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Every Zip coach and every Zip player should be very proud. Phenomenal effort....especially with the injury of Stefan Dobrijevic ...early in the game Thinking good thoughts for Stefan Duke did not have a single shot on goal. Zips were the much more skilled soccer team and the much classier, professional soccer team. I don't slight any zip by mentioning names......as all of the starters were outstanding..... and every single sub....starting with Ignacio Alem and Jack Sullivan....ending with Jamai Royer, Nathan Ferguson and Braxton Hayes.....played outstanding fundament soccer. Thorough beat down of an ACC Powerhouse...... For the zips fans living far from Akron, I also want to compliment Chad Welker and womens asst soccer Josh Kay. Josh and Chad were outstanding on commentary.

Chatgpt is going to leave @clarkwgriswold jobless with his game preview write-ups.

After UVA parked the bus on us in the final in 2009 and "won" on PKs after holding it 0-0 despite having very little possession or opportunities themselves, any day they lose on PKs is a holiday to me!

I'm still cold two hours later but it was worth it!

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLL! 1-0 Zips.

TJ McConnell rocking an Akron Soccer sweatshirt

That's fine, all the good analytical people who could offer insight and breakdown match-ups have long been chased off. It's mainly just now loud mouth clowns who think whoever screams louder has the better argument.

The most criminal part is - they can steal your best players with zero restitution. In any professional sport you need to pay, or make a trade to land a coveted player from another team. In college football you just take them for free. We are a free minor league for the P5 programs...must be nice.

Remember 1986!!! Current Duke coach John Kerr was the star of that team. I think he scored the lone goal in the final. Another prominent player on that 1986 Duke championship squad was Ken Lolla.

And the Billikens will come to Akron!

Tremendous article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer (this is currently not a subscriber only article...hopefully, all can access?) I have not yet seen the press conferences....but this has quotes from several zips players, Coach Embick and the Duke coach https://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/2025/12/akron-zips-mens-soccer-gives-duke-the-cold-shoulder-moves-into-ncaa-elite-eight-with-2-0-victory.html “The crowd drove us through that game,” Daragh Reilly said. “You could see in the last 10-15 minutes, we were getting tired. We were trying to push each other, but every time we got a play, we made a tackle, the momentum kept swinging back to us. “Big shoutout to the fans tonight. I don’t think we could have been anywhere near without that tonight.” “Awesome performance not only from our team, but from the fans and community that packed this place in this weather and were behind us the whole game,” Coach Embick said. “We fed off that energy, and I think that really helped us through some moments where maybe we weren’t playing as well as we wanted.”

Great crowd for a pretty cold night tonight. Late in the game a large plastic bag blew down the field and ended up in the Zips goal. We remarked it was the best shot on goal Duke had in the match.

This is a hilarious Wentz Financial Group promo. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRNi583ku8Y/?igsh=MWRzaWt5YW41OHZ5dA==

Should have had four winners ... Steve Zakuani in 2008 as well as Emil last year. Still angry about both! In 2008, Zakuani scored 20 goals and 7 assists over 23 games to become a finalist for the Hermann Trophy Marcus Tracy: He won the 2008 Hermann Trophy for the nation's most outstanding college player while at Wake Forest University where he scored 13 goals and 10 assists in 24 games. 2024 Emil Jaaskelainen: Started all 21 games for Akron in 2024 en route to recording an NCAA-best 23 goals and 54 points, while also leading the nation in game-winning goals (6), goals per game (1.10) and points per tilt (2.57)... Michael Adedokun: Led Ohio State with 11 goals, 11 assists and 33 points

If the NCAA really cared, they would force bigger schools to pay restitution or kickbacks for poaching players. Something like 15-25% of the NIL deal paid back to the former school. Not a lot, but it's better than nothing and would provide resources to replace outgoing athletes.

Yale shot 14 of 19 (73.7%) from the line against Green Bay and 11 of 18 (61.1%) against Charleston. They’re good, but we caught them on the wrong night. And there is a little bush league in that ivy. The fact that the refs let them get away with that hook and hold crap was driving me crazy. We do need better defense. There is still a lot of season left for everyone to improve, including hopefully Barre.

and the even neater part...is that their women's soccer team also lost on PK's this afternoon in Charlottesville....so 2 PK losses on one day on their home field for the uppity Hoo's. Congratulations to former Zip Seth Wilson (he was the GK today for UNC-Greensboro).

OL commit on official visit

If Akron hadn't been screwed by the NCAA with the Northwestern game, Zakuani wins the Hermann Trophy that year. Emil last year was inexcusable as well.

Most insane OT ever.

I had to got back to August 2nd....to find this topic.... Zips have added a forward from Atlanta United ....to the class that will start in Fall 2027. This young man will turn 17 in January 2026. I like how he writes....and how appreciative that he is...for those that have helped in his development https://www.instagram.com/p/DRfq03kiQYL/?hl=en&img_index=1 In April 2024, Ivory Covington was called up to the U15YMNT https://www.instagram.com/p/C5zD7sJpmla/?hl=en At the Generation Adidas Cup in April 2024. the top drawer soccer writer was impressed by 9 players Below is what the writer had to say about the newest Zips commit https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/under-the-radar-u15-prospects-at-ga-cup_aid53237 Ivory Covington, Atlanta United – While there’s an argument that Covington’s imminent call-up to the U.S. Under-15 team makes him ineligible for this list. But his performances caught the eye for Atlanta in the 09 age group. A dynamic right winger, he presses well and can finish. His goal against Manchester United helped set the tone for Atlanta’s performance at the tournament.

