A hat trick by Josue Henriquez propelled No. 24 Old Dominion (1-1) to a 4-1 men’s soccer victory past Akron (1-1) on Sunday, Aug. 30.
“With this schedule we knew it would be difficult,” Akron head coach Jared Embick commented. “We have to be ready to show up and play hard everyday. Today, Old Dominion played harder and with more energy and were the better team. We never really got our game going.”
The Monarchs broke onto the scoreboard first when Henriquez was able to find the corner of the net with his first of two first-half goals at the 17:20 mark. Christian Wirth garnered the assist on the tally.
Henriquez extended Old Dominion’s lead to 2-0 in the 21st minute (20:59) deflecting a shot into the left side of net off an assist from Ivan Militar.
Redshirt sophomore Robby Dambrot (Akron, Ohio) collected the Zips’ initial shot on goal delivering a header in the 22nd minute (21:46) that was corralled for a save by Alex Tiesenhausen.
Sophomore Anthony Macchione (Camas, Wash.) recorded shots on goal for Akron at the 24:50 and 26:55 marks, respectively, unfortunately, Tiesenhausen pulled in both attempts for saves.
The Zips trailed at the intermission, 2-0, despite outshooting the Monarchs, 8-7.
Niko Klosterhalfen knocked in the deflection off of teammate David Macsicza’s shot at the 45:54 mark to extend Old Dominion’s lead to 3-0.
Henriquez registered the hat trick connecting on his third goal of the evening in the 48th minute (47:15) from 15 yards out off a thru ball from Klosterhalfen to give the Monarchs a 4-0 advantage.
Senior Jake Fenlason (San Diego, Calif.) thwarted a penalty kick attempt by Militar at the 60:52 mark with a save in the corner of the net.
Junior Adam Najem’s (Clifton, N.J.) one-timer from 12 yards out in the 73rd minute (72:05) was pulled in for a save by Tiesenhausen.
Najem netted another shot on goal at the 74:08 mark before Macchione found back of the net in the 76th minute (75:49). Sophomore Nate Shultz (Mayfield, Ohio) delivered a low cross into the box that Macchione converted into his second goal of the season.
Old Dominion posted a 15-13 advantage in shots, including 9-6 on goal. Macchione registered a team-best four shots for the Zips, while Najem, Dambrot and senior Sean Sepe (West Islip, N.Y.) added three, two and two shots, respectively. Henriquez turned in a game-high five shots for the Monarchs.
Fenlason finished the affair with four saves for Akron, while Tiesenhausen made five stops for Old Dominion.
“I thought at halftime we could get back in the game, but we made two mistakes early to give them two more goals,” said Embick. “Then it was to big a mountain to climb. Everyone from the coaches to the players has to accept responsibility for the poor performance. We need to pick ourselves up and get ready for a great opportunity next weekend to prove ourselves against two more good teams on the road.”
The Zips return to action traveling to Washington, D.C., to encounter No. 3 Georgetown on Friday, Sept. 4, at 4 p.m.
