Akron 4, Buffalo 0
West Virginia 2, Western Michigan 1
Bowling Green 2, Northern Illinois 1
2014 MAC Men's Soccer Championship Bracket
2014 MAC Men's Soccer Championship Page
Recaps courtesy of Home MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 4, Buffalo 0
AKRON, Ohio – The Akron men's soccer team earned its 10th-consecutive Mid-American Conference regular-season title and 17 title overall on the strength of a 4-0 victory past Buffalo (5-10-2, 1-2-2 MAC) on Saturday, Nov. 8, at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field.
By virtue of its triumph past the Bulls, the Zips (11-6-1, 4-1 MAC) collected the top seed and the right to host the MAC Men's Soccer Championship to be hosted at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field next Friday, Nov. 14, and Sunday, Nov. 16.
In the opening game second-seeded West Virginia will battle third-seeded Bowling Green at 4 p.m. before the top-seeded Zips host the No. 4 seed Western Michigan at 7 p.m. in semifinal action. The championship match will be on Sunday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m.
"A dominating performance, we played well and clinched the MAC, that is what we wanted to do to host the conference tournament next week," Akron head coach Jared Embick commented. "Our attitude and mentality was there, we worked, everyone was talking, and we showed that we wanted it and that was the most important thing."
The Zips garnered their first corner kick of the game at the 7:04 mark by sophomore forward Adam Najem (Clifton, N.J.) resulting in a header by sophomore defender Brad Ruhaak (Akron, Ohio) that was blocked.
It was only fitting on Senior Night that senior midfielder Clint Caso (Kinnelon, N.J.) delivered the game's first goal in the 13th minute (12:27) striking a header that bested Buffalo goalkeeper Waleed Cassis off a corner kick from Najem. The tally represented the first career goal for Caso, while Najem collected his third assist of the season.
Freshman forward Nate Shultz (Mayfield, Ohio) nearly extended Akron's lead to 2-0 at the 18:25 mark as his header went wide.
Najem pushed the Zips' advantage to 2-0 in the 27th minute (26:03) registering his team-leading 11th goal of the season striking a ball from the corner of the 18-yard box that found the corner of the net. Earning assists on the tally were freshman midfielder Richie Laryea (Toronto, Ontario) and junior forward Sean Sepe (West Islip, N.Y.).
A Buffalo penalty just outside of the box resulted in a free kick by Najem at the 35:01 mark, one that went high.
The Zips posted a 9-2 advantage in shots in the initial stanza, including 2-0 on net.
The Bulls recorded their first shot on goal in the affair in the 61st minute (60:18) but junior goalkeeper Jake Fenlason (San Diego, Calif.) was in position for the save
Redshirt freshman forward Sam Gainford (Whitehaven, England) a back-footed shot at the 60:48 mark that nearly bested Cassis for the goal.
Just over two minutes later in the 64th minute (63:16) Gainford found the back of the net for this third goal of the season off an assist from Sepe.
Freshman forward Anthony Macchione (Camas, Wash.) capped the scoring for the Zips with his second goal of the season at the 80:48 mark. Registering assists on the tally was Najem and sophomore midfielder Dener Dos Santos (Missouri City, Texas).
Akron finished the game registering a 17-5 margin shots, including 6-2 on goal. A game-high five shot performance from Gainford led the Zips, while Russell Cicerone paced the Bulls with a two shots.
Fenlason recorded two saves in the game for Akron en route to notching his seventh shutout of the season. Waleed made two stops for Buffalo.
Honored in pre-game Senior Night ceremonies was Caso, forward Saad Abdul-Salaam (Gahanna, Ohio) and manager Foday Kromah.
The Zips will open the Mid-American Conference Championship on Friday, Nov. 14, at 7:00 p.m. versus Western Michigan.
West Virginia 2, Western Michigan 1
KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan men’s soccer team suffered a 2-1 Mid-American Conference loss to West Virginia in the regular season finale Saturday. The Broncos will await the results of the other games Saturday night to find out their 2014 MAC Tournament, Nov. 14 & 16.
All three goals in the game were scored in the second half. WVU got on the board first with a shot to the left of WMU keeper Chase Rau by Jamie Merriam in the 47th minute. The Broncos found an equalizer in the 69th minute as sophomore Hunter Vandenboom registered his third goal of the season. Edu Jimenez served a free kick from 35 yards out and Nick Wysong tipped in it the box. Vandenboom rushed in and buried the finish.
