterous to begin the game became amazingly quiet most of the second half. Perhaps even the Zips are stunned by their overpowering play.

The Zips (6-0) have defeated teams ranked No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 in the nation by a combined score of 9-0, two of the wins coming on the road, then Tulsa (6-1) before a record 4,744 fans at Lee Jackson Field.

By 12:36 of the first half the Zips were already ahead, 2-0. The first goal was somewhat of a gift as a bullet off the toe of Akron's Kofi Sarkodie from 22-feet went off the head of Tulsa's Blaine Gonsalves, then deflected past the outstretched arms of Tulsa goalie Ray Clark and into the net.

Less than four minutes later, Akron's Michael Nanchoff sent a corner kick into the box, where a pair of Akron deflections landed at the foot of Perry Kitchen. He punched a goal into the net from 5 yards.

"They're very opportunistic," Tulsa coach Tom McIntosh said. "And they are very good on set pieces. They don't need many chances for goals. The problem is we got two goals down, then we had to chase the game. This is not a team you want to chase a game against."

Not only was the normally high-scoring Hurricane without a score, they only had two shots at the Zips, while Akron had eight.

The Hurricane did have two corner kicks to one for Akron in the opening half.

The second half started well for the Zips as they first defended yet another early corner kick from the Hurricane, then scored off a second corner kick for a 3-0 lead. It was extended to 4-0 at the 69:47 mark.

From there on, the main question seemed to be if the Zips' consecutive shutouts streak would be extended to an NCAA record-tying 11. Mission accomplished. The Zips join Furman (2002) and Virginia (2009) at 11 and look to set a new standard Wednesday against Ohio State in Columbus

[Dr Z]

Source bj

There was no doubt who the took the role of aggressor Friday night in college soccer's matchup of the top two men's teams in the nation.

No. 1 University of Akron asserted itself quickly en route to a 4-0 victory over No. 2 Tulsa before a record crowd of 4,744 at Lee Jackson Field.

The Zips (6-0-0) put on a clinic in the first 13 minutes, when junior defender Kofi Sarkodie and freshman midfielder Perry Kitchen each scored to take control of the match, which was televised live nationally.

''It was an incredible night, obviously, for our program and for college soccer to be on Fox Soccer Channel,'' UA coach Caleb Porter said. ''I think to get the result that we got is great, but also to do it with a performance that featured style on the attacking side, quality defending and balance on both sides of the ball is, for me, more impressive.

''I thought it was a very dominant performance against a very good team. They are a well-coached team with some very talented players.''

Sarkodie's goal came in the ninth minute from 22 yards away. His shot deflected off Tulsa junior defender Blaine Gonsalves before going past freshman goalkeeper Ray Clark.

''It is always tough to get four goals against an opponent,'' Sarkodie said. ''We have been training hard all week and today we finished our chances. We defended well and we got the result.''

Kitchen netted his goal in the 13th minute from five yards away. Juniors Michael Nanchoff and Darlington Nagbe each got an assist on the goal. Nanchoff started the play with a corner kick, and Nagbe got a touch on the ball before Kitchen put it past Clark.

''We just came out together as a team, and we started out strong,'' Kitchen said. ''The result shows it.

''We didn't expect to get two goals in the first 13 minutes, but we will take it. It's awfully hard to come back from that.''

Zips freshman forward Darren Mattocks made the score 3-0 in the 50th minute with a goal from six yards away. Senior Anthony Ampaipitakwong got an assist after starting the play with a corner kick.

Ampaipitakwong concluded the scoring in the 70th minute when he netted a goal from eight yards away. Nagbe tallied his second assist of the night on the goal.

Junior Michael Nanchoff and sophomore Scott Caldwell also contributed as starters at midfield for the Zips.

UA shut out its sixth consecutive opponent this season and extended its streak to 11 in a row dating to last season. The Zips are tied for the longest shutout streak in NCAA history with Virginia (2009) and Furman (2002).

Sarkodie, senior Chris Korb and sophomores Zarek Valentin and Chad Barson were the Zips' defensive starters in front of sophomore goalkeeper David Meves.

The Zips, who have not allowed a goal in 1,110 minutes and 59 seconds, held an advantage over the Golden Hurricane (6-1-0) in shots (20-8) and shots on goal (8-1).

Zips sophomores Ben Speas and Thomas Schmitt contributed in reserve roles with freshmen Martin Ontiveros and McKauly Tulloch and junior Michael Balogun.

''This was probably our most complete 90-minute performance against a quality opponent this season,'' Porter said.

[MDZip]

Dr.Z., you starting to come around, man? Hey how awesome would it be to set the NCAA record shutout streak with a victory at OSU? I'd still be happy with the win but that would really be icing on the cake.

[Zip_ME87]

I woke up at about 4 am this morning, in time to watch the entire 2nd half on the Fox Soccer Channel replay (started at 3 am). The broadcast was awesome and everything looked great on tv, but still couldn't compare with being there.

Kudos to Fox Soccer Channel for all of the accolades they showered upon Caleb Porter, our renovated pitch, the game atmosphere, the AK Rowdies (whom they mentioned and panned numerous times...can't even imagine what they were saying in the 1st half), and the especially the team/players. Nice interview with George Nanchoff. Just overall, a very well-done broadcast from what I saw.

EDIT: Speaking of the AK Rowdies, I loved when they mentioned how happy Ray Clark (Tulsa GK) must be to be at the opposite end of the pitch.