Z.I.P.

He plays on the same back line with the Crew Juni's as Drew Souders. Here's an article I took from MLS Soccer.whatever (it doesn't say what HS class Ranalli is in, but he's playing with Crew U-18, So I presume he's a 2012 grad.: Chicago Fire sweeps preseason tournament Wed, 02/29/2012 - 7:44am The Development Academy Carolina Challenge Cup is quickly becoming a favorite for several east coast professional academies in late February. Held in conjunction with the pro tournament of the same name, six Development Academy teams descended on Charleston, South Carolina over the weekend with an eye on the resumption of the USSF DA slate in March. D.C. United, Chicago Fire, Indiana United Fire, South Carolina United Battery, Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls sent their respective U16 and U18 sides to contest the tournament that wrapped up on Monday night. Kyle Dal SantoAfter three group games, the Chicago Fire emerged victorious at both age levels, going 5-0-1 in six games, outscoring their opponents 11-1 in the process. More importantly for the Fire was getting back into action after a lengthy break. "It was a long winter for us, long grind," head coach Larry Sunderland told TopDrawerSoccer.com. "To get some games that meant something was good. We haven't played a game that has meant something since December." Despite last playing competitively at the Winter Showcase, both Chicago's U16 and U18 teams excelled down in Charleston. Behind the play of goalkeeper Kyle Dal Santo, Louis Bennett and Marcus Epps, Chicago defeated New York, D.C. United and South Carolina Battery to claim the U16 crown. With the variety of different teams on display, Sunderland was particularly happy for his younger charges. "The nice thing about the tournament is that we played teams and every team played a different style, which was really good for us to see," he said. "It's one thing when we talk about the 18s, but it was really good for the 16s to see, maybe mature them a little bit, to get them to understand how they have to adapt sometimes to the course of the game and the way the opponent is playing." Meanwhile, the Fire's U18 group clinched the title thanks to a 2-0 win on Monday over South Carolina, with Joseph Calistri's long distance goal putting the game away. Drew Conner and homegrown professional signing Kellen Gulley put in solid shifts for the victorious U18 side. Making the achievement even more significant was the firepower at that level, including New York, Columbus and D.C. United, with the latter featuring Patrick Foss and Jalen Robinson - although stalwart Collin Martin was absent because of U.S. U20 obligations. "Overall I think we were really pleased," D.C. U18 coach Nolan Sheldon told TopDrawerSoccer.com. "We definitely got a lot out of the three matches that each team was able to play. I would say that there were some moments throughout each of the three games where things were really, really good, maybe the best they've been all year in terms of the level of play." The Crew used the event as a chance to bring down not just their two Development Academy sides to compete in the Challenge Cup, but to also take three of their pre-Academy teams on the road to play in friendlies against CASL Chelsea and South Carolina United. "It was pretty special," Crew Soccer Academy Director Andrew Arthurs told TopDrawerSoccer.com. "We have a lot of interaction with our first team players and coaches here in Columbus, but that was the first time we'd been on the road with the first team. To have all of those levels in one hotel and connecting over the course of four or five days was a great experience." According to Arthurs, Akron-bound center back Andrew Souders was one of the standouts for the U18s, as well as defender Alex Ranalli, forward Brett Elder, and midfielder Zach Mason as the Crew finished fourth place at that age level, and fifth at the U16.One of the unique features of the tournament was the chance to pit MLS Academy sides against each other, as D.C. squared off against the Fire and Crew. It's a unique element to the Development Academy that adds a bit more motivation to those sorts of games. "We get up for them - we're definitely excited," Sheldon said. "If you're going to look at the schedule and you're going to get New York Red Bull, Fire or Crew, they definitely jump off the page a little bit more than some other teams may." And while the Fire emerged from this particular competition on top, it's clear that every team involved in South Carolina has a lot of potential as the Development Academy season continues in full force this spring. Final Standings U16 W L T GF GA PTS Chicago Fire 3 0 0 6 1 9 D.C. United 1 1 1 4 3 4 Indiana Fire 1 1 1 5 5 4 SCU Battery 1 1 1 2 3 4 Columbus Crew 0 1 2 0 2 2 New York Red Bulls 0 2 1 2 5 1 U18 W L T GF GA PTS Chicgo Fire 2 0 1 5 0 7 New York Red Bulls 2 1 0 5 3 6 D.C. United 1 0 2 5 4 5 Columbus Crew 1 2 0 5 7 3 SCU Battery 1 2 0 4 3 3 Indiana Fire 0 2 1 3 7 1

"Joining NU and the Zips in Evanston this time around will be Notre Dame and Hawaii. The two winners from Friday will play one another on Saturday. NU and UA will meet for the first time on the tennis court." I'm sure it would also be the first meeting between Akron and Hawaii -- if by some miracle they were to defeat their first round opponents in essentially "visiting team" mode. Good luck Zips (and Wahine Warriors)! Maybe the coaches will meet and schedule a match in Manoa next year (anything's possible!).

Please explain. Are we talking about Columbus, Akron or Lodi?

Thank you Bobby! I've been wanting to do that for a few years, believe me. My fear was that either it would take numbers away from the Zn.o, or it might have fewer followers than say the hated Whosers' Bigsoccer thread!

