Anthony Macchione made eye contact with his teammate on the right wing. Then he made his mark on the Akron soccer community.
A freshman from Camas, Macchione on Sunday scored the goal that won the Mid-American Conference tournament and earned the Akron Zips an NCAA tournament berth. His goal in the 79th minute gave Akron a come-from-behind 2-1 win over visiting Bowling Green.
“To be honest, it was amazing,” Macchione said. “We have great fans and they were excited. The support we get here really makes a great environment.”
The goal was Macchione’s third of the season and second in three games. He has been used as a late-game substitute at forward much of the season, and that was the case on Sunday.
He said he made eye contact with the right back who had the ball on the right wing.
“I just crashed the near post and he sent the ball to me,” Macchione said.
His initial shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, but Macchione was able to put the rebound into the goal.
Akron, with 14 freshmen on the roster, won the Mid-American Conference regular-season title. But Macchione said the team felt like it had to win Sunday to be assured a postseason spot.
Akron will play at Ohio State on Thursday. Win that and the Zips will meet top overall seed Notre Dame in the second round.
Macchione played for the Portland Timbers Youth Academy and said that experience helped prepare him for the daily demands of college soccer, including the competitiveness of both training and in games. Still, college soccer has been an adjustment.
“It’s really physical. That’s been one of the main things I’ve had to adjust to,” Macchione said.
Locals in NCAAs
Union High graduate Mikhail Doholis is a junior on Oregon State’s NCAA Tournament team. He has played in 18 of the Beavers 19 games and has two goals and two assists this season. Making just their third NCAA appearance, the Beavers host Denver on Thursday.
Foster Langsdorf is another freshman from Southwest Washington headed to the NCAA Tournament. The Mountain View graduate has appeared in 12 matches for Stanford. He played 26 minutes on Sunday when the Cardinal beat California in overtime to clinch the Pac-12 championship. Langsdorf has one goal and one assist. Stanford will face the winner between UC Irvine and UNLV on Sunday.
Skyview graduate James Nosack, a sophomore at Washington, suffered a broken ankle early in the season and is expected to get a medical redshirt year. The Huskies host either Furman or Alabama-Birmingham on Sunday.
One local player whose college career has ended is Nick Palodichuk. The former Camas High standout finished his career when Duke was eliminated from the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Palodichuk played in 18 of the Blue Devils 19 games, finishing with four goals and two assists as the team went 9-9-1.
Union graduate Collin Partee started 16 games in goal as a freshman for a first-year program at Utah Valley. He was 7-6-2 with two shutouts.
