Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Akron's first
visit to Meredith Field at Harder Stadium ended with the Zips
claiming their first NCAA College Cup title last December. Their
second visit was less joyful for the Zips as No. 15 UC Santa
Barbara knocked off third-ranked Akron with a 3-2 overtime win on
Wednesday night in front of the FOX Soccer Channel cameras.
The Gauchos' win broke meaningful streaks for both teams. UCSB
snapped its two-game skid, the longest single season losing streak
for the program since 2008. Akron, which entered Wednesday's game
undefeated, saw its 18-game unbeaten streak snapped. The last time
the Zips lost a game was at Cleveland State on Oct. 30, 2010. It
was their only other loss in the last 60 games.
UCSB improves its record to 7-3-1 overall and Akron drops to
7-1-2. This marked the Gauchos' first win over a top-five ranked
team since they knocked of third-ranked SMU in 2007.
Senior Luis Silva
provided the Gauchos' golden goal, just 33 seconds into the first
overtime period. The game-winning play began on the left side of
the field where James
Kiffe beat several defenders and then fired a cross, which
found Michael
Nonni on the left goal post. Nonni redirected the ball to
Silva, who was running into the five-yard box. The senior tapped
the ball with his right foot into the bottom left corner of the
Akron goal to capture the win for UCSB.
"All I can say, is that I am so excited for our guys," head
coach Tim Vom Steeg said. "Up until now, I thought we were playing
well and doing a lot of good things. The guys really rallied around
that loss against Irvine, got themselves together and came out
tonight. We had positive energy from the bench and onto the field.
We fell behind, but we stayed after it. It was truly a great Gaucho
win tonight."
UCSB opened the game strong and had several great chances early
on. Nonni had a trio of near misses and Silva and Machael
David each had shots blocked by Akron's David Meves in the
first 12 minutes.
Akron was able to breakthrough first and grabbed the lead when
Wil Trapp slipped the ball to Darren Mattocks, who lifted the ball
from the left flank over André
Grandt and into the back right corner of the net in the
15th minute.
Despite out-shooting the Zips, 9-7, and holding a 5-2 advantage
in corner kicks, the Gauchos remained scoreless heading into
halftime.
It was Silva who tied the game for the first time. In the
64th minute, Dom Sarle
crossed the ball from the right side of the field to Silva, who
shot from 10-yards out into the lower right corner.
UCSB took the lead just over two minutes later. Kiffe crossed
the ball into the box, where Josue
Madueno headed it towards Sarle's feet. The sophomore, who had
his back to the goal, kicked the ball over his left shoulder,
turned and then sent it into the low left corner.
The Gaucho lead did not last for long as Akron once again tied
the game up in the 69th minute. Eric Stevenson passed
the ball to Michael Balogun, who one-touched it to Aodhan Quinn on
the left side of the box. Quinn crossed the ball to Thomas Schmitt,
who shot across the goal into the low corner.
Silva was able to win the game on the first shot of the overtime
period. It marked his seventh goal of the season and his second
game-winner.
Michael Nonni and Mattocks led all players with their five shots
apiece. Silva, meanwhile, had a game-leading four shots
on-goal.
In the goal, Grandt posted three saves for the Gauchos while
Meves had four stops for the Zips. UCSB led the shot count, 16-11,
and 7-5 in shots on-goal.
UCSB will head to UC Davis on Saturday in search of its first
Big West Conference win. The Gauchos will play the Aggies at 3 p.m.
To catch all of the action, tune into KZSB 1290 AM for Gerry Fall's
live broadcast or click here to listen online.
The Gauchos would like to give a special thanks to Cox
Communications for serving as Wednesday night's game
sponsor.
