William & Mary 1, No. 1 North Carolina 0
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Sophomore Jackson Eskay’s goal in the 73rd minute lifted the William & Mary men’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory at No. 1 North Carolina on Tuesday night. The victory was the third consecutive for the Tribe, all against ranked opponents.
The Green and Gold improves to 4-2-1 on the season with the victory, while North Carolina, which suffered its first loss of the season, drops to 3-1-3.
At the end of the first half both teams were still scoreless. The Green and Gold held a 5-2 advantage in shots, including a 2-0 advantage in shots on goal.
William & Mary found the winner in the 73rd minute. After senior Chris Perez sent a cross in the box junior Chris Albiston headed the ball in front of the goal. The ball, which passed through a defender ended up on the goal line. That’s where Eskay got his foot on it and won a battle with the goalkeeper to push the ball into the net. The tally, which was the fourth of the season for Eskay, gave the Tribe a 1-0 advantage.
The Tar Heels raced to find the equalizer, but were unable to find it. UNC had a pair of good looks in the final minutes of regulation. The first came in the 84th minute on a shot from Marco Sunol, but the shot was stopped by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Mac Phillips. Again in the 90th minute Alex Olofson put one a target, but Phillps stood strong, making the save.
Phillips earned his Colonial Athletic Association-leading fourth shutout of the season as he turned away three shots in the victory. Phillips, who has posted back-to-back shutouts, has not allowed a goal in 242 minutes of game play.
The victory was the second time this season that the Tribe knocked off the No. 1 team in the country. W&M defeated then-No. 1 Creighton, 3-2, in double overtime on Sept. 15.
It is the first time in school history that the Tribe defeated three consecutive ranked opponents. Head coach Chris Norris improves to 3-1-0 in regular season play against the top-team in the country.
No. 3 Creighton 2, Michigan State 2, 2OT
OMAHA, Neb. -- Third-ranked Creighton played in a program-record fourth consecutive double-overtime match Tuesday night as the Bluejays came away with a 2-2 tie against Michigan State at Morrison Stadium.
Creighton (5-1-1, 1-0-0 Big East) is 2-1-1 in the four-game span of matches that extended beyond regulation after Tuesday’s result against Michigan State (4-1-1, 0-0-0 Big Ten). It marks the first tie for the Bluejays since a 1-1 decision at Akron in the third round of the 2012 NCAA tournament. CU advanced 5-4 on penalty kicks against the Zips to advance.
Michigan State opened the scoring in the 13th minute off of a corner kick that bounced around in front of the Bluejay net. Fatai Alashe scored his first goal of the season on a deflection to make it 1-0 Spartans.
Almost eight minutes later, CU freshman Marvin Iskra scored a goal from eight yards out to beat MSU goalkeeper Zach Bennett on an assist from senior Bruno Castro to knot the score at 1-1. Creighton junior Jose Ribas also earned an assist after initiating the play from the left side.
The teams entered halftime tied 1-1. Creighton held an advantage in shots, 8-2.
MSU also scored early in the second half to take a 2-1 advantage. Keying on another crowd in front of the net, the Spartans were able to head in a shot to the right side of the goal. Tim Kreutz scored his third goal in three games on the header after a rebound off the crossbar.
Just under two minutes later, Castro helped the Bluejays even the score again. Castro headed in a goal from 15 yards out to beat Bennett. It marked his second goal of the season.
Creighton goalkeeper Alex Bolowich moved to 5-1-1 this year while Bennett went to 4-1-1 this season. Bolowich made three saves while Bennett notched four on the evening.
No. 8 Maryland 1, Old Dominion 1, 2OT
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Sophomore David Kabelik’s second half equalizer salvaged a 1-1 draw for the No. 8 Maryland men’s soccer team against Old Dominion at Ludwig Field on Tuesday night.
The Terrapins (2-2-3, 2-0-1 ACC) controlled possession for most of the game, but had a tough time breaking through a stingy Monarch (3-2-1) defense. Freshman Alex Crognale’s own goal gave ODU its only tally.
Maryland dominated the first half of play, outshooting the Monarchs 9-3. Patrick Mullins had the Terps’ best chance of the half, his hard left-footed shot forcing a save from ODU keeper Sean Stowe.
The second half was a back and forth affair with both teams creating quality opportunities. Kabelik’s shot from just inside the 18-yard box was well saved by Stowe just after the hour mark.
Old Dominion finally broke the deadlock in the 74th minute when a Monarch corner kick glanced off the back of Crognale’s head and past Zack Steffen. The freshman keeper kept the Terps in the game soon after with a fantastic acrobatic stop.
Maryland drew level in the 83rd minute. Senior Jake Pace laid the ball off to Kabelik who rocketed it past Stowe from 10 yards out for his first goal of the season.
Schillo Tshuma had the Terps’ best chance of the two overtime periods. The sophomore’s right-footed chip attempt cleared Stowe, but rolled just wide.
Steffen had another strong game between the sticks for the Terps, tallying a career high seven saves.
“I’m disappointed with the result. We squandered way too many chances in this game and looked like a tired team,” head coach Sasho Cirovski said. “We were not as sharp as we’ve been the last couple of games."
No. 10 Akron 1, Ohio State 0
AKRON, Ohio -- Tenth-ranked Akron dominated early and held on late in a 1-0 victory against Ohio State in front of 3,328 fans Tuesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium–Cub Cadet Field.
Zac Portillos scored the match's lone goal in the seventh minute and Robbie Derschang made a key defensive play late to preserve the win for the Zips, who improved to 6-2-0 on the year.
For the second consecutive match, Akron jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first half. Adam Najem initiated the play with a rocket that banged off the right cross bar and fell perfectly at the feet of Portillos, who cashed in with a shot that sailed over the keeper and into the back of the net.
UA was in complete control in the first half, out-shooting OSU 7-1 overall and putting three shots on frame, but a second goal did not come.
The Zips' pressure continued after the break and UA nearly broke through in the 56th minute when Najem sent a corner in from the left side of the field. Portillos squared it up and fired from 12 yards out, but the Ohio State keeper, Alex Ivanov, who finished the night with five stops, got a hand up to deflect it off the cross bar and out of harm's way.
Chasing the equalizer, the Buckeyes (2-3-2) threw numbers forward late and created a few frantic moments in the final 20 minutes.
One particularly dangerous moment came in the 86th minute when Alec Lowell whipped an OSU corner kick in that skipped across the goal and found the foot of Zach Mason. But Derchang crashed across the box and and blocked the shot to neutralize the threat.
The superb play of Zips goalkeeper Fernando Pina was also crucial in the final moments as the redshirt freshman did a commendable job managing his box on potentially dangerous Ohio State set pieces to earn his second consecutive clean sheet.
For the match, Akron out-shot Ohio State 15-6 and allowed just one shot on goal.
