Top-ranked Akron took advantage of a free kick in the 75th minute when Gier Nyheim found the back of the net from 20 yards out as the Zips escaped Lee Jackson Field with a 1-0 victory over Kentucky on Sunday.
The loss ends the Wildcats regular season at 6-7-5 as they head into the Conference USA tournament on Nov. 9. Tournament seeding has yet to be determined. Akron remained the nation’s lone unbeaten team at 16-0-1.
In the 10 minutes before the goal, Kentucky’s Ben Langwith had two chances to give the Wildcats the lead. In the 66th minute, he took a tremendous ball from Jess Mitchell in the box and beat goalkeeper Evan Bush. However, his shot found slightly too much of the crossbar, bounced straight down and was cleared off the line.
In the 74th minute, Brandon Stewart served in a cross that found Langwith’s foot at the six-yard box. Again, he got a shot off, but sent this one just wide. A minute later, Akron found the winner.
“We had opportunities and, to be fair, I thought we should have been up a couple of goals in the second half,” Kentucky head coach Ian Collins said. “Our freshmen did a tremendous job up front creating chances for us, we just couldn’t finish.”
Kentucky was called for a foul in the middle of a scrum to give the Zips a free kick two yards outside of the 18 just left of the goal. The Wildcats set up a five-man wall and Yohann Mauger played the ball to his right to Nyheim for a clear shot around the wall.
“It was a tough way to give up a goal,” Collins said. “I thought the call was questionable and gave them a big advantage for a shot.”
The Zips, which feature the nation’s top scoring offense at better than three goals per game, were held in check all afternoon by the UK defense. Kentucky did not allow a shot in the first 15 minutes of the game and gave up just five total on goal.
Matt Augustine had the Zips best chance before they scored when he fired off a shot from the penalty spot in the 54th that Gruenebaum stonewalled.
“The back four was great,” Collins said. “Akron has two of the best goal scorers in college soccer and I thought they were total non-factors. That’s a credit to our defense.”
Kentucky applied offensive pressure most of the contest, forcing seven corner kicks as well as countless scoring chances. However, the Wildcats could not bury a chance as they were shutout for the second straight game.
As UK pressed forward late, Akron nearly doubled its lead on a counterattack in the 89th minute. Justin Sadler found himself wide open in the box and had Gruenebaum moving to his right. He fired behind Gruenebaum, who stuck out his left foot for a world class save.
The Wildcats played without three starters as Thomas Senecal and Matt Baum did not play to protect against picking up a fifth yellow card of the season. Leading scorer Riley O’Neill also sat out with a nagging knee injury.
“We felt it was more important for us to make sure everybody was prepared for the conference tournament than to play in this game,” Collins said. “It gave us a chance to throw some younger players into the mix and they responded with great efforts.”
The Wildcats remained winless at Akron in six games.
