“Evan Bush remembers the feeling. Before the second overtime of last season’s second round NCAA Tournament match, a referee approached Bush. Just in case we go to overtime, which side do you want, the official asked. That was the kiss of death, Bush said.”
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Evan Bush remembers the feeling.

Before the second overtime of last season’s second round NCAA Tournament match, a referee approached Bush.

Just in case we go to overtime, which side do you want, the official asked.

That was the kiss of death, Bush said. I knew that something bad was going to happen.

Two minutes later it did.

Seconds after the senior goalkeeper punched away a free kick by South Florida’s Simon Schoendorf, Bush felt his heart sink in to his stomach.

After Bush came out of the goal to rebuff the kick, the ball caromed off the pack of players in the box to SFU’s Yohance Marshall whose shot whizzed past Bush, upsetting the 14th-seeded Zips in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.

The Zips, attempting to avenge the sting of last season’s defeat, play the Ohio State University in the second round of the tournament Tuesday at Lee Jackson Field.

We really haven’t talked about that loss, Bush said. It’s in the back of (my teammates) minds; I know it’s in the back of my mind.

Already the tournament has seen five winners that are considered upsets- University of North Carolina-Greensboro beat Duke, OSU topped Oakland, Harvard advanced past Massachusetts, Jacksonville toppled Louisiana and California-Polytechnic squeaked past UCLA.

Last season, six of the 16 seeded teams fell in the second round, including three of the top six seeds. Top-seeded Boston College lost in the round of 32, along with No. 4 Indiana, No. 6 Brown, No. 9 Northwestern, the 14th-seeded Zips and 16th seeded Tulsa. Any team that receives a seed also gets a first round bye.

In the NCAA tournament, records go out the door, UA head coach Caleb Porter said. Seeding doesn’t mean anything. We’ve been the more experienced team all season. Last year is last year.

Akron (16-1-4) and OSU (9-8-3) played 18 days ago and Porter expects there are no secrets between the two teams. The Zips beat the Buckeyes 4-3 on Nov. 7 in Columbus 4-3, the most goals the Zips allowed all season.

Porter said UA allowed a number of soft goals, all of which came in the second half. He said the Buckeyes punished the Zips for mistakes made in their defensive third, but served as a turning point for the defense. They yielded only one goal in the two MAC Tournament games that followed.

We addressed some things defensively since then and I don’t think we’ll give up three goals like we did last game, Porter said. From a defensive standpoint, we feel like we have a lot to prove.

The teams have met each of the last four seasons with the UA going 2-1-1. They lead the all-time series 22-6-2. The Zips tied the Buckeye’s last season, when OSU lost in the national championship game to Wake Forest.

It’s a team we know very well, Porter said. They’re a gritty team that returns a strong core group that made the national championship. Their strength is in their organization defensively. They’re good on restarts. They’re the type of team that really is tough to play against because they believe in the team and what they do well.

The Bucks, however, suspended six players indefinitely last Friday for violating team rules. Seniors Tim Gabel, Danny Irizarry, Geoff Marsh and Patrick Roan and sophomores Matt Gold and Sam Scales were not allowed to play in the Buckeye’s opening round, double-overtime shootout win against Oakland, which they won 4-3 on penalty kicks.

Irizzray has totaled six goals and one assists for his team-leading 13 points.

Ohio State started five freshman and three players received their first career start.

It is uncertain whether the six suspended players will play Tuesday.

We haven’t concerned ourselves with that, Porter said. It’s not something that really affects the game. We expect those players to be back.

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