The weather is going to be crap for this game.

Too bad its not being played here in Phoenix

The good news: With the annual AK-Bar Crawl and Sumner Fest going on all day, there should be some interesting heckling going on from the Rowdies.

Wright State scored within 2 minutes, Zips down 0-1. Wearing a new kit today. Gold with white sleeves. No numbers. Mevis didn't start. Akron just tied it at the 5 minute mark

Akron goes up 2-1 at the 17th minute

Apparently DeAndre has started up front on the right. Don't think he has played up front since he was 12

Akron goal with 3 seconds left in 1st. 3-1 at half

Apparent hat trick for Schmidt

WSU scores on a corner making it 3-2 about 25 min left

4-2 with 22 to go in 2nd

4th goal was PK by caldwell

5-2 with 10 minutes left

6-2 with 9 minutes left

Another schmidtty goal makes it 5-2 He is en fuego !!

Guess i missed one

6-2 final

6-2 final. Schmidt with 5 goals!!!

WOW...Schmitty scoring from everywhere possible tonight. FIVE GOALS, could have had six.

Very impressive. Good to see someone stepping up and taking the shots.

It was a great night for soccer.

Schmitt is making it nearly impossible for Porter to keep him on the bench. Wow!

Some of his tactics are almost "Messianic".

Awesome about tommy. Any idea who was in goal?

#23 Andrian McAdams. He had a good game.

As followers should know, I have been a true believer in Tommy's ability since the start (actually since seeing him in Development League Finals). Any holdout non-believers still out there?

we can now start speculating about the starting roster, we'll need a thread for that. Mevis started the 2nd half I think.

After witnessing this Spring, count me among the converted. Schmitt is our starting CF.

Meves saw no game time. Andrian played in goal the entire match.

What was the deal with the team playing in their warmups through the first half?

My guess (and it's only a guess) is that the Zips had their blue kits, given that they were wearing blue shorts. Wright State showed up in their dark green and probably only had those kits. The Zips were likely forced to play in a light color; so, they played the first half in their gold warm ups while someone went back to the end zone facility and got their white jerseys. The Zips then played the 2nd half with their white jerseys, but they were still wearing blue shorts. (The white kits have white shorts.)

Edit: The Zips could have also decided to start in a different color given that they also started in a different formation...not their usual 4-3-3. But, they started the 2nd half in that same formation and didn't switch back to their usual 4-3-3 until halfway or so through the 2nd half when they moved DeAndre back to his usual RB position and substituted Zac and Renaldo into the match.

Your kidding, right? Maybe we will become famous for the color-formation lineup.

Not if CP envisions Koroma there. Koroma is like Wil Trapp in that there's no way he's not starting as a freshman.

I hear you.

Koroma starting and Schmitt starting are not mutually exclusive. Koroma definitely can play Wing Forward whereas Schmitt plays much better on the inside.

I am slowly warming to the idea of Schmitt starting; he is playing THAT well. Seriously, had you witnessed the spring matches, you might be saying the same. Maybe ALL the freshmen will start; I do not know. I am just saying that Schmitt is not going to make such a decision easy for Porter.

Surely, you have heard by now that Yedlin started last match at Right Wing, Mohawk and all.

Oh yeah......

Uniforms looked great! White socks, blue shorts, and white jerseys. I think that is how it should be from here on.

I haven't been able to talk to him, but yes, I heard that. How did he look? Did we really come out in a 3-4-3?

Hey, don't get me wrong, I think TS is a really good player. I'm intrigued to see him inside. I just thought Korma was brought in to be that TF, if Schmitt is playing well there then I'm sure Koroma will go somewhere else.

#17 looked OK at RW. It was probably good experience for him to play that position in an actual match. It will keep him thinking about offense.

His speed and strength overcome other deficiencies. I would love to see DY develop a move to the left/inside. Even better if he acquires a lefty shot. He will then be unstoppable. He has athletic talent that other, more skilled, players can only dream of.

IMO!