West Virginia freshman Jad Arslan lifted his side to victory with the game-winner with five minutes left in the game. Mike Desiderio fired a long shot that rang off the crossbar and bounced into open space. Arslan was alone in the air and Rau was in not in a position to make a save after defending the shots moments earlier.
The loss drops Western Michigan to 8-6-4 on the season (2-2-1 MAC) and eliminated WMU from the regular season title race, as well as a chance to be the No. 1 seed anc host for the upcoming MAC Tournament.
“I want to start off by thanking the five seniors (Adriano Deabreu, Kyle Farris, Jason Grant, Florian Scheck and Mario Teixeira) for everything they have given our program. I just wish we could had sent them off with a win,” said WMU head coach Chad Wiseman.
“Today’s game really came down to a few moments. They made two great plays on their goals, we only made one. Again I thought we generated enough chances to win the game, we just lacked quality in the final third. Credit West Virginia, the are a good side and took their chances well today.”
Western Michigan took nine shots and had seven corner kicks. Early in the first half, Nick Wysong threatened with two head balls that just missed, the first off the crossbar and the second just over the top. The Broncos later forced WMU keeper Lee Johnston to make two saves in the second half. Farris nearly caught Johnston off guard, volleying a rocket back on target from 30 yards out late in the second half.
“We know we can play with any team in the MAC, we will have to refocus, do a little scoreboard watching and hopefully seven points is enough to make the tournament,” Wiseman said.
Bowling Green 2, Northern Illinois 1
DEKALB, Ill. -- Senior captain Dusty Page (Germantown, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) scored in the 61st minute as the NIU men’s soccer team tried to rally from a 2-0 halftime deficit, but it wasn’t enough as the Huskies fell to Bowling Green on Saturday night at the NIU Soccer Complex.
With the loss, NIU finishes the season with a 3-9-5 record, 0-4-1 in Mid-American Conference play, Bowling Green improves to 13-5-1, 2-2-1 in the MAC, and qualified for the conference tournament.
“I thought tonight was a microcosm of our season,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. “We had large portions of the game where we dominated. Credit to Bowling Green, they were very effective in the one or two moments they created, and the margins are razor-thin. I’m disappointed for this group of seniors; I’m disappointed for the whole group because they are a group that we loved coaching, and those four guys we loved coaching for four years.”
Freshman midfielder Len Heinson (Wuppertal, Germany/Carl-Fuhlrott Gymnasium) had the first shot of the game in the 11th minute, pushing the ball to the left of the post with his right boot, after collecting a 50-50 ball inside the 18-yard box.
Senior Andrew Palumbo (Ft. Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot/Darton College) put the first shot on goal in the 28th minute, working up the left side of the box and cutting to his right to force the keeper to make a diving save and force a corner kick. Bowling Green was able to clean the ensuing corner kick.
The Falcons struck first in the 33rd minute as Joe Sullivan received a through ball from midfield for a one-on-one attempt with NIU goalkeeper Andrew Glaeser (Walla Walla, Wash./Walla Walla/Oregon State). Sullivan took three touches into the box, forcing Glaeser off his line, and curled the ball high into the back of the net at the far post to make it 1-0 Falcons.
Bowling Green added a second goal five minutes later as Max Auden one-timed a ball from inside the 18-yard box after collecting a through ball from midfielder Ryan James to put BGSU up 2-0 before halftime.
After the break, Page cut the NIU deficit in half in the 61st minute as the Huskies earned a free kick just in front of their own bench. Sophomore defender Richard Hall (Billericay, England/The Billericay School) took the free kick and sent a hard in-swinging ball to the far side of the box to Page, who settled with his chest, took a touch and swept the ball past the keeper and into the far post to bring the Huskies within one, 2-1.
Following the captain’s goal, NIU led a spirited effort to attempt to draw even with the Falcons, maintaining possession of the ball in Bowling Green’s half for most of the final 29 minutes. But NIU was only able to muster one more shot as freshman midfielder Giovanni Garcia (Chicago, Ill./Elk Grove) pushed a ball over the net in the 77th minute.
Saturday’s contest marked the final game in the careers of Huskie seniors Palumbo, Page and Isaac Kannah (Plymouth, Minn./Prairie Seeds Academy), along with injured senior Shawn Vroom (Kohler, Wis./Kohler), who did not see action.
“They are awesome,” Luzzi said of his senior class. “Winners. Competitors. Warriors. Leaders. Good players. It has been an awesome ride with them, they definitely deserved better tonight and throughout the course of the season. The way this season has gone is not a reflection of this group of seniors, and the whole group, to be honest.”
