TOLEDO, OH - Junior Sarah Blake scored the match's lone goal in the 54th minute to lead Toledo to a 1-0 shutout victory over Akron on Friday at soggy and cold Scott Park. With today's win, the Rockets improve to 7-4-2 overall, 3-1-1 in the Mid-American Conference.
"I thought we played well and moved the ball effectively despite the poor conditions," Toledo Head Coach Brad Evans said. "We put the ball in some dangerous situations for Akron and it took a restart to get the goal. We'll take the win and the three points. I also thought Akron played well. They are very dangerous upfront and a hard-working team."
UT's Blake did a great job of maneuvering herself in between a couple of Zips' defenders on a corner kick by freshman Rachael Kravitz and used her heel to direct the ball into the back of the net. The match-winning goal was her first of the season at 53:25 of the second half.
"Rachel played a perfect cross, and I was in the right place at the right time to finish the play," said Blake, who also scored the match's only goal in Toledo's 1-0 home triumph against Akron two years ago. "It just feels so good to be back playing with the team and contributing (Blake missed seven matches with an injury earlier this season).
Added Evans, "At the highest level of soccer, restarts are high percentage of a team's goals, and today we were fortunate enough to poke one home on a corner kick."
The Zips (3-6-2, 1-3-1 MAC) started quickly and were presented with a golden opportunity to jump on the scoreboard first on a shot by Rachel Phillip at 2:05. Teammate Jordan Baranowski looped a pass over the last line of UT defenders to a racing Phillips, who was one-on-one with Toledo sophomore netminder Vicki Traven. Fortunately for the three-time defending MAC tourney champs, Traven did a good job cutting down Phillips' angle and forced her shot wide.
For the next 12-plus minutes, neither squad generated much of an attack with the inclement weather picking up, until UA's Britni Back had a quality scoring chance at 14:07. Back beat both a UT defender and the goalie down the left, but her present position with the ball would not allow her a good look at the goal. She took a couple dribbles toward the middle and fired a shot, but the UT defense quickly recovered and cleared her shot off the line.
As the first half progressed, Toledo had its first substantial scoring strike off the foot of senior two-time MAC Player of the Year Molly Cornwell at the 17:22 mark. UT's all-time leader point scorer received a pass in space on the left side and swiftly pulled the trigger with a left-footed shot, but Akron goalie Jeny Wolbert made a nice diving save to keep the match scoreless.
The Rockets rode the momentum from Cornwell's near goal and a header by senior Ali Leak came within inches of giving the home team the advantage at 26:10. Cornwell played a beautiful cross into the middle of the UA goalbox to Leak, who headed the ball on goal. Much to the dismay of the Rockets, Leak's shot ricocheted off the crossbar and out of play.
The rain started and stopped on numerous occasions in the match and made the footing for both teams tough at times. In the waning moments of the period, UA had one last scoring chance by Katie Wise at 34:46. Wise beat a couple of defenders down the left side and blasted a shot towards the top-left corner of the net, but UT's Traven came out of nowhere to punch it over the bar and out of danger.
To start the second half, Toledo was determined to jump on the scoreboard first and came inches away from doing just that at 45:36. UT's Cornwell pulled the string a shot that looked unstoppable, but another Wolbert diving save denied the home team.
UT stayed the aggressor and it paid huge dividends on the match's eventual winning score off Blake's heel and kept the Midnight Blue and Gold undefeated in five all-time home matches against the Zips.
"I'm so happy for Sarah," Evans said. "She has worked hard to get herself back in playing shape and it's good to see her score a goal. She is starting to find her rhythm after missing the last month-and-a-half."
With darkness settling in and the rain coming down pretty hard, neither team generated much offense until the very end when UA made one final push for the equalizer. The Zips' Phillip crossed the ball to Jordan Clark, who was alone at the top of the UT goalbox on the leftside at 86:41. Her low shot sailed just wide of the target to preserve the victory for the Rockets.
"I thought both teams handled the playing conditions very well," Evans said. "I don't think the weather had too, too much of an affect on each team's play."
Offensively, Cornwell paced UT's attack with a conference season-high seven shots. Between the posts, Traven was strong once again and finished with six saves to tally the Rockets' sixth shutout in 2009.
TOLEDO 1, Akron 0
UT: S. Blake (R. Kravitz), 53:25
SHOTS: UT 15, UA 10
CORNER KICKS: UT 8, UA 6
SAVES: UT 6, UA 4
FOULS: UT 6, UA 10
