The Akron Zips removed any doubt about deserving their pre-season No. 1 ranking by completing a two-game sweep of top ACC opposition with a 2-0 win at No. 3 Wake Forest on Sunday.
Junior striker Darlington Nagbe scored a goal and set up another to give the Zips defense all it needed to work with. Akron's back-line shut down the normally potent Wake Forest attack, holding the Demon Deacons without a shot on goal in the entire match.
While Wake struggled on Sunday, One ACC team that did impress was defending national champion Virginia, which throttled No. 17 St. John's, 5-0. Freshman Brian Span recorded two goals and an assist to improve the No. 2 Cavaliers to 2-0.
Perhaps the most impressive individual performance came from Indiana striker Will Bruin, who notched his first career hat-trick in leading the No. 20 Hoosiers to a 5-0 thrashing of No. 5 UCLA. Indiana shook off a loss to California on Friday with a dominant effort against a highly-regarded but young UCLA squad.
Here is a rundown of some of the top teams in the nation fared this weekend:
SUNDAY COLLEGE SCOREBOARD
No. 4 North Carolina 4, Seton Hall 1. Sophomore Enzo Martinez scored a pair as Tar Heels rebound from Akron loss.
No. 6 Maryland 5, Northeastern 0. Junior forward Casey Townsend scored a pair as Terps regroup following upset loss to Michigan State.
St. Mary's 3, No. 9 Northwestern 2. St. Mary's jumped out to a 3-0 lead and Northwestern fell short in its attempt to avoid an 0-2 start.
No. 15 Monmouth 2, SUNY-Binghamton 0. Senior forward Ryan Kinne scored both goals to lift Monmouth to a second straight victory.
No. 18 Ohio State 2, Buffalo 0. Senior Konrad Warzycha converted a pair of second-half penalty kicks to lift the Buckeyes to their second straight win.
No. 19 Portland 2, Evansville 1. Senior Ryan Luke scored both goals for the Pilots, who won the Nike Invitational Tournament with the victory.
No. 20 Louisville 2, North Carolina St. 1 (OT). Sophomore Buck Tufty scored the game-winner in overtime to lift Louisville to a
West Virginia 3, No. 23 UNC Wilmington 2 (OT). Junior striker Franck Tayou scored the overtime game-winner for the Mountaineers.
Georgetown 4, No. 24 Michigan State 0. Whether it was a letdown after an emotional win against Maryland, or Georgetown simply having a great game, Michigan State was humbled on Sunday.
California 0, Notre Dame 0. Junior goalkeeper David Bingham recorded nine saves to help California stay unbeaten and win the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic Tournament.
SATURDAY SCOREBOARD
No. 7 Tulsa 3, Seattle 1. Junior Austin Neil scored a hat-trick in Tulsa's season-opening victory.
No. 8 Cal-Santa Barbara 1, New Mexico 1. Sophomore striker Sam Garza scored the equalizer to help keep UCSB from starting the season 0-2.
No. 12 Boston College 1, Quinnipiac 0. Junior Conor Fitzpatrick's 89th-minute penalty kick helped BC improve to 2-0.
No. 22 Connecticut 3, Yale 1. Freshman Mamadou Doudou Diouf scored a pair of goals to help the Huskies improve to 2-0.
No. 10 Harvard vs. No. 13 Stanford. Sophomore Brian Rogers scored an 80th-minute winner to help Harvard win its opener, while forcing Stanford to fall to 0-2.
Saint Louis 0, No. 16 South Florida 0. Saint Louis' Nick Shackelford and South Florida's Jeff Attinella recorded two saves apiece in this scoreless encounter.
——————–
What do you think of these results? See anybody beating Akron? Surprised by Indiana's blowout of UCLA? Is Virginia still the team to beat?
Share your thoughts below.