The University of Akron’s Men’s Soccer team improved to 6-0-0 with a 4-0 win over No. 2 Tulsa (6-1-0) on Friday night in front of a record crowd of 4,744 at Lee Jackson Field.
Four Zips led the offensive attack, while the defense was dominant all night, allowing only one shot on goal.
It was an incredible night for our program to be on Fox Soccer Channel, said UA Head Coach Caleb Porter.
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, said Porter.
Nine minutes into the game, junior defender Kofi Sarkodie scored his second goal of the season and UA’s first of the game from 22 yards out after the shot deflected off Tulsa’s Blaine Gonsalves and goalkeeper Ray Clark.
When we’re scoring this early against teams like this it just gives us an edge right off the bat, said Sarkodie. Our first goal was great for us and the second one following gave us a lot of room to take control.
Akron wasted little time, scoring again in minute 13 when freshman Perry Kitchen finished a corner kick after junior Darlington Nagbe and Michael Nanchoff’s shot attempts were unsuccessful.
We just came out today as a team and started off strong and the results show it, said Kitchen.
The Zips’ offensive remained alive in the second half when senior Anthony Ampaipitakwong found freshman Darren Mattocks in minute 50 from six yards out, squeezing a header under the crossbar for his third goal of the season.
We played Cincinnati and we watched the film and we were disappointed that we didn’t score as many goals as we should have, said Ampaipitakwong. So we worked all week on attacking thirds and scoring goals.
Ampaipitakwong sealed the game in minute 70 when he netted another goal, giving Nagbe his second assist of the night.
This is exactly where we want to be right now and this is a good win and we’re all going to enjoy it, said Ampaipitakwong.
Akron outshout Tulsa 20-8 in the game, with most of Tulsa’s attempts coming from long range, making UA goalkeeper David Meves’s night relatively easy with one save.
UA has not allowed a goal in 1,110 minutes and 59 seconds, and now is tied for the longest shutout streak (11 games) in NCAA history, along with Virginia (2009) and Furman (2002).
This was probably one of our most complete 90 minute performances against a quality team like [Tulsa], but there is still a lot to build on, said Porter.
The Zips will travel to Ohio State on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff against the Buckeyes.
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