The University of Akron men’s soccer team continued their busy spring season with a pair of matches Saturday at FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field. The first ended with a 3-0 win for the Zips, but the second saw UA fall to local side Notre Dame College 5-0.
A trio of second-half goals lifted UA to the decisive victory over the Bulldogs.
“In the first half of the game we didn’t play well and could have been down a couple of goals,” Akron head coach Jared Embick commented. “We weren’t compact as a unit and we got opened up a couple times and thankfully Jake (Fenlason) was there to bail us out and make some saves.”
The Zips and Bulldogs battled through a scoreless first half before Anthony Macchione got Akron on the board delivering a goal at the 50:14 mark off assists from Robby Dambrot and Sam Gainford.
Victor Souto gave the Zips a 2-0 advantage with a goal in the 72nd minute (71:51).
Thirty seconds later Richie Laryea registered the game’s finally tally at the 72:21 mark to provide for the final 3-0 advantage for Akron.
Goalkeeper Jake Fenlason finished the game with eight saves for the Zips.
“In the second half we were much tighter as a group and a couple of our substitutions in Anthony, Stu and Nathan came on a gave us a lift and I thought we were excellent,” said Embick. “The second 45 minutes was well played by us. We’ve got to put it together for 90, if we can do that we have a shot to do some great things.”
Complete Match Photo Gallery (Akron vs. Butler)
Playing with their reserve unit in the second game of the evening, the Zips battled Notre Dame College through a defensive-minded first half that saw the teams combine for five total shots.
The Falcons though entered the intermission with a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from Leonardo Paiva.
Paiva added another goal in the second half followed by tallies from teammates Ryan Ware, Alexis Souahy, and Jacob Earnest. This offensive explosion from the visitors gave them an impressive 5-0 win over the Zips.
Complete Match Photo Gallery (Akron vs. NDC)
Akron returns to action hosting Sigma FC, a Canadian soccer academy based in Toronto, Ontario, which competes in Leauge1 Ontario, next Saturday, April 18, at FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field.
