Friday’s Scoreboard
Maryland 1, Akron 0
West Virginia 5, Costal Carolina 2
Ohio State 2, Bowling Green 1
Marquette 3, Northern Illinois 1
St. Louis 2, SIUE 1
Stories Courtesy Of MAC Sports Information
Maryland 1, Akron 0
Box Score
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - In the much-anticipated rematch of the 2018 College Cup finale, the University of Akron men's soccer team was unable to overcome a first-half goal from No. 14 Maryland, as the Terrapins (2-2-0) posted a 1-0 triumph past the Zips (0-4-0) on Friday, Sept. 13 before more than 4,400 college soccer fans at Ludiwg Field.
Maryland earned a 10-9 edge in shots on the evening, including a 3-2 margin in shots on goal.
Celebrating his birthday, redshirt junior Diogo Pacheco (Lisbon, Portugal) registered a game-high five shots, including a pair on frame to pace the Akron attack, while freshman Henrique Cruz (Fortaleza, Brazil) added three shots in reserve duty. Brayan Padilla led the Terrapins with a team- and game-best five shots.
Niklas Neumann collected a pair of saves in goal en route to earning the shutout for Maryland, while redshirt junior Tor Saunders (Seattle, Wash.) notched a pair of saves of his own for the Zips.
Neither side registered a shot in the match until a strike by Eric Matzelevich was denied by a save from Saunders at the 14:39 mark of the first half.
The Terrapins assumed a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute (17:04) as Matzelevich leveled a shot from 15 yards out that struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced down behind the line for his second goal of the year. Earning an assist on the tally was Malcolm Johnston.
The Zips posted their first shot of the match at the 18:41 mark as freshman Will Jackson (Hudson, Ohio) played a ball inside the six-yard box for the 10 yards out that Pacheco headed into save at 18:41 mark.
Saunders registered a strong diving save off a free kick by Padilla in the 25th minute (24:47). Padilla had another strike go just high of the top of the net at the 27:16 mark.
Cruz had his shot in the box in the 30th minute (29:14) mark go just wide of a diving Neumann, before his shot at the 35:55 mark was blocked.
The Zips had one last surge in the final minute of the half with Pacheco turning in a strike in the 45th minute (44:42) from the top of the box that was blocked.
Maryland posted a 5-4 first-half edge in shots, including a 3-1 margin in shots on goal. Cruz and Pacheco each recorded a team-high two shots in the initial stanza.
Pacheco nearly leveled the score at one for Akron at the 49:04 mark as his laser hit the inside of the far post before bouncing out to thwart the scoring chance.
Pacheco then sliced down the sideline and slide a pass into the center of the box in 58th minute, a shot that deflected off the hand of Neumann just ahead of the Zips' attack by junior David Egbo (Enugu, Nigeria).
Pacheco had momentum pushing the ball into the offensive third at the 65:33 mark before his shot was blocked at top of the box.
The Terrapins came up just short of extending their advantage to 2-0 in the 70th minute (69:23) as Padilla just missed finding the top of the net off a free kick.
Freshman Mani Austmann (Gardabaer, Iceland) narrowly missed getting his foot on the ball inside the six-yard box in the 72nd minute before the ball was blocked out of bounds for an Akron corner kick.
Pacheco added another shot on frame at the 75:50 mark, one halted by a save from Neumann.
Back-to-back shots in the box by Austmann and Cruz were blocked in the box in the 82nd minute to deny the scoring chance for the Zips.
Justin Gielen had his strike for Maryland at the 83:19 mark sail wide.
Akron returns to action with a 7 p.m. match at Pittsburgh on Monday, Sept. 16. The contest against the Panthers will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
West Virginia 5, Costal Carolina 2
Box Score
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 25-ranked West Virginia University men's soccer team found the back of the net five times, including three times in an 81-second span, in a 5-2 victory over No. 15/16 Coastal Carolina on Friday night at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown.
The Mountaineers received a pair of goals from freshman forward Rodrigo Robles Grajera, while senior midfielder Andres Muriel Albino, sophomore forward Tony Pineda and senior midfielder Pascal Derwaritsch also scored for WVU.
WVU finished with seven assists on the night, the most since a 6-0 win over San Francisco on Aug. 30, 2015.