Is this the real Clark, or ClarkGPT?

I'll miss his 3.5 GPA.

Here is an awesome page showing our history in the NCAAT. Enjoy! Interestingly, our 66 total tournament games is approximately in the Top 10 of all programs. https://mcubed.net/ncaa/soccmd1/akron.shtml

It could be like VCU in the old Bracket Buster. We could play them tight every year, and lose. Maddening to see us leave sharpshooters wide open for corner for 3's down the stretch. But the play that killed me the most was the inbounds play towards the end with only 4 seconds on the clock. The pass pulled the Yale player away from the hoop, so he's down to 3 seconds. He nonchalantly drives baseline and banks in a 2 footer. Soft D and no backside help, even though everyone in the building knew he had to shoot. How many bunnies did Eric Mahaffey smoke? Just as I talk the guy up, he has his most underwhelming showing of the young season. Scott and Tavari were absolutely awesome. Cheese/Banks, LCJ/Castenada, Buford/McLaughlin great. All-time Zips offensive performances. Yale played fantastic. Sliced and diced us all night long. Kudos to them. We definitely need to get better if we're to win anything beyond the MAC this year. Kenpom, SchmenPom.

My man the other team making every shot was in fact not good for us

I would think the majority of it would go toward retaining players. That’s what most of the successful “have-nots” at the P4 level are doing anyway. I also think that approach would serve us best, as identifying, landing, and developing talent hasn’t been an issue for this staff.

At-large was never going to happen anyway. Biggest issue is it's likely Yale will make the field of 68 and this could keep them seeded ahead of us. Could be the difference between an 11th or 12th seed.

Dumb shot.

…”Students admitted free w/valid Zips ID courtesy of President Nemer and AkronZips donors” … 👏👏👏

Look at Tavari...he was pretty underwhelming his first 2 seasons, and he's been lights-out ever since. Lyles was a 5 mpg & 5 fouls per game center. Now he's dominant. Lots of examples of guys who get better every season.

I've had a decent chuckle every time I watch this team dominate D1 competition or think about how we have 5 guys on the bench that would probably be starting or significant role players at the very least on most mid majors. What a job Groce, his staff, and Bud Wentz have done at building this program back up.

Mid Major Top 25 Here is a look at how some national people view Akron & Yale. These are two of the best mid majors on paper with very different styles. Yale is very slow but incredibly efficient. In fact, Yale ranks 320th with 68.8 possessions per game but ranks #22 in effective FG% (58.8%) and #2 in 3P% (45.8%) while averaging 84 PPG (#77 nationally). In contrast, Akron ranks 97th in possessions per game with 75.4 with the 37th best effective FG% (57.6%), 28th best 3P% (39.7%), and 25th most PPG (92.2). Both offenses are potent, but which method will prevail tonight? If Akron dictates the pace, can Yale keep up with efficiency? If Yale dictates the pace, can Akron become more efficient? Yale has some size but it's not a key part of their style. Only one of their two players above 6'7" plays double digit minutes (6'10" Aletan). As @clarkwgriswold mentioned, their team is essentially Townsend. There isn't much beyond him as Yale is only 8 deep. It will be crucial for Akron to control the pace of play as I'm not sure Yale has the horses in the barn to keep up for 40 minutes, unless Townsend is a heroic thoroughbred. Cannot wait for this game. Revenge Tour 2025 continues!

Turnbull didn’t play much for Evansville tonight, but Hughes did. Yet Barre didn’t get much playing time again. This seemed like the perfect matchup for him. Also, I hate to say it, but when Brisco doesn’t see the floor at all, even for the garbage minutes it leads me to think he might not be here next year. Just not a good sign.

I guess I don’t know what a charge is anymore.

Commentator: "If you take away the transition scores Akron has had Evansville would be ahead." Well, no $h!+.

It's on Sunday at 4 pm now. Just announced the change on Twitter.

Glad I was right on Indiana, even if it wasnt Bryant that took than out. No way they deserved a 6 seed. Glad they're done. High seeds are dropping today.

Just looked at the stats for the St. Louis at Indiana game. Indiana led 8-0 in corner kicks. Indiana led 16-3 in shots. 3 to 1 in shots on goal. St. Louis was totally dominated but took advantage of their only chance. Zips have been focused all year on taking one game at a time. Duke tied Georgetown during the season. Any team that can hang with Georgetown is an excellent soccer team. Duke at Akron will be 2 very good soccer teams doing battle on Sunday.

This has been an incredible tournament thus far. Helps that Akron is advancing, but props to college soccer for delivering as a whole. Maybe those snobby ESPN/ACC honk commentators from Thursday night are learning their lesson about what a more level playing field actually looks like in college athletics.

Akron just moved up to 55 on Kenpom!!

Only Georgetown - High Point and Maryland - Connecticut will have two seeded teams playing each other in the Sweet 16.

“Here comes Conner groce. Head coach John groce’s dad”

He’s extremely likeable if you watch the zips nation insider interview it made me want to run through a wall

Definitely. He can work a room. Very friendly and personable.

Great interview with AD Dr. Goodrich during the halftime show. Haven't really been following him much, but he seems like a very positive and upbeat dude. Definitely more likable than our previous ADs.

This 3 point flopping has to end.

He's a walk on getting early game minutes. The fact that you haven't seen a weakness is what's impressive. Side note: should've been an offensive foul on that 3. How you allow a 6'10" man to jump 4 feet forward on a 3P attempt is beyond me.

Don't type one handed while holding a baby, apparently. Lol.