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I found this on the Toledo Rocket message board (their words not mine): "With 3 weeks in the regular season left there is a big discrepancy in the number of games each of the top contenders have left due obviously to COVID postponements. In looking at the standings the top teams have the following number of games left on their schedule – Toledo (6) Akron (7), Kent (7) Ohio (9) and Buffalo (9). Now looking at the remaining schedule for the contenders, these are games still left to play with postponed games at the end . Toledo – Miami, @Buffalo, Open, WMU, @CMU, Ball St. – NIU (Postponed) Akron - NIU, @Ball St, Open, BG, @ Buffalo, Miami, -- Buffalo, @Ohio, (Postponed) Kent – @WMU, EMU, Open, @Miami, Ohio, @Buffalo, -- @EMU, @Ball St, (Postponed), Ohio – Postponed, Open, Buffalo, @Kent @BG, -- @Miami, CMU,@NIU, EMU, Akron, @WMU, Buffalo - @EMU, Toledo, Open, @Ohio, Akron, Kent, -- @NIU, CMU @Akron, @CMU, (Postponed) With no games currently scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 23rd, everyone will be able to make up a game on that night. But that still leaves Akron and Kent with 1 additional game to play, Buffalo with 3 and Ohio with 5. Of those remaining postponed games left, for Toledo’s sake I hope they make up the Buffalo at Akron and Akron at Ohio games. With all that said, it will be interesting to see how the MAC schedules these postponed games and then how they go about seeding for the tournament."

Man, what a great preview! Thank you, TennZip!! I think this is going to be a rough one. Pitt looks like an extremely talented side (again, thank you TennZip) and the fact they played in the fall is huge. Last fall these guys went 7-1 with wins over Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Louisville, Duke, and had two wins over Notre Dame, until finally losing to Clemson 2-1 in the ACC championship game. We better be ready to go.

Let's get this topic started....for the first game of a new and exciting year What do we know about the opponent? Coached by former Wake Forest legendary coach Jay Vidovich Top Drawer soccer(TDS) has them rated pre-season as the #3 team in the country (TDS has the zips at 6) College soccer news has Pitt rated at #8 (our beloved zips are pre-season #26) Pittsburgh played soccer in the fall...and did quite well 3-1 win over Notre Dame on the road 3-2 double overtime win over Syracuse on the road 4-2 win over Va. Tech at home (10 goals in their first 3 games.....impressive high powered offense) 3-2 overtime win over Virginia on the road 4-1 win over the Louisville Cardinals on the road (17 goals in their 5 regular season games ....in ACC competition...wow ) ACC tournament 2-1 quarterfinal win over the Dukies....(game played in Raleigh) 3 days...later....3-1 semifinal win for Notre Dame (game played in Raleigh) 4 days later....2-1 loss in the ACC finals to Clemson (game played in Cary at Wake Med Soccer Park) https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2021/2/12/mens-soccer-pitt-welcomes-defending-national-champion-georgetown-for-exhibition.aspx the article above...has many good facts....on Pitt to highlight a few....and compare to the zips Top Drawer soccer(TDS) ....has put zip standout center back Carlo Ritaccio on their preseason 3rd team All America list TDS.....has one Pitt Player on their first team preseason All America team...and another player on their 2nd team All America list TDS....also does a preseason top 100 player list (Sophomores, juniors and seniors) Zips had Carlo at 24 and Colin Biros at 37 TDS...has 4 Pitt Players on their list ....#8 ; #15 ; #50 and #71 TDS...also put a Pitt Freshman on their 11 player preseason All Freshman TDS...did not select any zips to their All Freshman list this biased writer (yes, me...the always opinionated TennZip!!!)...says boo on TDS....Jason Shokalook....will be on TDS....all freshman list...after the season is over going to another source of info......The Hermann Trophy is presented after the season to the nation's best college soccer player....The group does a preseason Hermann Trophy watch list... I think that the list is normally about 45 players....No zips were included on the preseason watch list...2 Pitt Panthers...are on the Hermann Trophy Watch list both are sophomores.... 5'10 midfielder Valentin Noel from France...who has an active streak of 6 straight games with a goal scored https://pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/valentin-noel/10999 5'10 midfielder Veljko Petkovic (Serbia) scored 2 goals this year in one game against Notre Dame...had another game this year against Louisville ..where he had 2 assists https://pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/veljko-petkovic/11001 the zips did catch a break yesterday....Pitt was scheduled to play their one scheduled exhibition game yesterday against defending national champ Georgetown game had to be cancelled due to covid concerns in the Georgetown soccer program zips....getting to play 2 exhibition games...will help them against Pitt..... that is all I know.....can't wait for the game next Saturday....I am sure that Coach Embick will have the guys ready....Go, zips !!!

I think, for any MAC team, the farther a team advances in the tournament the more you have to look at the bench to see where teams can get a big hit (10 pts or more) to pull an upset. Toledo w/Sanders certainly fits that profile. Diggs at Bowling Green, Brewer at Buffalo and Sears at Ohio all come to mind. Might be others I'm missing. An experienced player w/live legs who can score on the third of three games/three days in a row is a bonus to keep an eye on.

Why didn't they stay in D-1? Have they transferred back up to a better school? We've already wasted too much time on this ?

Yes, anything can happen in a single elimination game. What I was more so wanting to get at is the only team that I want to avoid playing as long as possible is Toledo. I like Akron's chances against any of the other teams.

I guess that's one of the advantages of a 2:00 game. It can always be pushed back to later in the day. Like NWAKron, I suspect they're still in town from their visit to the Agricultural Exhibit and Animal Husbandry Center.

No D2 team is beating most MAC schools

Congratulations to Sam Harter for being names to the Beacon Journal boys soccer all star team https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/high-school/2021/02/14/beacon-journal-boys-soccer-all-star-team-features-multiple-players-hudson-copley-revere/6720282002/ Harter, a University of Akron men's soccer commit, was named the SLAC Player of the Year in 2020. He also was selected to the Division I All-Ohio second team as a senior midfielder, and was a first-team All-District and first team All-SLAC choice in each of the past three seasons. Harter finished his four-year varsity career with 29 goals and 22 assists at Copley.

anyone remember this? bit before my time.

Shocked that I am the one to drop this in here at last...? But...Ives Galarcep interviewed perhaps my all-time fave from the National Champions, Z. aka Mr. Z, or in Amish Country Zarek Valentin on his excellent podcast last week. At 29, Zarek is now the Houston Dynamo player rep and on the MLSPA Ex Comm. Ives and Z discuss among other topics the All Time College Soccer Final Four team, in which the 2010 Akron squad features prominently and they mention Zarek's brother Julian's Wake Forest team and have a great college soccer discussion. Another very interesting subject brought up is that Z's international football career may not be over, as he's very interested in playing for his ancestral Puerto Rican national squad. Hope the podcast stays up for a while, in case anyone misses it. The part with Zarek lasts over 45 minutes. https://sbisoccer.com/2021/02/the-sbi-show-episode-299-with-special-guest-zarek-valentin/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Thanks slowroll. Agreed on all of your points. Hopefully, we will see the team come together more quickly this season, and hopefully injuries are minimal although the inclement weather will not help. I like the attacking talent on this team as well as the many important players returning. Coaches can only do so much; I'm looking for some leaders to step up on the field and take charge (like Loren Christian Jackson does for Zips Men's Basketball). I met many of the newcomers last Spring before COVID set in, and I know they are quality people just like those returning and those who came before. I challenge them to take ownership and put in the hard work above and beyond that which they believe is already above and beyond. GO ZIPS!!!