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Division I NCAA men's tournament Tutich pair leads Akron to 5-0 romp over West Virginia.
After winning a match postponed from yesterday because of snow, Akron (18-1-2) will travel to fifth-ranked Connecticut (16-3-1) for a Sunday third-round game. WVU closed its season at 13-8-2. Akron increased its NCAA Division I-leading goal total to 64, which is a new Mid-American Conference record. The Zips also lead the nation in fewest goals allowed (eight), a goals-against average of 0.37. "I think we did a lot of things well today," UA coach Ken Lolla said. "I thought we finished our chances well. Getting the second goal just before halftime was huge, because it put the pressure on West Virginia in the second half. I know we defended well. (WVU is) big on restarts and I thought we did a good job in neutralizing that. We came out focused, sharp and prepared to play and we intend to do the same thing at UConn." Both teams today were quiet offensively for the first 20 minutes before Akron stepped up its attack. The Zips' first opportunity came at 28:49 when senior striker Ross McKenzie had his open shot blocked by West Virginia junior goalkeeper Nick Noble. The rebound went to junior forward Sinisa Ubiparipovic who was denied by Mountaineers sophomore forward Pat Carroll. Akron had one more shot, but junior midfielder Jonathan McClain's effort was tipped over the goal-line by an outstretched Noble. Akron finally took a 1-0 lead after 31:34. Ubiparipovic sent a corner kick into the box which McKenzie flicked to Tutich and he slammed in his fourth game-winner of the season. "Ross made a good run to the middle and got his head on the ball and flicked it to the far post where I was fortunate to get on the other end of it," Tutich said. The Zips increased their advantage to 2-0 on a beautifully-executed tally by Justin Sadler at 42:55. Collecting a pass from fellow senior reserve midfielder Amico DiFranco, Sadler blistered a shot from 20 yards out. Akron held a commanding 12-1 advantage in shots in the opening 45 minutes. Midway through the second half, Akron added another two goals in a span of under two minutes. McKenzie's team-leading 16th goal of the season came at 64:52 with a header of senior midfielder Dino Campellone's left-side service. Tutich recorded the first multiple-goals game of his college career and eighth of his season when he put away a rolling pass from DiFranco to make it 4-0 at 66:14. Sophomore midfielder Steve Kalan scored into an open net with 37 second remaining to make it 5-0. Akron finished with a 17-8 shots advantage. The Mountaineers managed five shots on goal in the second half, none of which threatened UA red-shirt freshman goalkeeper Evan Bush's school-record 14th shutout of the season. [5] Connecticut 2, Stony Brook 0 STOTTS, Conn. -- Freshman midfielder O'Brian White had a goal and an assist in the second half, sending No. 5 Connecticut to a 2-0 decision over Stony Brook in a second-round match, a game at Morrone Stadium that was postponed from yesterday because of rain and high winds. The Huskies (16-3-1) held a 22-3 shots advantage over Stony Brook (13-5-4) and will host third-ranked Akron (18-1-2) Sunday in the Round of 16. "It was a great experience for us to compete with a team of such quality as UConn," Stony Brook coach Cesar Markovic said. "Our team came out and battled. It was not our best day, but we played hard and had opportunities to tie the game late, but just couldn't get it done." UConn had an outstanding chance to take the lead just 10 minutes into the second half when White took advantage of a miscommunication between Seawolves goalkeeper E.J. Xikis and a defender just inside the box. He stole the ball and fired a shot from the left corner toward a wide open net, but hit the crossbar. The Huskies came right back five minutes later when White headed a cross from senior defender Willis Forko to junior midfielder Kevin Burns who scored for a 1-0 lead. With two minutes remaining, sophomore striker Chukwudi Chijindu crossed the ball from near the end line to White, who converted into the right corner to make it 2-0. Xikis turned away eight shots, while UConn senior keeper Adam Schuerman needed to make just two saves for his 12 th shutout, lowering his goals-against average to 0.45. Do you have a comment on this story or something to say about soccer in general? Send us a letter. |
