MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 25 West Virginia University men's soccer team concludes the home portion of the regular season with a top-25 matchup on Senior Night against No. 9 Akron on Friday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. ET, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium.
 
The Mid-American Conference contest is a Dollar Night, where tickets and select concession items are just $1. Tickets are available at WVUGAME.com and at the DDSS ticket office. WVU students are admitted free with a valid WVU Student I.D.
 
As part of Friday's Senior Night festivities, West Virginia will honor its senior class of Jad Arslan, Heath Honold, Steven James, Joey Piatczyc, Joseph Reece, Jose Santos and Louis Thomas prior to the match.
 
To provide a safer environment for Mountaineer fans and to expedite entry into all ticketed WVU athletic events, the West Virginia Department of Intercollegiate Athletics enforces the NFL's Clear Bag Policy. The athletic department invites and encourages fans to visit WVUsports.com/clearbag for more information, to view pictures of permissible and non-permissible items and to obtain answers to frequently asked questions about the clear bag policy.
 
Fans unable to cheer on the Mountaineers in person can watch a live stream at WVUsports.com/Watch and follow live stats at WVUsports.com/Stats. Links to the live stream and live stats can be found on the men's soccer schedule page on WVUSports.com. Additional updates, news and notes will be available on social media by following and connecting with @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
 
"I feel like we're playing a top-25 team every game these days," WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. "They're another good team, an excellent team that, in my opinion, is really hitting their stride right now. We're going to have to be really good to beat them. A year ago, we went out there and found a great result on the road, beating them 3-1, but this is a new year. We won't look back at all, we'll look forward to what we need to do for this game. Akron's an excellent team, it's a top-25 matchup."
 
The Mountaineers (8-4-4, 0-1-2 MAC) welcome their third top-10 opponent to Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in the last four home contests. WVU went 1-1 in the first two meetings, with a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Michigan State and a 1-0 loss in overtime to No. 8 Western Michigan. West Virginia is ranked No. 25 in this week's Soccer America Top 25 and is in fourth place in the MAC standings with two points.
 
The Zips (11-3-1, 2-1-0 MAC) are ranked in the top 15 in all four major polls, coming in as high as No. 9 in this week's TopDrawerSoccer.com poll. Akron is tied for second place in the MAC with six points.
 
In the national statistical rankings, Arslan's three game-winning goals is No. 28 nationally and second in the MAC. Sophomore Albert Andres-Llop is No. 3 in the MAC with five goals, while junior Jorge Quintanilla is fourth in the conference in both total assists (5) and assists per game (0.33). In goal, junior Stephen Banick is fourth in the league with five shutouts and a .718 save percentage.
 
As a team, West Virginia's nine shutouts and .563 shutout percentage rank 12th nationally and second in the conference. WVU's nine shutouts are tied for fifth-most in a single season in program history.
 
SCOUTING AKRON
Akron comes to Morgantown with an 11-3-1 record and has won five in a row and nine of its last 10. The Zips are 3-3-1 on the road but started the season with a pair of top-16 road defeats. UA is 5-3-0 against top-25 opponents, including a 4-1 home win over then-No. 1 Michigan State and most recently a 3-0 win at No. 20 Pitt.
 
Jared Embick is in his fifth season as head coach of the Zips and owns a 72-22-10 record. Akron has won the MAC regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of Embick's first five seasons.
 
Nick Hinds leads the team with six goals and joins Sam Gainford with a team-high-tying 14 points. Skye Harter has produced five assists to lead the squad. In goal, Ben Lundt has allowed six goals in 11 matches played for a 0.53 goals-against average. He owns a .838 save percentage, has stopped 31 shots and posted five shutouts.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE ZIPS
West Virginia is 3-14-1 all-time against Akron, following a 3-1 road win at the No. 22-ranked Zips in 2016. WVU's first win came in 1967, a 4-3 triumph on the road. The Mountaineers also earned a 4-3 victory in 1973 at home. While West Virginia is 1-6 against Akron since joining the MAC in 2012, just two of those contests came in Morgantown, and four of the six defeats have been decided by one goal.
 
UP NEXT: REGULAR-SEASON FINALE
The regular season concludes on Saturday, Nov. 4, at MAC-newcomer SIU Edwardsville. Kickoff in Edwardsville, Illinois, is set for 8 p.m. ET.
 
LAST TIME OUT: NINTH SHUTOUT
Quintanilla converted on a penalty kick in the 65th minute to lead No. 25 West Virginia to a 1-0 victory over Penn on Oct. 24.
 
Quintanilla's goal helped the Mountaineers to their ninth shutout of the season, tied for fifth-most in program history. Freshman goalkeeper Steven Tekesky made three saves as WVU had nine of its 10 shots in the second half. The Quakers had six shots, four in the first half.
 
Quintanilla gave the Mountaineers a 1-0 lead at 64:52. The penalty-kick goal was his second goal of the season and gave him nine points on the year, tied for second-most on the team. In Tuesday night's non-conference victory, he led West Virginia with three shots and had one of WVU's two shots on goal.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.