Akron men's soccer team battles to draw with New Mexico

With the draw, the Zips extend their NCAA record home unbeaten streak to 41 games.

AKRON, Ohio — Despite being a man down for the final 52 minutes of the match, the No. 4 University of Akron men's soccer team earned a 1-1 draw against No. 16 New Mexico at FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field on Friday night in front of 4,301 fans.

The double-overtime game, which was broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel, was the second contest of the annual University of Akron Tournament. Cal Poly, Akron's next opponent Sunday at 6 p.m., defeated Syracuse in the first match of the day, 2-1.

With the draw, the Zips (3-0-2), who outshot the Lobos 9-8, extended their NCAA record home unbeaten streak to 41 games (38-0-3).

Akron drew first blood in the 36th minute off a well-executed corner-kick goal.

DeAndre Yedlin, who made a number of dangerous runs down the right side of the field in the opening period, earned UA the opportunity by playing the ball off a UNM defender near the touch line.

Aodhan Quinn played the corner short to Scott Caldwell, who quickly sent the ball back to Quinn to set up the left-sider's service into the box. Michael Balogun, who scored his first goal as a Zip on a corner kick against Cleveland State in the season opener, crashed through the block of defenders and headed the ball off the crossbar and into the net.

The Zips, who took a 1-0 lead into intermission, found more rhythm in the second half and pressed for a second goal. But leading scorer Darren Mattocks was shown a straight red in the 58th minute.

Nonetheless, UA showed tremendous resolve and continued to press the rest of the match -- nearly finding the net on a number of tries during a frantic sequence in the 79th minute.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2011/09/akron_mens_soccer_team_battles.html

St Lucia New Orleans Private equity State pensions Restaurants Self-catering