As the Falcon football team was being pummeled by No. 8 Boise State Saturday evening, the men’s soccer team fared no better, losing to No. 1 Akron.
The Falcons opened the Mid-American Conference season in the most formidable fashion possible, as they traveled across the state to face Akron.
Even a soggy pitch and patches of heavy downpour during the game could not stop the Zips as they hit six first-half goals but only needed one as they shut out BG.
The Falcons could only muster a few shots on goal as Akron continually tested Falcon keeper Jeff Smoker with 21 shots, forcing the redshirt freshman into five saves.
‘Akron is lethal with its finishing,’ said coach Eric Nichols. ‘They had eight shots on frame in the first half and six of those shots were goals. That’s clinical finishing.’
The Zips opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Chad Baron connected with Michael Nanchoff’s corner kick, heading it into the net. That assist was the first of four he would have on the day, setting a school record.
BG’s back line had no answer for the Akron attack, as the Zips scored again in the 18th minute when Teal Bunbury slotted home another Nanchoff cross.
The Zips’ third goal came courtesy of Darlington Nagbe in the game’s 25th minute on a one-touch shot that bounced off Smoker and into the back of the Falcon net.
Down by three goals and with the game’s outcome no longer in doubt, the Falcons allowed Akron’s fourth goal within 90 seconds, as Bunbury completed his brace and Ben Zemanski got his name on the stat sheet for the first time this season.
Allowing quick goals back to back seems to be becoming a trend, as BG allowed two goals in 28 seconds of each other last week against No. 15 Michigan.
Senior captain and defensive leader Jacob Lawrence knows that giving up quick goals is unacceptable.
‘It’s never good to let in goals back to back,’ Lawrence said. ‘We really need to play basic and fundamentally sound soccer, and make some corrections.’
Regardless of the game’s outcome, Lawrence feels playing a team like Akron is always a good experience.
‘Playing the No. 1 team in the country is always a learning experience,’ Lawrence said. ‘We get to go out there and see what it takes to be the best in the country. Obviously we are not there yet, but hopefully we can build up to that level.’
Nichols and the team will prepare to host Western Michigan this Saturday, where the Falcons will look for their second win of the season against the Broncos (2-6).
‘We knew going into last week that it was going to be tough, playing Michigan and Akron,’ Nichols said. ‘Now we are looking forward to getting at the rest of the MAC.”