Leaderboard

At kickoff Thursday night it's forecast to be 75-degrees with 0% chance of rain 💪😎💪

4.3 40 speed?!?! 😮🤩🤩

AKR 3-1 VCU FT Dyson Clapier was MOTM, with 1 goal and 2 assists. He was a terror down the Zips' left flank. Could have scored even more but for some adrenaline-charged strikes over the bar. There is no ceiling on how good Dice can become. But the entire match immediately changed when Malik Henry entered the contest at RB. His overlapping runs and crosses into the box opened up the Rams defense. VCU had no answer to #5 and they never recovered. And Gyuwon Chong is such a pleasant surprise. He might end up being one of the best players on the squad. Who knew!?! Not I. This guy can keep the ball from you in a phone booth.

So many great things go on at UofA. I'm glad we have a President willing to highlight those things to the public so people actually know what their tax dollars are going towards. These are a great public service.

Hope none of you tuned in right at halftime. Scary graphic by ESPN +. 🤣😂 Zips outplaying them but actually down 1-0.

Malik Henry and Joel Sangwa are awesome 💪💪

early scores from Monday night from NCAA.com #7 Pittsburgh with an impressive 3-0 win over #6 West Virginia. Pitt beat Georgetown in first game. They have been super impressive. Florida International bounced back with a 1-0 win over St. John's at 82:50 , Notre Dame leads Michigan State 3-1 (update - Notre Dame ended up winning 3-2) at 73:48, Cleveland State trails UIC 1-0 (update - nice comeback..Cleveland State ended up winning 2-1)

good student crowd tonight they have not posted the 3rd goal yet... great run and pass by Dyson Clapier Fitz got low to the ground for a spectacular header goal

And that quick Zips tie it up in the early second half and just now took the lead on a goal by Clapier! And by the way, just as an observation, Sangwa is a really impressive defender.

College soccer news has the zips at #18 https://collegesoccernews.com/college-soccer-news-mens-top-30-national-poll-week-ending-august-28-2022/

Congratulations to Jason Shokalook College Soccer news team of the week https://collegesoccernews.com/college-soccer-news-mens-national-team-of-the-week-week-ending-august-28-2022/

A great week to be a Zip! It's finally here! Thursday is going to be special, I've got high, high hopes. Which scares me to death in a program and stadium that has done everything to beat the hope out of me for nearly its entire existence. I know nothing about SFpa. and will not pretend to. Looking at their season last year, they weren't much of a match for EMU to open the year, and they weren't as fortunate as Mr. Arth's Zips as they lost to the Bryant Bulldogs. A look at their schedules from previous years, and they along with 2021 opponent Bryant have also just recently begun playing FBS teams. They were on Buffalo's schedule in 2020 before it was canceled, and of course the EMU game last year. In the UA game against Bryant last year, which was an incredibly painful experience, it was obvious how much of a physical advantage the Zips had, but it didn't matter until the final quarter. They were much tougher than Akron despite the lack of size, speed, and skill. We don't have an official 2-deep, but we've got a lot to be intrigued by. I loved Irons' potential last year, but once he got hurt against Ohio he was never the same. Perhaps saving him from getting killed the last 8ish games will be good for his future. I have all the faith in the world in JoeMo + Fessler and the offensive staff to help with his decision making and ball security. He's one of the most athletic QBs in the league, and made plays against the likes of Auburn and Ohio State. I feel good-not-great about the UA QB situation going into week 1. I like opening against a team like this to ease into the new season and new system. Word out of camp is that Cam Wiley looks the part in the backfield. I loved what I saw from Norrils last year. Will Akron have a consistent rushing attack (sans Teon Dollard year) for the first time in decades? Wait to see! The thing I'm most excited for are the receivers--including the TE. Replacing Mumpfield, Mathison, Qualls, and Williams was no easy task, but this staff did that and then some. Daniel George has been phenomenal in camp, Alex Adams may be one of the best prospects to ever wear a Zip uniform, and Shocky Jaques-Louis is a seasoned vet who has done a lot of winning. Throw in Brank and TJ Banks and you've got options all over the place. What does this all mean if the O-Line continues to be swiss cheese? Not a damn thing. Joel Rodriguez is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle. He's had a great young career with JoeMo and got his college football start with one of the best teams of all time at Miami back in the early 2000s. The line is big and experienced. They've also got the potential to take the next step. Defensively? I'm hopeful, but not as sure. This will be an experienced unit with a lot of nice transfers sprinkled in, which I'm quite excited about. It will be so nice to see Bubba back out there on Thursday, that in itself is something to be pumped about. Overall, I see this as a vastly improved team already, simply based on the improved coaching staff. They put together a phenomenal recruiting class including a lot of transfers to get this thing turned around fast. JoeMo talks a lot about the seismic transformation that's going to take place. As the season has approached, I've started to feel the same way. I mean, how can it not work out this time? It's a perfect storm for Akron football to go where it wants to go. And the journey begins Thursday. Can't wait! Go Zips!!!!

