Zip_ME87

Congratulations to Scott for being named on the Hermann Trophy watch list. I'm certain that he or any of our Zips would say that winning the National Championship is the goal.

I hope the author has proof (not just hearsay) before writing this. Thankfully, Rob Ianello is gone. I don't expect to see this under the current coaches...so, I'm not sure that it's currently "a big issue".

Yeah, we'll either find out Wednesday or Friday, but i love this discussion. Thanks headaviatorrowdie and TheTank. GO ZIPS!

Thank you. I was surprised to read on GoZips.com that there was a meet the team event that had taken place. I've attended these in the past when they were "advertised", but I didn't see anything about this one until it was over. If there was a flyer that came with my season tickets (as one would have thought), I missed it.

Do you know who was up front? In the Spring, if I remember correctly, DeA was the right forward in the 3-4-3.

The 1st hour of practice was drills. While I was behind the north goal watching the GK's practicing and challenging each other during the drills, Aodhan injured his left leg. He was sitting on the bench icing it, but he was wearing a blue vest. I remember Chui "ref'ing" the west sideline. Stevenson was with the blue (but got hurt and sat for sometime also). I think Renaldo was the center ref. With this information and looking at the roster, you can probably figure out who played on the blue squad. I remember hearing players calling out directions to each other by name, but I didn't commit the blue squad line-up to memory. Pina played 30 minutes in goal with the blue, and if I remember correctly, Meves played the 2nd 30 minutes in goal for blue. Meves played the 1st 30 minutes in goal for the orange and then McAdams played the 2nd 30 minutes with the orange. EDIT: I wish I could have returned Friday evening. I think I heard Caleb say they were going to work on the 3-4-3 "tomorrow". I'd have loved to have seen the orange squad make up for this formation. We may find out next Friday, given that he's already used the 3-4-3 vs Wright State resulting in a plethora of goals.

All I'll say is that the orange team last night (8/9/12) included Gallego (LB), Barson, Souders, Yedlin, Trapp, Caldwell, Serna, Derschang, Koroma, and Schmitt.

I agree with you. I'll have to ask Chad's parents if that's true next time I see them (probably August 15th). Good theory, but would probably hold up better if his name was something like Nathaniel Chad Barson (NCB - Natural Center Back).

Referring to Caleb's Practice Day 1 comments, I also found it interesting that Caleb counts Ben Speas among former Zips in the MLS (15, i.e., 14 + 1 in Thailand) although a number of ZN.o members (not me) and GoZips.com do not. I just thought it was interesting given the minor debate on this topic on ZN.o sometime back. I think the discussion was in the "Speas" thread.

Competition between Souders, Afsarifard, and Brenes.

Interesting. I heard Caleb's comments as the Zips will play the 4-3-3 and 3-4-3. Paraphrased - We have DeAndre Yedlin, Chad Barson, and Bryan Gallego returning. If we play 4 in the back that leaves left back a bit up in the air. We have Scott Caldwell, Wil Trapp, Eric Stevenson, and Aodhan Quinn returning at midfield. If we play with 3, obviously those 4 guys will be fighting for those spots. If we play with 4 then we have those guys. I believe Dillon Serna will also compete for a starting spot...

Yeah, I was shocked when I looked at MLSsoccer.com just prior to the Timbers/FC Dallas match and first saw the news...so very sad. Only 22 years old. RIP Kirk Urso. http://www.thecrew.com/news/2012/08/gone-t...e-memories-urso

Ampai's Intro Video with Buriram...footage from Akron included

Sweet goal at 19:50 by Teal Bunbury vs the New England Revolution. Well worth watching the highlights later when it's available. EDIT: Teal's goal vs the Revolution

Actually, Chivas lost Zarek Valentin because they didn't know what they were doing. As far as this trade, great for Blair Gavin. There's a chance that he could be joined by Scott Caldwell, whom I believe is a Revolution Academy product, next season. I saw tweets earlier this summer that Scott spent some time working out with the Revolution during practice sessions this year like he did last year. I also imagine the Caldwells, who are Revs fans, are happy to see Blair join their local MLS club. Some built-in local fans for Blair.

Actually, in July, but what's a few hours among friends. One other point, has Wil Trapp ever scored a goal other than this one for the Crew Juniors U19's? If this was his first or one of a handful even, it was beyond impressive. As far as you nearly suffering a stroke on Scotty's goal...it had a different health-related effect on me. I was sitting in the stands, absolutely miserable from bad Ahi tuna that I had eaten the night before. Scotty's goal made me forget how miserable I felt until well after the celebration inside Harder Stadium.

And, I overpaid to get the Final, but I HAD TO HAVE IT! I actually have the semi-final vs Michigan on VHS tape that a colleague (Michigan alumnus) gave me.