"Our response was outstanding," WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "Both times we conceded, our response was outstanding, and it was against a top-15 team in the country in Coastal Carolina. They're a good team, and they're going to win a lot of games. I thought our kids' resiliency was like shades of a year ago. When we went behind, we were explosive going forward.
"Scoring goals in soccer is the hardest thing to do, but I thought, tonight, we were really, really good."
The Mountaineers (3-1-1) fell behind early when Coastal Carolina (2-2) opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when a Chanticleers' attacker cashed in on a breakaway toward the goal. From there, though, WVU turned its offensive power into overdrive.
First, Robles Grajera tied the match in the 37th minute when he scored off a Chanticleer turnover. Then, the Burgos, Spain, native bagged his second of the night just 32 seconds later when junior defender Kevin Morris and freshman midfielder Luke McCormick teamed up to send a cross into the box, which Robles Grajera headed in to give West Virginia a 2-1 lead.
Moments later, it was Muriel Albino's turn, as he scored from the back post on another ball sent in by McCormick, who was set up by senior defender Sebastian Garcia-Herreros.
WVU led, 3-1, at the half.
The scoring didn't stop after the two squads returned from the locker rooms, either. In the 48th minute, CCU answered with a penalty-kick goal to cut the Mountaineers' lead to 3-2. But WVU tallied a well-timed goal by Pineda, who was assisted by freshman forward Brian Bond and junior midfielder Pau Jimenez Albelda, before Derwaritsch added on off a corner kick in the 75th minute.
WVU registered 16 shots on the night and limited the Chanticleers to just eight. WVU also held a sizeable advantage in corner kicks, 11-1.
With the win, the Mountaineers have now defeated a top-25 opponent in 12 of the last 14 seasons under LeBlanc. It's also the first time the team has scored five goals in a game since a 5-2 win over SIU Edwardsville on Oct. 20, 2018, in Morgantown. Additionally, WVU has now won its last 24 matches when scoring two or more goals.
"We were on another level this evening," LeBlanc added. "Besides the two goals we gave up, it's arguably one of the best performances we've had in my 14 years here. It was that good."
Next up, the Mountaineers hit the road for a match at Cincinnati on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Kickoff at Getler Stadium in Cincinnati is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Ohio State 2, Bowling Green 1
Box Score
Celveland, Ohio -- After nearly a two-hour delay due to weather the No. 25-ranked Bowling Green State University men's soccer team dropped their first match of the season 2-1 to Ohio State University Friday night (Sept. 13). The loss snaps the Falcons four-match unbeaten streak to start the season as they now fall to 3-1-1 on the season.
Chris Brennan got the scoring quickly started in the second minute after Kale Nichols brought the ball up the left side and did a short cross in to Brennan who fired straight away into the net to put the Falcons up 1-0.
After Anthony Mwembia was forced out of the goalkeeper box the ball ended up on the feet of Devyn Etling who struck the ball from roughly 40 yards out of the goal and found the back of the net.
A give and go connection between Jack Holland and Etling resulted in Holland netting a goal in the 63rd minute that would prove to be the game winner.
The match, scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m., was delayed several times due to storms that passed through the area. The contest did not actually get underway until 9:07 p.m., and it did not end until after 11:00 p.m.
Marquette 3, Northern Illinois 1
Box Score
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Sophomore Nick Markanich (Boubonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) opened the scoring in the 10th minute but Marquette responded with three goals in nine minutes as the Golden Eagles topped the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team, 3-1, on Friday night (Sept. 13) at Valley Fields.
"This was a good Marquette team," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "I'm not sure if we showed them too much respect but we looked really disjointed today. This was a setback, although we have lost some games, this was the first game where I thought our opponent was better than us. It was a setback but we get the chance to rectify things in two days, so hopefully the guys set their mind's to doing that."
Marquette (2-1-1) had the first chance of the contest in the second minute as Josh Coan's header was palmed away by senior goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic (Schiller Park, Ill./West Virginia) to keep the match scoreless in the opening moments.
