Sophomore Darlington Nagbe posted the first hat trick of his collegiate career Tuesday and in the process kept the perfect season going for the University of Akron men's soccer team.
Nagbe’s three goals and one assist performance led the top-ranked Zips to a 5-1 victory over host Michigan at U-M Soccer Complex in Ann Arbor.
UA, the No. 1 team in the country in all five national polls under coach Caleb Porter, has a 14-0-0 overall record, which is the best start to a season in program history.
“Obviously we are pleased that we were able to get a result against a talented team that is battled tested,” Porter said. “We knew it would be a little more open game. We have not played a lot of teams that have played toe-to-toe with us. A lot of teams we have played sit back and don't come at us. I was excited to play a team that would come out at us. I thought we rose to the challenge and our attacking unit was electric.”
UA held an advantage in shots (22-8), shots on goal (8-4) and corner kicks (4-2).
It is the first time the Zips have defeated the Wolverines (9-4-1) at Michigan in four attempts and UA leads the overall series 5-3.
Nagbe assisted on the first goal of the game then scored twice in less than a minute to guide UA to a 3-0 lead at halftime.
“With Darlington, there is no secret. If you are in our training sessions or watch us play consistently you see that he is one of the best players in the country, hands down,” Porter said. “He is capable of scoring a lot of goals.”
Sophomore Teal Bunbury gave the Zips a 1-0 lead with a goal, his team-high 11th of the season, in the 31st minute. Nagbe and sophomore Kofi Sarkodie were each credited with an assist on the goal.
“Teal and Darlington are such a handful up top with their speed and skill,” Porter said.
Nagbe extended the lead to 3-0 with an unassisted goal in the 35th minute, and a goal in the 36th minute that freshman Ben Speas recorded an assist on.
Michigan cut its deficit to 3-1 when Justin Meram netted a goal in the 48th minute off of an assist from Hamoody Saad.
UA took a 4-1 advantage when sophomore Michael Nanchoff scored a goal, his fifth this season, in the 52nd minute. Senior Ben Zemanski and junior Chris Korb each received an assist on the goal.
Nagbe concluded the scoring in the 63rd minute with a goal off of an assist by breshman Yoram Mwila.
UA plays their final away game of the regular season at Buffalo on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I've seen a lot of articles that talks about Akron being off to it's best start. I just looked at the schedule and Akron only has 4 games left, plus the MAC tournament. I can't believe how quickly they are moving in on an undefeated season. It's a little early, but hopefully this carries through the NCAA's. It would be great to have a national champion team from UA (and the MAC for that case).
I thought about that today… how REAL the possibility for the Zips to bring home a national championship this year in a fairly major sport. Its hard to believe considering the state of the other "football" team that the Zips are in position to make a ton of noise in the postseason. I am pumped and cannot wait. I am going to do everything in my power to be at every game once we get to the playoffs.
GO ZIPS!
The Akron Zips Soccer have consistently put out good teams, and any given year there is a strong chance they’ll be nationally ranked in NCAA division 1. This year they are 14 wins, zero losses and zero ties. The best start in the history of the program, and ranked No. 1 (NCAA DIV I) in the nation in every single poll. The have dominated in games against other top ranked programs like Ohio State (#15 at the time), and Indiana (#8 at the time).
Coach Caleb Porter and his athletes are phenomenally good. There are so many standouts that the whole team stands out. And, there are a lot of young stand outs setting the Zips up for strength in the years to come. Meves earned the starting position in goal as a freshman. At defense Korb (Jr.) has lighting quick speed to stop any attack, and frequently races up the wing in an offensive role feeding deadly balls to the Zips attackers. Valentin (Fr.) anchors the defense in the center, and Sarkodie (So.) has 6 assists to date from his defensive role. In the mid-field, where the game is controlled the Zips have – Ampaipitakwong (Jr.) who has amazing creativity with the ball, Zemanski (Sr. – capt.) who’s leadership and play making fuel the team, Gavin (Jr.) who’s dribbling and passing skills tie opponents in knots, and Nanchoff (RSo.) who penetrates opponents defenses and has proven lethal on set plays. Up top the forwards of Nagbe (So.), Bunbury (So.) and Mwila (Fr.) have combined for a blistering 95 shots with 21 of these resulting in goals.
This team isn’t just good, they are phenomenal, and they are right here in Akron. Remaining regular season home games are Oct, 28th and Nov. 4th and 7th, followed by the MAC and, when they qualify, NCAA tournament games. Don’t miss out on your chance to watch history unfold in your backyard.