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Top Drawer soccer.....says that Marshall at Akron is a top 10 matchup #7 Zips hosting the #9 Thundering Herd https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men Top Drawer soccer has some Marshall players in their preseason upper classmen top 100 Milo Yosef (Aachen)...a forward...is rated #26....pre season 3rd team all american Jamil Roberts (Langport, EN) , a midfielder is rated #42 Top Drawer soccer shows Marshall as 3-0-0 they started with a cupcake... west virginia institute of technology...a 10-1 win for Marshall 8 goals in 2nd 2nd half...the previously mentioned Milo Yosef had 2 goals Jan-Erik Leinhos and Vitor Dias also had 2 goals..and each had one assist in 2nd game , they beat E. Tennessee State 2-0 Vitor Dias scored his 3rd goal of year this past saturday, Marshall defeated a very good Bowling Green 1-0 Leinhos scored his 3rd goal of the year on a PK at 73 minutes Marshall led 14-2 in shots 5-0 in shots on goal and 4-0 in corner kicks quotes from recap https://herdzone.com/news/2021/2/27/mens-soccer-earns-third-straight-shutout-in-win-over-bowling-green.aspx "What a great game," Herd assistant coach Petsa Ivanovic said. "Bowling Green is a very well-organized team, one of the best organized in college soccer. We gave our guys a lot of information on them and they did a good job to execute the game plan. We were so close on a few of those opportunities. If Milo (Yosef) had a little more luck and if Jan-Erik (Leinhos) had a little more luck, then those shots off the crossbar make it in. But, we were able to get the penalty kick with the foul against Jamil (Roberts) and Jan-Erik did a good job to convert. "Looking forward to our next matchup against a very good Akron team on Tuesday." In fall 2019....Marshall had a record of 16-3-3 that included a 2-1 win over Akron (at Marshall) on Sep. 21 they won conference usa tourney with wins over Kentucky and Charlotte they beat MAC champ west virginia 2-1 in first round of ncaa tourney and then they lost to Washington in 2nd round the previously mentioned Jamil Roberts had 2 assists and 1 goal

There are so many players in the portal right now and so little scholarships available. I'm sure the staff is doing their due diligence and will use the majority of the 4-5 or whatever they may have on players they think can help the team out immediately. We are in the middle of a semester so there is really no a reason to rush it. Not like getting a commit now means a player will be on campus immediately and be able to participate in spring ball. At this point the earliest would be summer workouts/camp. Not to mention, just because we don't hear something doesn't mean nothing is happening. Our coverage blows.

No time, been working on the team's defense and shooting. Also trying to get them to drive to the basket instead of settling for the long three ball. (LOL)

They probably don't get to a second game if they lose the first. 😁

I dont have any expectations this year especially if the Zips go 0-4 to end the season. However, if they are in the opposite side of draw from Toledo and Buffalo I think they have a chance. Also, if Zips win their first game on Thursday, the Groce magic may carry them through. But that first game is key.

Simulator for MAC tournament seeding. They don't account for only having 8 seeds but pretty easy to figure it out for yourself. Zips can finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th. Can't find a single scenario where they drop out of the top four. And if all of the games are played and they at least beat Miami they don't finish lower than 3. Is there anyone in the top six you don't think could win the whole thing?

Broadcast update: The game is being broadcast on ESPN 3

Problem with playing them again is like playing three different teams with the same name: first game they had Nuga and it was a nailbiter to the finish; second game they didn't have Nuga or Hamilton and Zips shredded them with the long ball; now they still will be w/o Nuga, but Hamilton is back and more importantly they have had time to get their new act together. Unlike before they won't hold up in a shootout with the Zips w/o Nuga. But the argument can be made their defense has improved while the Zips .... well. That said, Buffalo, Ohio, BG all can put a knot in the stomach right now for the Zips along with Akron's neighbors. So does it really matter. Let's just play ball.

As always it comes down to the tournament and whatever comes with that. Our "special" team may not have won their 3rd game against Ohio in the quarterfinals last year. Taking out the bottom 4 makes it a true dogfight in Cleveland. These losses shake the nerves but can anyone predict what will happen in Q-Final match ups between: Toledo/Ball State Buffalo/Miami Akron/Bowling Green Ohio/Kent State But realistically, looking at the scores today, over the past week, and who has the schedule that will build confidence going into Cleveland, the #1 and #2 seeds will be Buffalo and Toledo. The Zips with their 5'8" point guard and "the rest" just don't have a chance to even make it to the finals.

72Roo, excellent mention of the short passing game. The great Zip teams of the past 10-12 years had that excellent ground game: short , mid-range and even longer passes. Great ground game passing really wears a defense down, IMHO.

The Zips were the better team, no doubt. The first half was pure vintage Akron soccer. Lots of possession, pressure and penetration. In the second half we lost the rhythm and let a less talented team back in the game. To me the midfield seemed to fall apart and the backs did not overlap and widen the field. In the first half Pol was a monster at that. He and Diago created so many problems for UK's back four. It bothered me that in the second half we stopped settling the ball and passing on the ground with our short pass game. Instead we got caught up in the momentum going to UK and we started going for more long ball and thru passes. UK was effective in cutting off any thru balls and winning their share of the long balls. The Zips are back. We took on the #12 ranked team and showed we are better. At this stage of the game the only thing I saw lacking was a burner who could stretch the D and get behind the back four. We need a mid to emerge as a dominant distributor also. Regardless, Jared will find a way to win and this team will improve. At tournament time we will be a beast.

Surprised they could find 1 minute and 47 seconds of highlights-