PS. It certainly looked like a 3-4-3 to me.

Completely agree. Every time we talk about it he says that Porter absolutely does not want him going inside because it interferes with the runs that other players make. He's got the technical skill to do it, I just think he's tentative about actually trying it. That should come with time though, he only started playing right back about a year and a half ago.

Interesting!

What position did DY play in high school?

Center Mid for his HS team...more because he was the best player on the team than that being his actual position. He's basically played all over the field since he was younger, from forward to mid to sweeper and back to mid. He played left/center/right mid until going to U18 camp where Porter suggested he move to RB. He then played one season with the Sounders Academy at RB until he left for Akron. He fully admits his defending wasn't where it needed to be when he got to UA but it sounds like he has improved it greatly from beginning of regular season till the end of spring. Now I think he can stop worrying about that part of the game and focus more offense.

Yes, I was kidding about starting in a different color because of the different formation. However, I wasn't kidding that the Zips started and played about 3/4 of the match in a 3-4-3. About mid-way through the 2nd half, Zac & Renaldo subbed in, and DeAndre moved to RB, going with the usual 4-3-3.

Edit: For those who missed the match, it was fun to watch. Very cool to see the Zips try out the 3-4-3. Awesome coaches, awesome team. I admit I'm biased, but "Joe Northeast Ohio soccer fan" doesn't know what they're missing if they haven't checked out Caleb Porter's Akron Zips.

That is very interesting. Thanks for the information.

I would agree that DY is now a tough take; he rarely is burnt one vs. one. His positional/team defense has improved as well. He shows maturation from season to season, a great thing to see in a young player.

Just like everyone else, I expect BIG things from this kid. I have a really good feeling about the 2012 campaign to boot.

I'm with you. Also, if the past 2 seasons are any indication, I don't think we have the full list of incoming players, yet. (In 2010, we didn't know about Darren until late Spring or early Summer.)

Interestingly, the 3-4-3 is apparently on the table for next year. This wasn't just a last-game-of-spring line up tweak, they might be making some type of switch.

Well Porter has said in the past that the personnel dictate the formation. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we'll have three really good center backs. Maybe he figures with three really good CBs, they can basically be the backline and Dr. Dre doesn't need to track back as much to defend. Porter's right back has always been more of an attacker than a defender, so is this that much of a tactical change? Then, with a four man midfield, some good wingers and a quality center forward, I think maybe we could out-Barcelona Barcelona.

Obviously it's very attack-oriented, probably leaves the defense exposed and depends on really good defenders. Really, I don't mind giving up goals as long as we're scoring more. Ideally I'd rather concede none and score a bunch, but scoring goals is fun to watch, especially when Akron is doing it.

Yeah I don't know how good Wright St. is but dropping a TD on anyone is pretty damn good. I also wonder if Porter wanted to stretch the field a bit more...I don't think I'm out of line saying that DeA is (probably) the fastest player on the team and is up there nationally. We really didn't have anyone who could get in behind other than Darren and I don't know if you want your target guy being the one to make the runs to the corners etc.

I do. 20 years ago they were pretty good. Now, not so much.

Come on...you could have said they were great and made us all feel really good

Yes. I think it's an option that the Zips want to have in the Fall.

Wright State was very good 30 years ago. Wow, am I really that old? Perhaps the best player I ever played against was Hylton Dayes, who was named all-American all four years of his career at Wright State. He is currently the Mens’ head coach at Cincinnati.

You may be even older than you think. 30 years ago Hylton was in high school.
Hylton always reminded me of Hayden Knight who played for Marquette back in the late 70s.

I may be old, but I am not senile.

2012 - 1982 = 30

http://www.nmnathletics.com/ViewArticle.db...DB_OEM_ID=27000

http://www.gobearcats.com/sports/m-soccer/...s_hylton00.html

Well I'm not conceding that you are not senile, but in this case you aren't wrong. In my old age apparently I confused his time at WSU as the women's coach with his playing time.