The University of Akron men's soccer team fell at home Wednesday night to the Michigan State Spartans zero to one. The loss, which stunned the packed crowd, was Akron's first home defeat in 48 matches, which was a NCAA record and spans almost four years. The game did not end without controversy either.
Akron won a 17 to five shot advantage and played on the attack for most of the match. Receiving opportunities from just about everywhere on the pitch, Akron appeared to be just moments away from breaking through. The greatest example was in the 29th minuet when Akron Midfielder Will Trapp fired a shot that bounced off the crossbar and went directly down and onto the pitch.
Regardless of the shot advantage, Zips head soccer coach Caleb Porter was still not happy with his team after the game.
"You get out of this game what you put in." Porter said, "...we didn't put in what we need to, to win a game like this."
The match remained scoreless until Michigan State capitalized on their best chance of the night. Rubin Bega found the back of the net when a perfectly passed ball found him in the box. The 86th minuet goal could of all but crippled the Zips, but with the support of a full house, Akron was able to muster two more chances.
The first shot had little chance of scoring, the second some say did. After receiving a corner, Akron's Matt Digilis found the ball played into the area and perfectly time his header. The ball shot off his head and to a knee of a Michigan State defender. From behind the net, it appeared that the defender had clearly drifted into the goal area, and while many Akron Zips player celebrated, the head official declared it saved. That was the last chance Akron had.
Because of the loss, which Porter described as embarrassing, Akron falls to 12-3-3 and will likely have to travel to a couple places during the up coming NCAA tournament.
Photo from Gozips.com
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