When Ohio State Buckeyes midfielder Zach Mason went up to take a penalty kick on Thursday night’s match against the Akron Zips, 29 players had shot before him. The temperature had dropped at Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field in Columbus had dropped to a frigid 29 degrees and each team had to use players who had not even played during the actual match. Heck, Mason had never even scored in a match for Ohio State.
But his team still required him to lead them and the co-captain delivered, giving the Buckeyes the decisive goal in a 13-12 shootout victory.
Perhaps what is most interesting about this match was that the two teams only had 26 shots on target during regulation, meaning that there were actually more shots taken during the penalty shootout.
That is not to say that the match itself was devoid of excitement. Akron would take the advantage after 30 minutes when Adam Najern would hit a penalty shot past Buckeyes goalkeeper Alex Ivanov. The play was precipitated by a foul by a Buckeye defender on Akron.
The Buckeyes would get the equalizer in the 67th minute when midfielder Kyle Culbertson would finish off a free kick taken by Liam Doyle. Culbertson, who actually transferred from Akron to Ohio State in 2012, would also score in the penalty kick shootout.
Although the sheer number of goals was impressive, credit should go to both goalkeepers for keeping their teams in the match. Zips goalkeeper Jake Fenlason would make a critical save in the 11th round, with Ivanov matching him. But it was Ivanov’s decisive save against Robby Dambrot in the 15th and final round that would lift Ohio State past the 2010 NCAA Champions.
After such an affair, one might expect the road to be a bit easier for Ohio State. Alas the club might even have a more difficult task ahead as they will face defending NCAA College Cup Champions Notre Dame. The two sides have not met since the 2004 NCAA Tournament Second Round. The Buckeyes will hope history repeats itself as they won that match 2-1.
Other match results from the first round and second road pairings (online bracket can be found here🙂
Group 1
UNCW 2- Bucknell 0: Goals by Daniel Escobar (69:40) and Kalvin Kromer (66:24); Second Round Opponent: #16 Virginia (11/23 1pm)
Penn State 2- Hartwick 1: Goals by Jhevaughn Beckford (45) of Hartwick, and Mikey Minutillo (60′) and Brett Gravatt (74′) of Penn State; Second Round Opponent: #9 Syracuse (11/23 2pm)
#23 Old Dominion 3- St. Francis 0: Goals by Christian Schroreer (2′) and Sidney Rivera (28′ and 66′;) Second Round Opponent: #8 Georgetown (11/23 1 pm)
Group 2
#14 Xavier 2- Monmouth 1: Goals by Will Walker (14′) and Alex Ridsdale (103′) for Xavier and Emmanuel Agyemang for Monmouth (39′;) Second Round Opponent: #5 Indiana (11/23 1pm)
Oregon State 1- Denver 0: Goal by Jordan Jones (18′) Second Round Opponent: #12 Creighton (11/23 130pm)
Saint Louis 2- Tulsa 0: Goals by Kingsley Bryce (63:20′) and Robert Kristo; Second Round Opponent: #13 Louisville (11/23 6pm)
UMBC 0-Wake Forest 0: UMBC advances 3-2 on penalties; Second Round Opponent: #4 Maryland (11/23 530pm)
Group 3
Oakland 2- #24 Kentucky 0: Goals by Cody Archibald (55′) and Gavin Hoy (61′;) Second Round Opponent: #3 Michigan State (11/23 1pm)
Furman 1 (4)-UAB 1(3:) Goals by Ian Svantesson (13:43) for UAB and Lewis Hawke (37:53′) for Furman; Second Round Opponent: #14 Washington (11/23 8pm)
Darmouth 2-Fordham 1: Goals Robin Alnas (60:55′) and Alex Adelabu (85:42′) for Dartmouth and Christopher Bazzini for Fordham (78:58′) Second Round Opponent: #11 Providence (11/23 7pm)
UC Irvine 3- UNLV 0: Goals by Cameron Iwasa (6:30 and 35:16′) and Dennis Martinez (75:50′;) Second Round Opponent: #6 Stanford (11/23 8pm)
Group 4
#25 Coastal Carolina 1- FGCU 0: Goal by Martin Melchor (86′;) Second Round Opponent: #7 Clemson (11/23 7pm ESPN3)
North Carolina 6- James Madison 0: Goals by Andy Craven (41′, 53′, and 69′) Rob Lovejoy (46′,) Alan Winn (78′,) and Glen Long (85′;) Second Round Opponent: #10 Charlotte (11/23 2pm)
SIUE 1- Northwestern 0: Goal by Paul Scheipeter (80′;) Second Round Opponent: #10 California (11/23 4pm)
San Diego 2- CSU Fullerton 1: Goals by Keegan Smith (89′) and Dave Musambi (93′) for San Diego and Ian Ramos (13′) for CSU Fullerton; Second Round Opponent: #2 UCLA (11/23 10PM)