2014 MAC Men's Soccer Championship to Open Friday

AKRON, Ohio - The quest for the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship returns to the University of Akron this weekend as the MAC's top four teams battle it out Friday and Sunday.



The MAC Semifinals will open Friday at 4:00 PM ET when the No. 2 West Virginia Mountaineers meet the No. 3 Bowling Green Falcons. WVU will be led by Player of the Year, Andy Bevin, Freshman of the Year, Joey Piatczyc, and Coach of the Year Marlon LeBlanc. For the Flacons, it will be the quintet of Falcons that earned All-MAC second team honors which includes Danny Baraldi, Pat Flynn, Jake Genrich, Ryan James and Jacob Roth. During the regular season, West Virginia defended their home pitch, knocking off the Falcons 2-1 in Morgantown.



The second semifinal will feature the No. 1 Akron Zips and the No. 4 Western Michigan Broncos. Western Michigan returns to Akron after coming in and stunning the Zips in the regular season, as WMU topped Akron 1-0. For the 2014 regular season champs, it was the only stumble they had along the way to their 10th consecutive MAC regular season title. The Broncos will look to do it again behind three All-MAC First Team members, Sean Conerty, Connor Furgason, Nick Wysong. The Zips will counter with first team members Saad Abdul-Salaam, Jake Fenlason, Adam Najem and Andrew Souders, as well as Richie Laryea, Stuart Holthusen and Victor Souto. The Zips and Broncos are slated to start at 7:00 PM Friday following conclusion of the WVU/BGSU match.



Both games can be seen live on the MAC Digital Network for free.



Winners of each game will advance to Sunday to play in the MAC Men's Soccer Championship Match at 1 PM.



For complete coverage of the 2014 MAC Men's Soccer Championship visit www.mac-sports.com and the Men's Soccer Championship homepage.