Akron men’s soccer was denied in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship as Ohio State advanced on penalty kicks, 13-12, in 15 rounds, in what will go down in the record books as a 1-1 double-overtime tie on Thursday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The Zips concluded the 2014 season at 13-6-2, while the Buckeyes (9-7-5) advanced to second round action at top-seeded Notre Dame.
“It is difficult to take, we had chances to put them away and we didn’t,” Akron head coach Jared Embick commented. “We knew with the lead they would take chances. We had opportunities to go up 2-0 and we didn’t. Penalty kicks are always a cruel way to end it. We will hold our heads high, take the hurt into the off-season and use it next season.”
With the contest completed as a 1-1 draw, the outcome came down to 15 rounds of penalty kicks to decide the winner with the goalkeepers from each side coming up with key saves.
Each team made their first two shots before Alex Ivanov and junior goalkeeper Jake Fenlason both thwarted shot attempts in the third round.
Akron and Ohio State delivered on each of its next eight penalty shots to see the shootout all square at 10 after 11 rounds.
In the 11th round both sides saw their shots saved by the opposing goalkeeper.
Two more successful rounds went by before an Ivanov save on the first shot of the 15th round denied the Zips.
Ohio State capitalized on the second attempt as junior Zach Mason found the back of the net to lift the Buckeyes past the Zips.
The two teams registered 13 shots each in the affair, with Akron posting a 5-3 advantage on goal. Junior forward Sean Sepe led all players with a game-high four shots, while sophomore midfielder Adam Najem and freshman forward Adi Dakwar each added two shots. Five different Buckeyes registered a shot in the contest.
Freshman forward Jesse Garcia-Aguilar notched the game’s initial shot of the game at the 11:39 mark, a strike from 10 yards out that was saved by Ohio State goalkeeper Alex Ivanov.
Sliding a pass into the box for Najem in the 17th minute (16:25) for a shot that went wide was senior defender Saad Abdul-Salaam.
Najem took the Zips’ second corner kick at the 30:07 mark and delivered a ball into the box that was collected by Ivanov. On the play, the Buckeyes were whistled for a foul fall into Abdul-Salaam that resulted in a penalty kick for Akron.
Stepping to the line and delivering his team-leading 14th goal of the season was Najem, to give the Zips a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute (30:37).
The Buckeyes appeared to even the contest at one at the 32:28 mark when only a team save by Sepe prevented Danny Jensen from recording the equalizer.
Sepe struck the Zips’ next shot from the top of the box in the 41st minute (40:15), a strike that went high.
Akron recorded a 4-1 advantage in shots in the first half, including 2-1 on goal.
The Buckeyes opened the second half with a pair of corner kicks at the 50:04 and 51:34 marks, respectively, both which didn’t result in a shot.
Ohio State again recorded back-to-back corners in the 55th minute, neither of which found their way onto frame.
Najem took the Zips’ first corner kick of the second half at the 58:40 mark
Freshman forward Nate Shultz nearly stretched Akron’s lead to 2-0 in the 62nd minute (60:29) as only sliding kick save by Ivanov stopped Schultz’s shot attempt.
Just over a minute later (61:43) sophomore forward Ismail Seremba posted a shot that was stopped by Ivanov.
Junior Kyle Culbertson evened the affair at one in the 67th minute (66:40) striking in a free kick by junior Liam Doyle
Sepe’s shot attempt at the 76:52 mark in the box was blocked.
Doyle’s shot off a corner kick for Ohio State from freshman Hunter Robertson in the 78th minute (77:47) went wide.
Sepe had another shot for Akron that was blocked at the 82:56 mark.
A back-footed pass by Najem in the 86th minute (85:44) nearly resulted in a goal as Dakwar connected on a ball that drilled the post.
Freshman Marcus McCrary struck the post at the opposite end on a shot attempt for the Buckeyes at the 87:00 mark.
The Zips had several opportunities to score over the final 86 seconds as Akron garnered three corner kicks.
In the first overtime, Dakwar struck a shot at the 93:56 mark following a Najem corner kick that was blocked.
Ohio State had several quality shots in the initial overtime session but it was not able to capitalize.
A shot by Zach Mason in the first minute of the second overtime went wide.
A cross by Sepe in the 102nd minute in the box nearly resulted in the game-winning tally for Akron as a sliding Najem missed connecting on the golden goal by inches.
The Buckeyes pushed the ball up the field on a 3 v 2 and Fenlason, who made the save, stonewalled McCray’s shot.
