AKRON, Ohio – The top-seeded University of Akron men’s soccer team staved off elimination with a goal in the 86th minute, then defeated No. 4 seed Hartwick, 3-0, in penalty kicks in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Friday night before 1,020 fans at Lee Jackson Field.

The defending MAC champion Zips (15-1-4) will host No. 2 seed Northern Illinois, which edged No. 3 Buffalo 1-0 in the first semifinal game Friday, in the title match Sunday at 2 p.m.

“The postseason is all about getting results and moving on,” said third-year UA head coach Caleb Porter. “I have to credit our guys for getting the result after giving up a late goal. Not many teams can come back from something like that. But it just shows the resilience and the character of this team.”

A goal by sophomore Chris Korb with less than four minutes remaining in regulation forced overtime after the Hawks (7-5-7) appeared to put the game away with the game’s first goal off the foot of Wilber Bonilla in the 79th minute.

Korb’s game-tying score was the first of his career and was set up by an Akron corner kick at the 86:06 mark. After a blocked shot by Ben Zemanski, Korb took the rebound and fired true into the left-hand corner of the net from the right side of the box. The shot knotted the game at 1-all and came from 12 yards out.

After two overtime periods, its was senior goal keeper Evan Bush’s time to shine as the three-time, first-team All-MAC senior stuffed all three Hartwick penalty kick attempts to lead the Zips to the victory.

“I thought our defense played very well and Evan Bush was tremendous,” Porter said. “It was a dog fight tonight but we found a way to win.”

Akron, which shot second, scored on all three of its attempts behind goals from Hermann Trophy candidate Steve Zakuani, senior Matt Tutich and junior Stefan Ostergren. Bush finished the night with four saves in 110 minutes between the pipes while Hartwick goal keeper Jeremy Vuolo made three saves in the complete-game effort.

It was all Akron in the early going as the Zips recorded the first three shots of the game and four of the first five, while out-shooting the Hawks 7-4 in the first half.

The Zips’ first scoring opportunity came in the 12th minute when Tutich slipped behind the Hartwick defense for a one-on-one with Vuolo, who smothered the attempt from 11 yards out.

UA kept the pressure on and had another chance when Aaron Henkle lifted a ball into the box in the 15th minute. But Vuolo made another fine save of the ensuing header by Anthony Ampaipitakwong to preserve the scoreless game.

The second half was a much more balanced affair – with UA owning a 11-8 shots advantage – and it seemed as though the game was headed for a scoreless overtime. But Bonilla banged home a deflected header from Summers from six yards out to set up another dramatic UA finish.

Zips Notebook: Akron is undefeated in its last 15 matches ... The Zips, who claimed their league-best 11th MAC regular season title, will attempt to sweep UA is 20-8-5 all-time in the MAC Tournament and 7-1-2 at Lee Jackson Field ... The Zips are undefeated in their last nine league tournament matches at Lee Jackson Field (7-0-2) and has gone to overtime in its last three including last year's double overtime wins against Northern Illinois and Buffalo ... Akron has allowed two goals this season in seven games against a MAC school. Both belong to Hartwick ... UA is 40-2-4 in 46 games at Lee Jackson Field since 2005, including a 10-0-1 mark this year.