zippy-claws

Over/under on attendance tonight? AK Rowdies have evidently disbanded, according to the scuttlebutt at the women's game Sunday....not that the students have been showing up anyway. I'll say 800.

We decided to go to Sunday's match vs. Ohio. Alumni Match. 2 Alums total showed up. And the match was.... I took a vow....

The Women's soccer team is sorely in need of a goal scorer at this point. I was afraid that the pre-season success wouldn't translate to MAC success, and unfortunately so far it hasn't. The scores haven't been bad, but they hide the fact that the defense is under constant pressure, with lack of offensive threats. Four straight clean sheet losses are quickly making the tournament a pipe dream. Not through lack of effort, but Coach needs to find an answer soon, and Sunday vs. Ohio is a good time to find one. Bobcats are undefeated at 1-0-3, and beat Oakland 7-0 in mid-September, beat BG 3-0 and just had a nil-nil draw vs. Kent State. Go Zips!

Whatever you say Ms. Guthrie! Stick up for your MAN!

Watched the Buffalo match, didn't watch the CMU match. They were outmatched vs. Buffalo, but put up a great fight defensively. Held them scoreless for 75 minutes, but you could tell one play was going to settle it, and the second goal was expected after the disappointment. Have no idea how the 1-0 loss to the Chipps occurred, but no goals in 2 straight matches means the O has to step it up. @MDZip likes Heskitt, I think she still lacks quickness but is a player. My favorite so far is Kiana Harsh - solid defender and fierce. Go get 'em Zips on Thursday night!

@TennZip Thanks so much for all of this work, it is amazing! And so informative. I have to agree with @MDZip, that the MAC will be a challenge, hence my questions on the field's non-conference slate. My prediction, or hope is for a top 8 finish and making the MAC tourney. Good Luck Zips!

@TennZip, I hate to throw this to you, but you always do such a nice job filling us in on how the Men's team stands in relation to their conference foes. Do you have thoughts on how the Women's team stacks up vs. MAC teams going into conference play, based on the non-conference play so far? Is 5-0-2 going to play out to success in the MAC? (I'm hoping it does!). Or anyone else have thoughts? Also, I looked back as far as 2007 when our daughter was on campus to see women's records, and there was never a team that went undefeated more than 3 games to start a season! Best start in program history? I believe it is.

It is a legitimate question, but I don't think you can compare what Caleb got/had in 2010-12 with what is now standard practice funding and such in 2024. 14 years is a long time, and we have all said how the game, recruiting, players, clubs, etc. have changed during that time frame. @72 Roo is correct that what we have now is not what others have from our school and our equipment deals. One things has changed - Nike vs. Adidas. Not sure if that means anything or not,, probably not.

Wonderful win for the women today on Senior Day! Not sure why they chose to do it at an earlier game than the final one, but it was a beautiful day and a great way to end the extended weekend in town. A women's win Thursday night, football win last night, and this today, 1-0 over St. Francis. (the "other" game yesterday won't be mentioned). The women looked a little tired, maybe the heat? St. Francis out-shot us, and our GK Penelope Cuewen (oh, I give up!) was excellent, but the team figured out a way to put pressure on late and poked one in. 5-0-2! The MAC grinder will start this week, so we'll get a better picture, but they are not going to be an easy mark. And...I may have been wrong about our coach, I'm not ashamed to admit. Damn, I hate being wrong...but yet glad I was!

From our perspective, the music volume was very good, not too loud, but loud enough to get the fans excited. But the big difference was the quality of music. Mostly all R & R, hardly any "thuggish" stuff. And pretty much PG rated, no R stuff. And it wasn't on every play like the last two seasons. I, we thought the overall GameDay experience was so much better than last season or two. I couldn't understand (nor could the family sitting behind us) why there wasn't more entry points open to the stadium, and there were a lot of frustrated people waiting in line during the first quarter. We got there waaaay early because we also went to the men's soccer match, and stuck around campus between the games. Not sure what the official attendance was, but to us it looked about 9 to 10,000 actual "Butts-in-seats". The Marching band seemed larger this year as well and they were their usual excellent selves. In-game promos and time out appearances by groups on field were great too and well timed. Nice to see our Paralympic Silver medalist! Good stuff!

I totally agree with you. This team has more talent. Unfortunately, the talent of NCAA men's soccer has also improved overall since 2018. But you are right, and I hope that anybody, not just Stefan or Dyson can go nuts on the pitch...beginning tonight!

You mean these shoes? Ask the rest of the MAC admin and ADs what their view is of this man's shoes...you'd be amazed at how little he is respected.

Two quick thoughts: 1) Not that Akron is any different than other schools, but with all the transfers in and out and 5th year and grad players coming and going, putting in a season or two here, have we lost the team chemistry that for years was the Zip trademark of play? 2) Would we be less vulnerable to "pussyfooting", quick strikes after scoring, heck at all, if we played a more "conventional 4-4-2 rather than going with the 3-5-2?

Despite what our AD thinks, the track and field and xc programs are in total disarray. They like to hang their hat on the fact they won the MAC titles, but that's taking credit for winning a conference that completely sucks and has only 4 or 5 schools on the mens side, depending on whether you count Miami's distance runners as a complete team. The Greatest Coach EVAH has lost a throws coach, a PV coach and a distance coach in just 2 years, not to mention the runners and throwers who have left. You can blame the SID for lack of correct info, but it stinks what this program has devolved to. But hey, we'll probably win another 4-team MAC indoors this year. Can't figure out why Garretson stayed here.

