GoZips.com
The No. 7 Akron Zips continued their quest of the Mid-America Conference with a 4-0 thrashing of the Univ. of Buffalo on Friday night. Junior Reinaldo Brenes (right), who previously had only one goal in 32 career Akron matches, exploded for a first half hat trick scoring in the 12th, 24th, and 38th minutes.
It was Akron's first hat trick since current Vancouver Whitecaps rookie Darren Mattocks achieved the feat against the same Bulls in the Zips' last meeting at Buffalo in 2011.
Senior Scott Caldwell, who assisted Brenes' second score, added his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 88th minute on a penalty kick. Akron has now gone 391 minutes without conceding a goal as senior David Meves picked up his 44th career Akron shutout—just four off the all-time record.
The Zips, who have won the last seven MAC regular-season titles, are also 42-2-3 against MAC schools under seventh-year head coach Caleb Porter. Moreover, UA has lost just once in its last 57 home matches (49-1-7), dating back to the start of the 2008 season. The win has them move up one spot in MLSsoccer.com's rankings to No. 3.
At least one Timbers fan attended the match at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field and made his way to greet Coach Porter.
Here too is Porter talking postgame along with Brenes about the match against Buffalo as well as some highlights. It's a fascinating analysis of how Porter sees the game. Most dominating stat perhaps? Akron did not allow a Buffalo shot on goal for the entire match:
Speaking of Brenes, the midfielder/defender made TopDrawerSoccer.com's Team of the Week along with Timbers U-23s' goalkeeper Spencer Richey who picked up a shutout for the Washington Huskies in their 1-0 win over Oregon State. Fellow Timbers U-23s' goalkeeper Justin Baarts also had a shutout for the University of Portland on Friday when the Pilots blanked the San Francisco Dons.
