Akron bests #8 Notre Dame at home.

The Zips Men’s Soccer team defeated Notre Dame by a score of 2-0 at home Tuesday night. Both of their Goals came from the penalty spot.

The early first half saw the teams trading possession back and forth. Both teams carefully felt each other out for the first ten minutes, with neither registering a shot on goal. Notre Dame seemed to be the stronger of the two, but the depth of their attack fizzled as it reached the attacking third.

As time passed in the first half, Akron began to establish their authority. The midfield had difficulties distributing the ball to the wings, so they made an adjustment towards the middle. The Zips spent time carefully building their attack with short passes rather than lobbing it over defenders to the corner.

Sam Gainford converted a Penalty kick in the 35’ that resulted from clumsy defending by Notre Dame in the area. It came after a solid ten-minute stretch of hard work from the mid field engine of Akron, which created a number of chances for which the Zips were not rewarded.

After half time, Akron continued to own possession in their half of the pitch. Notre Dame looked zapped after the break and struggled to match Akron’s pace. Akron created many chances in the second half, but again their lone goal of the period originated from the penalty spot. Gainford’s PK was saved by Notre Dame GK, but Nick Hinds collected the rebound and netted it for the Zip’s second goal in the 88’.

The Zips will host MAC opponent Bowling Green in their next match this Saturday October 21. Kickoff will be at 7:00PM.