NIU (0-4-1) struck first through Markanich in the 10th minute. Junior Alex Welch(Carmarthen, Wales/King's College Madrid) turned on a Golden Eagle defender, giving him space to feed Markanich just outside the box. Markanich took a touch inside the area and smashed a shot past Marquette goalkeeper Jackson Weyman into the upper corner to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
Marquette equalized in the 23rd minute directly from a free kick by Coan. The Golden Eagles earned a free kick 25 yards from goal and Coan stepped up and bent the free kick around the wall and past Dziedzic to even the match at 1-1.
Christian Marquez had a chance for Marquette in the 28th minute from just inside the box but his shot was beaten away by Dziedzic.
Marquette went in front in the 31st minute as Connor Alba gave the Golden Eagles a 2-1 lead. Patrick Seagrist cut the ball back from near the end line to Alba who was all alone near the penalty spot and slipped a shot under Dziedzic to put the Golden Eagles in front.
Just a minute later Marquette added a third as Coan scored directly from a free kick. Coan's free kick from a wide position went through traffic inside the six untouched and inside the back post to give the Golden Eagles a 3-1 lead in the 32nd minute.
The frantic pace continued as, just three minutes later, senior Jan Maertins(Rheinfelden, Germany/Marquette) flashed a header off the bar from a corner kick. The follow up chance from freshman Luis Hernandez (Mesquite, Texas/Lone Star) was saved by Weyman as Marquette took its 3-1 lead into the interval.
Three minutes into the second half, Coan forced NIU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy), who had come on at halftime, into a save at full stretch as he deflected it out for a corner; NIU cleared away the ensuing set piece.
Just before the hour mark, senior Christian Molina (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek) dribbled his way into space just outside the top of the box and sent a shot high over the top of the Marquette goal.
In the 69th minute, NIU had another chance as Welch's effort was tipped over the crossbar by Weyman. Sanchez made another save in the 80th minute, fighting off a shot from Coan before it was scrambled away by the Huskie backline.
Sophomore Pierce Ugarte's (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn) header off a free kick went wide in the 84th minute as NIU continued to press but Marquette was able to see out the final few minutes to claim the 3-1 victory.
Weyman made four saves in the contest for Marquette; Dziedzic made three stops in the first half for NIU while Sanchez came on to make four saves in the second 45 minutes.
NIU will return home on Sunday, September 15, as the Huskies host Bradley at 2 p.m. on Youth Soccer Club Day at the NIU Soccer Complex.
St. Louis 2, SIUE 1
Box Score
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Saint Louis freshman Kip Keller headed home the game-winner with just six seconds to play in double overtime Friday as the Billikens stunned the Co
ugars 2-1 in front of 3,107 fans to win the Bronze Boot.
"It was a great job by the marketing and ticket staff and by the event staff," SIUE Head Coach Cale Wassermann said. "It was a great crowd and a good college atmosphere."
The game-winning goal came off a corner by Leo Novaes and improved SLU to 1-2. SIUE fell to 1-2-1. The Billikens retained the Joseph Carenza Sr. Perpetual Trophy, also known as the Bronze Boot. SIUE has not won the game since 1982.
"I've been on the winning side and losing side of these games," he continued. "This wasn't for a lack of effort or attention. Defending set pieces is really difficult."
Saint Louis took the lead on goal from Novaes in the 11th minute. Novaes headed home after a cross from the left side from Devin Boyce.
SIUE's only goal came in the 27th when Joegen Pettersen was able to blast home a rebound after a long throw from Colin Hilpert and a touch from Jorge Gonzalez.
"Our goal came on a set piece we had been working on," Wasserman said. "We were looking for a second ball on a long throw."
The Billikens outshot SIUE 17-9 over the course of the game.
"Credit to their coaching staff they had a game plan and they wore us down," Wassermann said.
SIUE appeared to have tied the game in the 22nd minute, when a flurry in front of the Saint Louis goal saw Lachlan McLean and Kelby Philips hit the goals post and the cross bar.
"I really thought we were going to score when (McLean) and (Phillips) hit the post and the crossbar back to back."
Noah Heim made eight saves in goal for SIUE, which stays home to play host to Butler Tuesday night at Korte Stadium.
"We need to recover and rest," Wassermann added. "This wasn't just draining physically, but emotionally too. Now we have to be ready to play a very good Butler team. We have to find a way to bounce back."
