Second-half explosion buries men's soccer in blowout loss

Losing is bad enough, but being blown out of the water by the opposition is even worse. Men's soccer learned that lesson the hard way on Friday night, suffering a humiliating 6-0 loss against No. 22 Akron.

Six different players scored for the Zips (3-0) against the overmatched Princeton (1-1 overall, 0-0 Ivy League).

Playing before a friendly home crowd at Lee Jackson Field in Akron, Ohio, the Zips celebrated their 50th year of being a varsity sport with an offensive barrage that Princeton was unable to counter. It was not, however, a simple sustained offensive effort that sunk the Tigers.

"We knew what they were going to do," sophomore forward Jame Wunsch said. "They wanted to sit back and play defense and then counterattack."

It was on a restart corner kick that Akron drew first blood in the 18th minute. Forward Ross Mackenzie headed the ball past senior goalkeeper Erik White, with midfielder Hans Jorgen Haugland, who was first team all-MAC in 2003, earning the assist.

"All of their goals were either on counters or on restarts and that's what really killed us," Wunsch added.

The second goal of the game came in the 35th minute of the first half on an Akron counterattack. Defender Alex Odwell, another 2003 first team all-MAC honoree, sent the ball to streaking forward Brendan Murphy who beat White one-on-one with a low drive to the far post.

As the two teams entered the locker rooms at halftime, the Tigers had been outshot 8-5, but were trailing only 2-0. Any hopes of a comeback, however, were quickly ended by the Zips in the second half.

Akron struck again in the 57th minute when midfielder Yohann Mauger scored on a give-and-go pass with fellow midfielder Steve Kalan.

This set off a furious offensive bombardment by the Zips, who proceeded to score three goals in five minutes, leaving the Tigers shell-shocked.

Odwell scored in the 60th minute and midfielder Amico Difranco scored in the 61st to give Akron a 5-0 lead, putting the game effectively out of reach. Both goals were unassisted. Odwell's goal was his third of the season.

White was substituted out of the game in the 63rd minute, after allowing five goals and making just two saves. He was replaced by junior keeper Bobby Guelich, seeing for the first time this season, for the final 27 minutes.

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Guelich managed three saves for the Tigers and allowed only one goal. Akron reserve forward Pablo Moreira scored an unassisted, empty-net goal in the 77th minute to round out the score at 6-0.

Zips' goalkeeper Justin Christafaris had four saves to notch his second shutout of the season.

Junior midfielder Neil Chaudhuri led the Tigers with three shots, followed by senior reserve midfielder Arturo Tafolla with two. But the Tigers proved unable to shoot anything by Christafaris. Overall the Tigers were outshot by the Zips 16-9.

Despite the blowout, the team remains optimistic that it can rebound.

"It was a learning experience that showed us our weaknesses," Wunsch said. "I am confident that we can build from this and perform at a higher level in the future."

The Tigers will be back in action tomorrow night for their first home game of the season. They face Drexel at 7 p.m. The team then travels to Philadelphia next weekend to take on Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday and South Carolina on Sunday. Their league schedule begins October 2 with a home game against Dartmouth.