The Zips (6-0) have defeated teams ranked No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 in the nation by a combined score of 9-0.
AKRON, Ohio — The Akron Zips put their consensus No. 1 soccer ranking on the line Friday night against No. 2 Tulsa and showed once again that all accolades are justified. So dominant was the Zips' 4-0 victory over the Golden Hurricane that -- save for several shots on goal -- an Akron crowd that was boisterous to begin the game became amazingly quiet most of the second half. Perhaps even the Zips are stunned by their overpowering play.
The Zips (6-0) have defeated teams ranked No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 in the nation by a combined score of 9-0, two of the wins coming on the road, then Tulsa (6-1) before a record 4,744 fans at Lee Jackson Field.
By 12:36 of the first half the Zips were already ahead, 2-0. The first goal was somewhat of a gift as a bullet off the toe of Akron's Kofi Sarkodie from 22-feet went off the head of Tulsa's Blaine Gonsalves, then deflected past the outstretched arms of Tulsa goalie Ray Clark and into the net.
Less than four minutes later, Akron's Michael Nanchoff sent a corner kick into the box, where a pair of Akron deflections landed at the foot of Perry Kitchen. He punched a goal into the net from 5 yards.
"They're very opportunistic," Tulsa coach Tom McIntosh said. "And they are very good on set pieces. They don't need many chances for goals. The problem is we got two goals down, then we had to chase the game. This is not a team you want to chase a game against."
Not only was the normally high-scoring Hurricane without a score, they only had two shots at the Zips, while Akron had eight.
The Hurricane did have two corner kicks to one for Akron in the opening half.
The second half started well for the Zips as they first defended yet another early corner kick from the Hurricane, then scored off a second corner kick for a 3-0 lead. It was extended to 4-0 at the 69:47 mark.
From there on, the main question seemed to be if the Zips' consecutive shutouts streak would be extended to an NCAA record-tying 11. Mission accomplished. The Zips join Furman (2002) and Virginia (2009) at 11 and look to set a new standard Wednesday against Ohio State in Columbus.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: ealexander@plaind.com, 216-999-4253