Ohio State Faces In-State Foe No. 4 Akron

Buckeyes travel to Akron for non-conference match vs. the unbeaten Zips

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men's soccer team takes on defending national champion and fourth-ranked Akron at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field in Akron, Ohio, completing its three-game stretch vs. 2010 NCAA College Cup teams. The Buckeyes enter the contest vs. the unbeaten Zips (5-0-2) at 5-3-1 after knocking off Michigan, 3-2, in overtime Sunday on BTN.
 
IF YOU GO
Limited tickets remain for the match Wednesday. General admission tickets – $10 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 3-14) – are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking on GoZips.com/Tickets, calling 1-888-99-AKRON (25766).
 
LIVE ACTION
The Akron game will be streamed live online for free by GoZips.com or can be followed via live stats, both of which are linked through OhioStateBuckeyes.com, on the front page, as well as the men's soccer schedule page. Twitter updates can be received from @OhioState_MSOC.
 
IN A NUTSHELL
Ohio State is 5-3-1 on the season after defeating Big Ten rival Michigan, 3-2, in overtime Sunday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in front of a season-high 985 fans. Chris Hegngi, the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week, leads the team and conference with five goals. He is followed by his older brother, Parnell Hegngi, with eight points off six goals and a pair of assists. Eight players have started all nine games this season with the remaining three spots divided among five players. As many as three starting spots have gone to rookies this season and a total of 11 players have tallied at least one point with 15 assists on 13 of the team’s 16 goals.
 
SCOUTING THE ZIPS
At 5-0-2, the defending national champion Zips are one of eight remaining unbeaten Division I programs this season. They are unbeaten in their last 17 games, dating back to last season, and currently have a NCAA record 42-game home unbeaten streak. Akron is led in scoring by the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week Darren Mattocks’ seven goals, three of which came in the Zips’ 3-0 win at Tulsa Saturday for his second career hat trick, and one assist. Scott Caldwell is just a point behind with four goals and six assists to his credit. David Meves mans the goal and has allowed just two on the season for a .263 goals-against average, good for fourth in the nation, and five shutouts. Caleb Porter is in his sixth year as head coach at Akron and is the NCAA’s winningest active coach (percentage) with at .841 (90-13-10).
 
SERIES HISTORY
Akron leads the all-time series against Ohio State with a 24-6-3 (.772) record. In the regular-season meeting a year ago, David Tiemstra forced overtime with a goal with two seconds remaining in regulation as the No. 19-ranked Ohio State men's soccer team foiled top-ranked Akron's NCAA record streak and battled to a 2-2 tie in front of a Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium record crowd of 7,255 Sept. 30, 2010. The Zips had not allowed a goal since Nov. 15, 2009, a streak of 11 games, tying the NCAA record previously set by Furman (2002) and Virginia (2009). Ohio State (5-2-2) is the first team to score two goals since Nov. 7 of 2009 when Hartwick put up a pair during its regular-season meeting with Akron.
 
THE BROTHERS HEGNGI
Chris and Parnell Hegngi have combined for over one-third of the Buckeyes’ total scoring this season with 18 points between the two of them. With five goals to his credit, Chris leads the team and Big Ten in goals scored, while Parnell is second on the squad in points with eight off three goals and two assists. Each brother has earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors so far this season (Chris – Sept. 26 and Parnell – Sept. 5).
 
GOALS GALORE
The Buckeyes have scored 16 goals through nine games, a mark it took them 15 games to hit a year ago. They have tallied three or more goals on four occasions, including a combined seven goals over the two games in the Wolstein Classic. The team previously had not scored at least three goals in a game since the 2009 season and the last time they scored more than four combined goals in back-to-back games was during the 2007 NCAA Tournament and wins over UC Santa Barbara (4-1) and Bradley (4-0) on Dec. 2 and 9, respectively. The last time a Buckeye squad accomplished the feat of scoring three-plus goals in four games also was in 2007 (five games).
 
POW PERFORMANCE
Chris Hegngi was named the men's soccer Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of Week Monday after scoring the game-winning goal in the Buckeyes' overtime victory vs. Michigan Sunday to increase his conference-leading goal total to five. The Silver Spring, Md., native's goal came 34 seconds into the first overtime period off an assist by Omar Vallejo. He was played the ball from the right side of the penalty area and took advantage of the charging goalkeeper to send it by him into the right corner for the Buckeyes' first overtime victory since Oct. 17, 2010, vs. Valparaiso (1-0 in Columbus). The last Buckeye recognized by the conference was the elder Hegngi, Parnell, with offensive player of the week honors Sept. 5, 2011.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Buckeyes defeated Michigan, 3-2, in overtime, Sunday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in front of 985 fans. Chris Hegngi scored the game-winning goal 34 seconds into the first overtime period with the help of Omar Vallejo's second assist of the game as the Buckeyes improved to 5-3-1 on the season and 1-0-0 to open the Big Ten.  The Wolverines (2-7-1) made Ohio State work for the win, battling back from a 1-0 deficit to take the lead midway through the 85th minute. Parnell Hegngi tallied the equalizer 1:37 later, with just under four minutes remaining in regulation, setting up his younger brother to put away the victory.
 
UP NEXT
Ohio State remains on the road for a Big Ten clash with Michigan State at noon Sunday at DeMartin Soccer Complex in East Lansing, Mich. The match will be televised live on BTN with Dean Linke and Chris Doran calling the action. The Buckeyes have defeated the Spartans, who are 2-5-2 on the season after defeating UIC, 2-1, Tuesday afternoon, in each of the last six meetings.