The #11 Akron Zips (4-1-1) drew with in-state rivals Ohio State (1-4-1) 3-3 Wednesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field in front of 3,889 vociferous fans of each school.
Akron led early with a goal by senior Sean Sepe just nine minutes into the Ohio showdown, but three second-half Ohio State goals by junior Danny Jensen, senior Kyle Culberson, and freshman Abdi Mohamed took away a win for Akron. Zips’ Sophomore Tyler Sanda and junior Adam Najem collected second-half goals.
“I think at the end of the day, the score line is a fair result,” Zips head coach Jared Embick said. “It’s a disappointing result for us, we wanted to do more and win the game. They saw our Achilles heel, not being able to defend the ball in the box and on restarts.”
This drama followed last year’s meeting in the NCAA tournament, where the Buckeyes and Zips went 15 rounds of penalty kicks in the first round of the tournament, as Ohio State beat Akron.
Zips forward Sam Gainford assisted on all three Akron goals and leads the team on points.
“In a game where we weren’t competing in all spots, he competing and running hard helped us. He’s got a lot of skill and he has a great work ethic,” the Zips coach added.
Akron took the early 1-0 lead with a great cross from Gainford, which Sepe chested in and gave Akron the lead at 7:44 into the match. Gainford would have to be subbed off just a few moments later as he would get a nasty gash on the top of his nose and had to be stitched up.
“It hurts,” he said after the match. “I’m just confident at the moment and I am working hard to get in the right places.”
Just a few moments into the second half, Danny Jensen was able to knock the ball off the post and into Akron’s net, after the Zips were unable to clear a long throw in the box. Ohio State’s equalizer came at 41:51 of the second half.
The Buckeyes took the 2-1 lead at the 34:45 mark of the second half. Midfielder Kyle Culbertson had space at the top of the box and sent a Yaw Amankwa low cross into the corner of the net. It was Culbertson’s second goal of the year.
Ohio State had only scored two second-half goals the entire year coming into the match, but notched three on the night.
“I think we’ve had some crazy games like this before, with their record, it was a big game for them,” Embick noted. “They needed to push and get their season turned around.”
The first Akron equalizer came at the 21:14 mark as Tyler Sanda slid the ball on the back post into the net. He was unmarked as Gainford presented a great cross for Sanda to score.
The Buckeyes would immediately retake the lead at 20:26 when Abdi Mohamed blasted a rebound from 14 yards out. Zips keeper Jake Fenlason couldn’t direct the ball elsewhere and Mohamed had plenty of space to give OSU the lead.
“I thought that they out-competed us in a majority of the game,” Embick stated. “Their experience playing us, that’s what made the difference for them.”
Adam Najem equaled the match at three, with a tap in that just beat Buckeyes goalie Chris Frochauer at 13:17. Gainford again assisted on the goal, and again the OSU defense was unable to close up the far end of their net.
Both clubs had spots where they could have found the game winner, but couldn’t find the right touch to take home the winner.
Akron will next host Wake Forest on Sept 22, as Ohio State will welcome Big 10 foe Penn State to Columbus on September 20 for their second conference match of 2015.
