No. 1 UA secures 2-0 win over No. 3 Wake Forest

The opening weekend of the 2010 season turned out to be a total success for the University of Akron men's soccer team.
The top-ranked Zips secured a 2-0 win over No. 3 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Sunday night after defeating No. 4 North Carolina 3-0 in the season opener at Chapel Hill on Friday night.
''I think we could have done a little better,'' UA coach Caleb Porter said. ''But I told the guys after the game, for us to come out here and get two wins against two of the top teams in the country that were both in the final four, it is hard to be disappointed.''
A crowd of 4,583 gathered at Spry Stadium to watch the Zips collect their second win of the season against an Atlantic Coast Conference school.
''We are going to take a lot of confidence from this weekend,'' Porter said. ''To come out on the road and not just beat them, but to handily beat them, I am very pleased.''
Junior forward Darlington Nagbe assisted on the Zips' first goal and scored the second one.
''We came out and I thought we dominated,'' Nagbe said. ''We had possession of the ball for a majority of the game. We just proved to the country that we can go into two ACC stadiums and win.''
Freshman forward Darren Mattocks scored his first collegiate goal in the 15th minute off Nagbe's assist.
Nagbe's goal came in the 53rd minute off an assist from junior defender Kofi Sarkodie.
''Darlington is one of the best players in the country, hands down,'' Porter said. ''He proved that this weekend. He was fantastic today. When he gets going and into a rhythm like he did today, there are not many teams that can stop him.''
UA held an advantage in shots (6-4), shots on goal (3-0) and corner kicks (8-3).
Zips sophomore goalkeeper David Meves got the shutout.
Sarkodie, senior Chris Korb, and sophomores Chad Barson and Zarek Valentin were UA's starting defenders. The Zips starters at midfield were senior Anthony Ampaipitakwong, redshirt junior Michael Nanchoff, redshirt freshman Eric Stevenson and freshman Perry Kitchen.
Zips sophomores Scott Caldwell, Ben Speas and Thomas Schmitt entered as reserves with junior Michael Balogun and freshmen McKauly Tulloch and Martin Ontiveros.
UA will open Mid-American Conference play by traveling to Bowling Green to meet the Falcons at 1 p.m. Saturday.
‘‘We are pretty confident,’’ Nagbe said. ‘‘We will take on every team the same. We are taking each game one at a time and we will not try not to slip up.’’