Written by: Sartaj Aujla

Akron women’s soccer continues to struggle for wins as the season winds down. The Zips fell to both Ohio University and Kent State over the weekend.

They fall to 4-9-0, and are on an unfortunate seven-game losing streak.

“They were two different types of games, in terms of competitiveness and energy,” said interim head coach Vernon Croft. “We are all disappointed we didn’t get the results we wanted.”

The Zips have come close in the past five games, losing each by only one point. They hoped that they would get a much-needed win this past weekend.

On Friday, the Zips traveled to Athens, Ohio to take on the Bobcats. The Zips struggled at the beginning of the game and were able to squeeze in a few shots, but came up short.

Bobcat Liz Finley brought the score to 1-0 with a free kick. The score was the same going into the locker rooms for halftime, at which point Ohio also had the lead in attempted shots.

“Friday, we started off sloppy,” Croft said.

The Zips continued to play sloppily, both offensively and defensively. Ohio’s Holly Harris scored the game’s next two points consecutively, in the 73rd and 74th minutes, and brought the score 3-0.

The Zips answered with a fierce kick from Amber Kern that found nothing but net and brought the score to 3-1.

Akron’s Ashley Hughes then delivered a kick to bring the score 3-2, with five minutes left. But those five minutes would not be enough for Akron; they fell to Ohio 3-0.

Disappointed by the loss, Akron returned to FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet field looking to prove themselves, especially with rival Kent State coming to town.

The Zips started out fast and aggressive. A goal delivered by Ashley Hughes brought the score to 1-0.

The Zips shut out the Golden Flashes offense for the first half of play, and Kent State entered the locker rooms upset.

“The fact that we went up one-nothing at the half, it says a lot about our players’ mentality of not quitting,” Croft said. “Especially with the downs of being on a losing streak, and the loss to Ohio, we were able to come into this game ready to compete.”

Kent State entered the second half looking to match Akron’s competitiveness. Neither team scored in the early minutes. Kent State, though, would finally find their way to the scoreboard as Jaclyn Dutton lead the ball into the net to even the score 1-1.

Akron answered back minutes later as Ashley Hughes scored on a penalty kick to bring the score back in Akron’s favor, 2-1.

A minute before the game ended, Jaclyn Dutton once again came through for the Flashes and scored on her own penalty kick to bring the game to overtime, 2-2.

The game went to double-overtime and Golden Flash Morgan Mah ended the game, 3-2.

This was Akron’s ninth loss of the season; they are now in a seven-game losing streak.

After the tough weekend, coach Croft looks to inspire his team to not give up.

“We will continue to stress to compete, keeping a fierce mentality, believing in yourself and your teammates,” Croft said. “We are a good team. We just need to get some results. I believe it’ll only take one result to get this going.”