Akron was the highest remaining seed in the NCAA Tournament to fall in the third round when the No. 5 Zips fell at unseeded Northwestern, 1-0, in a game that was decided by two shots two minutes apart in the second half — a Northwestern shot into a fierce wind that found the upper corner and an Akron shot that hit the crossbar.
The game had been moved from Akron because of concerns about the playability of the Zio’s home field but the conditions weren’t exactly ideal in Evanston, where winds gusted up to 23 miles per hour and there was a mix of rain and snow
With the wind at its back, Akron outshot Northwestern, 12-2, in the second half but suffered just its second loss of the year when Jack Hillgard found senior Geoff Fallon, who had slipped behind the UA back line on a counter, in the 61st minute. Fallon lofted the ball into the upper right-hand corner of the net from about 11 yards out for his first goal of the season.
UA’s best scoring opportunity came in the 64th minute when Ben Zemanski‘s shot from the left side of the box banged off the crossbar.
NOTABLE. The quarterfinal berth equals Northwestern’s longest run in the NCAA Tournament, matching that of the 2006 squad.
GAME SUMMARY:
Nov. 30 in Evanston, Ill.
Northwestern 1 Akron 0. Goal: Fallon (Hillgard) 62.
Northwestern — Rosenthal, Coleman, Ratner, Stanley, Usinger, Blades, Voigt, Fallon, Bellizzi, Pett, Eliason. Subs: Kupe, Valenta, E.O’Neill, Hillgard, P.O’Neill, Pavlovich.
Akron — Bush, Henkle, Sarkodie, Korb, Dagilis, Nagbe, Gavin, Ampaipitakwong, Zemanski, Tutich, Zakuani. Subs: Michalsen, Bunbury, Ostergren.
Referee: Tony DeLois.
Att.: 568.