John Krysinsky is a well respected Pittsburgh area soccer writer.

I'd sure like to have him commit to us! He's a tall receiver which I think we really need moving forward and he's got an impressive offer list.

Agree 100% about Henry. VCU's outside backs were no match for Henry's speed and deft touch. I could almost see the whites of the defender's eyes from my phone as I watched.

That's my only complaint too. I'm not crazy about even one non-D1 opponent, but two or more feels like what teams ranked 300 or lower do to keep their team from getting completely demoralized. But, filling a schedule is probably not easy - who knows, for example, if someone backed out at the eleventh hour. Some of you guys act like we can just name our opponent and venue. Bradley and South Dakota State - these two opponents are the ones that set this schedule apart from past ones. THESE are the type of schools we can challenge ourselves against but also can be scheduled to a home-and-home. It's like they created their own bracket busters. SDSU went undefeated in conference play, including their tournament (that being the Summit League, formerly the Mid-Continent Conference which Akron once played in). Bradley's was less successful, but played in a tougher conference. Both finished last year in the top 100 of KenPom (Akron was 126).

One sure sign of the increased excitement surrounding Zips football this year is the response to this game 1 poll. It's only a couple of days till the first game and already 31 fans have responded to the poll question., that's right 31. I don't know what the response to a similar poll was last season, but I'll bet it was a lot less than 31.

The wind was a massive factor in the first half, it was truly an equalizer. Once Malik got in there for the Zips, everything changed and it was like Akron soccer of old, dominating the possession and running wild. He and Dyson could take this team to the next level this year. Let's hope. Not a great match for Wan Kuzri, I look forward to his bounce back. Go Zips!

Nice write-up thread. This young buck is still in high school, if I'm not mistaken. I believe he's a Firestone student.

Not sure how well it came across on TV, but the Zips were facing a mighty headwind in the first half. It definitely disrupted anything they attempted in the air.

We possessed the ball in the first half, but had nothing to show for it. Strong second half. We seemed to be the quicker team.

Dyson Clapier was man of the match

Welcome to Akron, Josh Hallenberger Gyuwon Chong is very good

Read em and weep boys.

I picked two. Explain that? Too many variables. New coaching staff (thankfully). New players brought in. New products in the team shop. I was joking about the new products...

I'll pass my Pirates memory down to another generation, not give it away in a parking lot full of drunks. Except for the flag, the Wake junk has been thrown away long ago.

Hmmm reading your last few posts on the JoMo hired thread, it looks like someone's playing both sides of the same coin 😉

I hope to see everyone out this Thursday in Lot 9. I will have hundreds of old Zips posters, game day basketball roster sheets and various other old Zips stuff available for the taking.

Zips in at #25 in Top Drawer rankings that came out today. https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men

RPI gains relevance once data accumulates. October is beginning of “RPI Season”.

A couple years ago I made a collage of all my old Zips tickets. It sucks that the days of assembling something like what's below are over.

The University of Akron's - Polymer Science and Plastics Engineering is ranked: #1 in the World #1 in North America #1 in the United States World's best Polymer science and Plastics engineering universities [Rankings] (edurank.org)

Was in camp with the Chargers but not listed on their final roster. 😞