I'm not sure what the big deal is about predicting who the starters will be when we haven't seen these guys yet. Caleb will choose his starters the same as he has in the past, I'm sure. Also, I still believe that if the 3-4-3 is utilized from time to time this season, we'll see 1 to 3 different starters in that formation vs those who start in the 4-3-3. So, the Zips may have 12 to 14 players whom we consider "starters" instead of just 11.

I agree. I wish I had the semi-final on DVD, like I have the final.

I agree with you on magnitude and it being one of the most important goals in Zips' history, but Scott Caldwell's goal in the National Championship game was equally as important as Perry Kitchen's goal vs Michigan in the semi-final. Kofi Sarkodie's PK goal vs Cal was also equally important. As far as the rest...distance, power, height, velocity...I disagree. For Kitchen's goal vs Michigan, height was needed to score given where the defenders were on the field. For Trapp's goal, it was equally impressive that he could hit it with such power and keep it on the ground where it needed to be. 99% of the time when a player strikes a ball as hard as Trapp did and as quickly as he did, he "skies it" over the goal rather than keeping it on the ground. As far as distance, Trapp's goal was from about the same distance (beyond 28 yards) as Kitchen's. Trapp hit that ball perfectly without hesitation with power that gave it the velocity necessary for the defenders and keeper to have insufficient time to close the gap on it. Edit: When I used the word "reminiscent", I was referring to the distance and velocity. Yes, Trapp's goal was not exactly the same as Kitchen's.

DeAndre Yedlin named to PDL All League team. Rounding out the back four are Max Gunderson of the Laredo Heat and DeAndre Yedlin of the Sounders FC U23, with the Akron standout appearing in every minute of every game for the Western Conference champions. I think this is a repeat, but it's worth posting again... Getting to know the U-23's - DeAndre Yedlin DeAndre Yedlin is a speedy, athletic, right back that is easily recognized for his exceptional skill going forward in the attack as well as his eccentric hair. While his hairstyle and play on the pitch is rather flashy, his demeanor off the pitch could not be more different; he is a humble, down-to-earth kid with an irresistible smile and easy going nature. ... GO ZIPS!

Wil's goal is at approximately 11:24 on the video. I recorded and watched the replay on Fox Soccer Channel yesterday...sweet goal, reminiscent of Perry Kitchen's goal in the 2010 College Cup semi-final vs Michigan in Santa Barbara. The FSC announcers called it a world class goal and said that somewhere Caleb Porter, head coach of the Akron Zips, is smiling watching [his player]...

Awesome. I drove up to London, ON on Saturday to see the Sounders U23's vs Forest City London. Even the London fans around me took notice of DeAndre and said they thought he was the best player on the field. No prompting from me. I never said a word or commented on their conversation. Although, I'm sure they saw me talking with DeAndre prior to the match and cheering for the Sounders. It's too bad the Sounders U23's weren't able to capitalize and make the finals, but I'm happy DeAndre will be getting back to Akron at the same time as the other players. Kudos and many thanks to the Sounders U23 organization, too. They took good care of me knowing that I was supporting them. Steve Zakuani and DeAndre Yedlin on the pitch at Century Link would really be s-w-e-e-t one day.

I had no clue that this was even going to be broadcast [on Fox Soccer Channel]. I created the thread about Zips in Development Leagues this summer hoping ZN.o members would share, but that turned out not to have worked as I had hoped. Oh well, here's a nice article I found on the 2012 McGuire Cup. EDIT: BTW, if anyone else is interested, it appears that Fox Soccer Channel is replaying this match tomorrow (Monday, July 30, 2012 at 1 - 3 pm). CONGRATULATIONS WIL! http://championships.usyouthsoccer.org/cre..._cup_champions/ ..."It’s honestly pretty hard to describe," said Trapp. "I don’t score many goals but to score a goal on this stage in this kind of environment it’s, I really don’t even know what to say." GSA pressed numbers forward searching for an equalizer and with time running down sent all 11 players into the box for two consecutive set pieces, but Gal was up to the task coming off his line to punch away both attempts and preserve the lead for Crew. "It’s unbelievable," said Trapp. "All the work we put in this summer, the guys, it’s hard to describe with words. Especially coming back from one goal down and fighting back in the second half and getting two goals, it’s awesome. It feels great." Trapp flew into South Carolina early Saturday morning to join the Crew after competing with the Under-20 U.S. National Team at the Milk Cup in Ireland, and he made his presence known with a stunning game-winning strike. "This has been my team all summer. I was gone and you know you can’t abandon your team in a National final. I had to come back and play. It was a big thing for me and I didn’t want to let the guys down. I definitely wanted to come back and help the guys today." "Coming out and playing the way we did and winning the way we did is awesome. It’s a great achievement for all of us. We’re going to take this wherever we go. We’ll to back to play in college and stuff like that, but we’re always going to remember this National Championship."

Ramos should have invited Gallego and Yedlin. .... Edit: They are in the player pool.... Edit2 what he said --->