Ohio State
Akron
No. 4 Akron Tops Ohio State, 3-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 28, 2011
AKRON, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s soccer team dropped a 3-1 decision to fourth-ranked and unbeaten Akron Wednesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field in front of a stadium-record 5,819 fans. The Buckeyes drop to 5-4-1 on the season, while the Zips improve to 6-0-2 and extend their NCAA-record home unbeaten streak to 43 games.
Trailing by two, Sebastian Rivas scored the lone goal for Ohio State, finishing off a pass from Omar Vallejo to cut the lead to 2-1 with about 17 minutes to play in regulation. The Zips added their third goal in the 82nd minute, however, to foil the comeback attempt. Rivas’ goal was just the third allowed by Akron this season and the second at home.
“Overall, I don’t think we played nearly as well as we are capable of and tonight Akron was clearly the better team,” John Bluem, Ohio State head coach said. “I was proud of the way the guys did not give up and, for a span of about 30 minutes, played really well together. Akron’s strength and precision of play could not be matched tonight though. We will learn from this and move on through the second half of our schedule.”
Ohio State registered a pair of shots in the opening 10:33, but sent both high. The Zips responded until they opened scoring at the close of the 21st minute when DeAndre Yedlin ran down the right side of the penalty area banked a shot off the far post and into the goal. The Buckeyes tightened up on defense, thwarting Akron’s remaining four attempts in the period and headed into intermission trailing 1-0.
The Zips doubled their lead midway through the second half after Luke Holmes’ shot was stopped by Ohio State’s Matt Lampson, but allowed back into play and Thomas Schmitt was able to score on the rebound from six yards out. Less than five minutes later, however, the Buckeyes put themselves on the board when Vallejo played Rivas the ball with a long pass through the left side and Rivas finished it off by slotting it into the left side in the 74th minute.
A repeat of the last-second heroics vs. Akron from a year ago were diminished about six minutes later though when Holmes scored the Zips’ third with a bank shot off the crossbar.
The Zips posted a 15-5 advantage in shots and 3-0 margin in corner kicks. Lampson made four stops in goal, including three in the first half, while David Meves came up with one save for Akron.
Ohio State remains on the road for a Big Ten clash with Michigan State at noon Sunday at DeMartin Soccer Complex in East Lansing, Mich. The match will be televised live on BTN with Dean Linke and Chris Doran calling the action. The Buckeyes have defeated the Spartans, who are 2-5-2 on the season after defeating UIC, 2-1, Tuesday afternoon, in each of the last six meetings.
