“The University of Akron’s men’s soccer team improved to (14-0-0) with a 5-1 win over the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten conference. Forward Darlington Nagbe recorded a hat trick and also landed an assist in the win. The first half was dominated by the Zips as they scored three times by two separate players.”
“

The University of Akron’s men’s soccer team improved to (14-0-0) with a 5-1 win over the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten conference.

Forward Darlington Nagbe recorded a hat trick and also landed an assist in the win.

The first half was dominated by the Zips as they scored three times by two separate players.

In the 31st minute, Nagbe and defender Kofi Sarkodie assisted forward Teal Bunbury, putting the Zips up 1-0.

The goal was Bunbury’s 11th of the season.

In the 35th minute Nagbe put in his first goal of the match through the Michigan defense.

Almost exactly one minute later, midfielder Ben Speas sent a ball into Nagbe and he put the ball into the corner of the net.

Nagbe’s goal was the end of scoring for the half.

Akron finished the half leading in shots at 8-4 and also corner kicks at a count of 1-0.

The second half started out with a quick goal by Michigan’s Justin Meram. It was Meram’s seventh goal on the year.

With the score 3-1 in favor of the Zips, Akron made a push for another goal.

In the 52nd minute, defender Chris Korb and midfielder Ben Zemanski assisted midfielder Michael Nanchoff on his 5th goal of the year and third goal in his last four matches.

Scoring was rounded out for the Zips in the 63rd minute when Nagbe was assisted by forward Yoram Mwila for his third goal of the game.

The goal was Nagbe’s 7th on the year.

Nagbe finished with three goals and one assist for the game.

We knew this would be more of an open soccer game and I thought our attacking group was electric today, head coach Caleb Porter said. We still can learn some lessons from this game even with such a lopsided result. The nice thing is this team continues to elevate their performance in relation to their potential and because of that they are growing while winning.

The Zips will now travel up north to face the Buffalo Bulls in their last away game of the regular season.

We are starting to turn it up a notch as we near the end of the regular season and that is important with some of the more challenging games ahead, Porter said. We have to go back on the road Friday and play Buffalo which won’t be easy. But this team is relishing every opportunity to raise their level each 90 minute game.

The Bulls have been a tough opponent for the Zips, especially in recent years.

Last year the Zips played Buffalo at Lee Jackson Field by a score of 2-0.

Buffalo is sitting at (5-8, 0-3 MAC), but have suffered losses to tough West Virginia and Hartwick teams.

The Bulls are led by junior forward Mike Unwin who has tallied seven goals and one assist throughout the year.

Unwin has also gathered 18 shots on goal and posted a .462 shot on goal percentage.

A win for the Zips would be big, especially being the final road game of the regular season.

Akron will only have one more MAC opponent before taking part in the MAC tournament.

Start time for the Akron Buffalo match is set for 7:30 p.m.

After Buffalo, the Zips will return home to play three tough matches against Penn State, Michigan State and MAC foe Hartwick to finish out the season.

“