What started as a dream night for Akron native Matt Dagilis turned into a nightmare as the Zips fell to Western Michigan 4-3 on penalty kicks in the MAC Men’s Soccer Championship. Dagilis appeared to be the hero for his hometown squad after scoring the first goal of the match, but Lady Luck quickly turned her back on Akron in this battle between the David and Goliath of the MAC.
It was a match that was dominated by Akron (13-3-4), which held advantages in possession and every statistical category other than fouls or saves. The score could have been 4-0 or 5-0, but opportunities didn’t equal goals for the Zips attack.
Physical play and a total of 34 fouls kept things tempered for both sides. Darren Mattocks, ranked third in the nation in total goals, had a rough night as Western Michigan (6-11-3) turned in some chippy play. The visitors pushed, shoved, tripped, and even tackled the Jamaican striker, making him largely ineffective moving forward. A stellar night by sophomore keeper Sean Lewis helped the #4 seeded Broncos stay in the game.
The first half produced 0 goals for either side, but that is not to say there weren’t any opportunities. An early Dagilis header was turned away by the Broncos followed by a failed header from senior Luke Holmes in the 20th minute. Holmes was active in distributing the ball throughout the game and almost connected with a sliding Scott Caldwell minutes later for what could have been an easy goal for the Zips.
In the 42nd minute a shot by Holmes took a nasty bounce off the right post. This was followed moments later by a Dagilis clearance that found its way to Mattocks, who manuvered around three W. Michigan defenders to take on the keeper. Lewis reacted quickly to deflect the shot from Mattocks, ending the run and yet another scoring opportunity for Akron.
The Broncos went into halftime satisfied with the 0-0 scoreline, while the Zips were frustrated with the lack of quality finishing. Akron would start the second half as a team with a mission and momentum seemed to shift their way. It appeared that the Zips would run away with the game when Dagilis scored off a header in the 65th minute. Akron began to find space in their opponent’s defense and it seemed like the floodgates might open for the Akron attackers. The opposite happened as the Broncos equalized in the 84th thanks to a header from defender Doug Raak.
The home crowd of 1,559 went quiet with shock as the teams finished regulation with no change to the 1-1 score. Two overtime periods came and went with no goals for either side, forcing a penalty kick shootout.
This scenario favored Akron with veteran David Meves manning the goal, but it was Western Michigan that jumped ahead 3-2 after a miss by Caldwell. Aodhan Quinn connected on the next attempt to keep things close, but Jason Grant converted for the Broncos to make it a do-or-die situation for Mattocks. Unfortunately for the #7 ranked Zips, Mattocks sailed his shot over the goal and left Western Michigan with a 4-3 advantage on PKs. The miss sparked a mass celebration for the Broncos players and coaches, who will move on to face Northern Illinois on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Akron will now shift its focus to the NCAA Tournament as it looks to repeat as National Champions. The Zips will have to wait until the NCAA Men’s Soccer Selection Show Monday at 4:30 p.m. to determine their seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
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