Hilarious! "We've got soccer tennis and cornhole". Wow! Just like Wake island.

US U-18 player, and only ranked #55. What's up with that? Maybe Ampai can put a bug in his ear.

Thanks for blowing my day with this thread! You're likely to get crumby weather anywhere East of the Mississippi, except South Fla. in Dec. Akron will be a favorite pre-and post season for a while, but I like to think sunny Southern California is lucky for the squad.

I've said it before, if KD leaves UA, and it won't be soon, eventually Bron could be his ticket to a coaching spot in The League (assistant, I mean).

Lance, In response to your statement regarding the Mt West/CUSA Alliance that,: If Hawaii join, it would be a cool trip Since Hawaii is a football-only member of the Mt West Conference (beginning in 2012), they would be considered part of the "Alliance". However, all the self-declared "experts" in the islands are saying that with so many teams, there would be geographic divisions whereby Hawaii would rarely have to travel East of the Mississippi. And the AD has declared the school will NOT subsidize travel expenses for any new members, as they are required to currently.

Ryan Bain played for the Zips?? Sorry, guess I blinked on that play. Or my eyes were obscured by the rain, so I could not see Ryan Bain.

As followers should know, I have been a true believer in Tommy's ability since the start (actually since seeing him in Development League Finals). Any holdout non-believers still out there?

Can those of you who are Major MLS fans give us a review of this season's national television coverage? I have been able to watch only one game this season (Philly Union v DC United on the NBCS Net) and was forced to overcome the play-by-play accent of another limey in American soccer. I have nothing specific against the English or British islanders, I just wish US television execs didn't have the belief that so many British accents made the game more "authentic". So, don't ask me about the PA announcer in Seattle! Is it true that MLS is no longer broadcast on FSN? If so, that's a real tragedy.

Only available in white (background)? Nice but not in white. Wouldn't last.

Sorry, the correct answer is: "No impact". The trickle-down effect has no more result in sports than in economics.

"Last year, he averaged 9.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for Midland, shooting 48 percent from the field and 61 percent from the foul line." Those are numbers that will terrify the entire MAC.

Even more amazing that the story got picked up my a network. BTW, CUH is only a ten minute uphill walk from the UH-Manoa. Kaimuki's the trendy side of town.

I was looking at the UCLA women's soccer roster this morning, and discovered an amazing coincidence. UCLA head women's soccer coach BJ Snow was a teammate of Caleb Porter's for two years at indiana, and attended Portage Central HS in Caleb's hometown of Kalamazoo, MI (Caleb went to Highland HS per a blog story I read about Michigan soccer players/coaches). BJ's also married to US WNT midfielder Lindsey Tarpley, BTW. While UCLA is unable to play the Zips in men's soccer this year, I have to wonder if there's any chance of getting the Bruin women connected in a game or tournament with coach Pfau's ladies. If not, I will begin an effort to get both schools to a future tournament in my hometown of Honolulu (Michele "Bud" Nagamine, Hawaii coach and I can surely swing this one!) -- I found this out while trying to find the name of the attorney who's daughter, Alana Munger is the UCLA goalkeeper and ex-Punahou Buff and Blue and Leahi 92 Elite 4-time state and Surf Cup champ! Strange connections to discover on a Monday morning in the Mid-Pacific!

AND, from the picture on the game article from gozips.com, D.A. is wearing the armband. Is that something new?

This is not Akron related, but I had to add it because of my pride for the Islands! The second best Hawaii footballer, Zach Scott, the pride of Maui County scored his first career MLS goal, and the Seattle Sounders made it stand up in their 1-0 victory at home vs the Colorado Rapids today. Zach's career was almost given up. After starting for the USL Sounders, he's spent most of the past three-plus years languishing on Sigi Schmidt's reserve side in Sounderland (not to be confused with the Black Cats of NE England!). This is great news, that I just hope gets some attention on the Hawaii news/sports tonight. Edit: I found a NEO connection!: Zach played a season for the Cleveland Force in the MISL. Wow!

I can't help getting a laugh out of GP1's reminiscence. That's because when I was growing up, they didn't HAVE playoffs. As I recall, the first year the OHSAA had FB playoffs was 1975 (when I was a junior at Green and they did make the playoffs, but I considered myself grown up by then). Guess that makes me a real ol' fut.

MLS keeps stats and even standings for their "Reserve League", but it's really nothing but practice/scrimmage games.

Choosing Akron over Hawaii? Maybe he likes long-distance driving. Bubba Watson chose Georgia for that reason.

Thanks 88! I think the pressure on Akron coaches must get pretty strong when so many are looking forward to another banner on campus in '12.

This reminds me of when the University of Hawaii played their games at Ala Wai Field alongside the Ala Wai Canal. The side of the field opposite the benches ran along the canal separating Waikiki from urban Honolulu and Manoa. Every game 5-10 times the ball would be kicked into the canal, and someone would come out with a long net and try to reach it before it drifted away. Tended to delay the action.

Okay trivia buffs, who can forget that the biggest upset in Akron basketball history was over the undefeated Tennessee State Tigers in the NCAA national semifinals at Evansville, Indiana in 1972? The star of that Tiger team would go on to start several seasons and win an NBA championship with the Portland Trailblazers -- Lloyd Neal.