So excited by the recent outcomes for the women's soccer team! We went to both the Oakland and the Wright State matches, (and unfortunately came back and watched the men vs. Ohio State after dinner). There are marked signs of improvement, both of the players themselves and the strategies/tactics employed by the staff. And the new recruits seem to be fitting in and having a level of talent above past teams. Two thigs that has stood out to me: Their resilience - they have bounced back from deficits, where in the past going down a goal was the death knell for the Zips. And their team work. Both goals I witnessed were a cut above past because they were actual plays... both goals were assisted, the flow of the attack was spot on, and they converted. Sure, there's a lot of things needing improvement, but the early results are very positive.

Way to go! Starting the season with a W is a great start, plus it was a road win, plus it was a come-from-behind win. Tried to watch, but the lack of cameras made it painful, but both goals seemed to be blazers - well struck with force and to the proper side of the keeper. Great job to the women and coaches...

Is Emil the son of (or related to) Jussi, former Bolton Wanderer's Goalkeeper? I see he lists his hometown as Bolton, so I wonder. Also, didn't we play LIU last season with him in their lineup?

I am so hoping that all of my negativity the past few seasons has left my body, and I can enjoy women's soccer this season. I have been a huge critic of Coach Simonetti, but it sure looks like she's worked very hard since the end of 2023 to make this program work. She's doing the hard part, and the incoming class, at least on paper, promises to add talent in the right places. We're still in Florida, so I didn't get to see either of the exhibitions, but it sounds like they played well against Dayton and St. Bonaventure. My "goal!" is to get behind the women and not be such a pain in the butt re: Coach. She's showing she's willing to put in the time to make the squad a winning one, and that's a lot for me. Go Women's Soccer! Go Zips!

Why oh why do we have to wait until Our Leader decides to post non-con matches? There was an Instagram post with the non-con schedule, but it mysteriously disappeared the next day....cannot be found. Yet the knuckleheads that try to show "leadership" in Marketing 101 won't let us know who we're playing....but there's more! Now they want me, us, to renew our season tickets but they won't tell us who we're playing or when... What a GREAT DI experience! Way to go Zips Athletics....

Well it's time to check in and see how all those predictions by the Sage on the Hill has predicted, our men's track team, going into the MAC Outdoor Championships have 2 runners in the top 100 in the nation D-1 in the 200, 1 in the 5,000 1 in the 400 hurdles, and of course our Mitchell-leftover PV at #1. On the women's side we have 1 woman in the top 100 in ANYTHING. We have 2 throwers in top 100 in discus. Big things happening for the track team, men will be strong, etc, etc, They'll probably do okay in the 4-team MAC men's championship (4 teams!!!), but Nationally have dropped to obscurity. Women have dropped even lower. And my final question is: If this coach is supposed to be such an expert on developing combined-event athletes, then why is it for the second year in a row we don't have a single heptathlete or decathlete competing?

What a great Saturday/Sunday performance. Saturday's 7th and 8th inning explosions really rocked the Broncos and what a great game pitched by Jared Schaeffer. Then Sunday we started to make plans to leave Skeeles and catch a late lunch when WMU got up 7 to 1 (I know, ye of little faith) but we sat on our blanket and watched the Zips go nuts in the bottom of the 2nd for 7 and never looked back (well, sort of never. Pitching limited the Broncos to a run here and there, and we saw a lot of balls leave the park. My only question is why Coach Fualds pitched to CJ Richmond??? He kept hitting it everywhere and out of here. Anyway, 2 big wins!

Back in Ohio for a few months, and we are looking forward to going over to Firestone Stadium for the MAC softball Championships, and possibly going up to Avon for some of the MAC baseball Championships. I know the baseball team won't be up there, but what is anyone's thoughts on the women making the top 6 for the Tourney? Our Kent State "acquaintances" love to tell stories how they went and stayed in Avon Lake for the baseball action in the past, and how great a long weekend was up there. I envy them.

You are not wrong, IMHO. Not equivalent, but they'll totally destroyed professional golf for the money as well. In person, you have to be an Elite with BIG $$$ to get anywhere near a spot to actually watch the play, and at home, you get to see 5 or 6 golfers who might be in contention, while listening to hours of conversation between a player, his caddy, and the talking heads. And the commercial time is horrendous. Your comments on boxing were spot on, as well. Golf commercials all appeal now to the investment-class, the high-end liquor and beer class, and the sports-betting parlors...

Sorry Roo...yes, typo on my part, they AREN'T thrilled with the current staff. My bad...sorry for the delay in response, got to go to the Masters this year! Woo Hoo!

We've gone to two games and watched 3 on ESPN+. My opinion is, no, they are not good enough to give us hope. There is some talent, but the bats have left Zippyland. And unfortunately, there is absolute no arms in the starting rotation or out of the pen. But the kids all seem to be nice and they are trying hard. Word from one of the young women dating a starting player is that the players are thrilled with the new coach and there could be 10 to 12 who leave after this season. Gossip, I know. There's at least a handful of local kids playing that makes it worth a visit to Skeeles on a nice day. I't free!