By FRANCO PANIZO
Akron's homefield advantage once again proved to be too much for an opposing team, and this time the victim was a familiar foe.
Akron extended its NCAA-record home winning streak to 43 matches with a 3-1 victory over inner-state rival Ohio State on Wednesday night in a match played in front of a record crowd of 5,819.
The Zips, currently ranked No. 6 on Fox Soccer/SBI's Top 25, took a 2-0 lead through 69 minutes on goals from DeAndre Yedlin and Thomas Schmitt. The 21st-ranked visitors cut the deficit five minutes later when Sebastian Rivas scored, but Luke Holmes killed off any hopes of an Ohio State comeback with a goal in the 82nd.
The win improved Akron to 6-0-2 while Ohio State fell to 5-4-1. The Zips remain as one of the current eight unbeaten teams in the country.
In other college games from around the nation:
UCSB FALLS IN BIG WEST OPENER TO RIVERSIDE
UC Santa Barbara took to the road for its Big West opener, and the No. 10 team in the country suffered a shocking 3-1 defeat to UC Riverside.
UCSB, which is now 6-2-1 on the season, fell behind 10 minutes in before equalizing on a finish from David Opoku. That was as good as it got for UCSB, as UC Riverside scored two more times in the second half to pull off the stunning upset.
ST JOHN'S SQUEAKS BY PRINCETON
It took 11th-ranked St. John's longer than it would have liked, but it avoided a surprise defeat by beating Princeton 3-2 in overtime.
St. John's got off to a 2-0 lead, but Princeton rallied with two goals in 12 minutes in the second half. That forced overtime, where the teams looked ready to draw until Pablo Battuto Punyed scored his first goal of the season with just 4.2 seconds remaining in the game.
St John's is now 6-2-1 on the year.
FOX SOCCER/SBI TOP 25 WEDNESDAY SCOREBOARD
James Madison 2, No. 14 West Virginia 0.
Central Florida 2, Kentucky 1 (OT).
No. 18 UC-Irvine 0, Cal Poly 1.
No. 25 Coastal Carolina's game against UNC-Wilmington was canceled due to lightning (the game was 0-0 at the time of cancellation).
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Impressed more by Akron's home winning streak or the record crowd that watched it defeat Ohio State? Surprised by UCSB's loss? What do you think of St. John's late win?
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