Zip_ME87

Sinisa, Zarek, and Evan Bush starting today for Montreal vs Perry Kitchen/DC United.

I agree too many balls in the air. The other match I attended was against Detroit at Byers Field, and AFC Cleveland seemed to control the ball more that night. Last night, I felt Erie was on the attack more than AFC Cleveland. I'll also be there next Friday. If I didn't already have other plans, I'd consider driving to Erie next Saturday. It's great seeing our Zips in different situations. I'm glad Bryan Gallego joined AFC Cleveland, and that we got to see Andrian play GK. It was great seeing Andrian, Bryan, Thomas and David (Murrow who's transferring to Cincy) on the field together after David was subbed late in the 2nd half. I'm getting my sports fix from my Zips while awaiting Fall.

Sounders U23 Defeat SeaWolvesRemain in playoff position with dominant performance The second half brought three more goals: a 53rd-minute penalty kick by Aodhan Quinn; an 84th-minute goal by Darwin Jones; and a goal one minute later by Esteban Potenciano. Another write-up: Sounders U-23 5 - 0 N.S. SeaWolves (RECAP) As play continued in the 12th minute, a long through ball out of the back found Sean Okoli behind the SeaWolves defense. SeaWolves keeper, Claudio Lazar, raced out of the goal to meet Okoli, but he was able to touch the ball past Lazar into the box. Okoli raced to gather the ball on the end line and dropped a ball to an open Aodhan Quinn, but he miss timed his shot, which sailed over the bar for a goal kick. Then in the 19th minute a long throw into the box was collected by Aodhan Quinn. He used his chest to carry to ball forward a couple of paces and past his marker. As the ball dropped toward the turf, he hit a left footed volley with pace on goal, but Lazar was there to knock the ball over the goal. As the second half got under way the SeaWolves came out with some fight. A couple of attacking runs from Aman gave the Sounders U-23 defense some trouble, but in the 53rd minute, the Sounders U-23 put a third goal on the board. Quinn was fouled in the box after beating his man with a cheeky step over and the ref awarded the penalty. Quinn hit the shot with power with his left foot and found the right corner of the net. Only a minute later, Quinn broke loose in the box again and tried to chip the surging SeaWolves keeper, but his attempt skipped just wide of the mark.

Thomas should have been awarded a PK near the end of the match for the take down by the 2 Erie defenders in the box. I also didn't understand the PK awarded to Erie. I don't think Gallego took down the Erie player, nor did I understand going back and awarding the PK after the continuation was allowed which resulted in an offside. How can a ref allow play to continue, then go back and award a PK because the continuation (or advantage, or whatever it's called) didn't work out?! BTW, did anyone happen to catch the glimpse of Schmitty's Mom and Dad on Channel 19 near the beginning of the 10 pm broadcast when they were showing the thunderstorms and their effect on events around the area? Thomas' Mom was holding an Akron Zips umbrella, and his dad was talking with him prior to the match while waiting through the weather delay. Thomas was hidden by the umbrellas.

I've thought about this for sometime now, and there is absolutely no way I can pick a favorite player. We have and have had so many great players; I appreciate all of them playing for Akron and building our nationally recognized program. I will mention that this is the senior season for the 3 remaining starters of the 2010 National Championship game...Scott Caldwell, Chad Barson, and David Meves...as well as Thomas Schmitt who will have given us 5 years, I believe. I hope that Zips fans will show up this Fall in the biggest numbers in program history to help the Zips make this a great season culminating in our 2nd National Championship and sending these guys out on top.

Sounders U-23 Weekend Preview (FRI/SUN) ... In their first meeting with the SeaWolves FC, the Sounders U-23 took care of business for the 3-0 win at home. Three first half goals by Sean Morris, Aodhan Quinn, and Sean Okoli were too many for the SeaWolves to overcome. ...

Seattle Sounders U23 4-3 over Portland Timbers U-23 ... Instead of the Timbers taking the lead, the Sounders were presented a golden opportunity to take a 3-2 lead in the 67th minute. A long shot was blocked by goalkeeper, Spencer Richey in the Portland goal. His save was parried back toward Luis Esteves in front of goal. When Esteves lept to head the ball, he was pushed in the back and knocked off balance. His header went off frame, but immediately the referee pointed to the spot for a Sounders penalty kick. Aodhan Quinn stepped up and put his left footed shot into the bottom right corner to put the Sounders up 3-2. ... Maybe Aodhan will take some of our PK's this Fall.

Thanks for posting that. For me, either Brecksville-Broadview Hts High School or Parma is as close. I'm happy to see Andrian played at GK, and look forward to supporting him, Thomas, and Bryan. I noticed from one of your links that David Murrow (transferring to Cincy) is also playing for AFC Cleveland. I look forward to supporting him as well. http://www.afccleveland.com/news/afc_cleve...th_detroit.html

Crap town Many Cavs fans don't live in Cleveland. Cavs fans thanked LeBron by selling out the Q every game to watch him and ensuring that he had his way with Cavs management. The fans were there for him, and he knew that. What bigger thank you could his fans give him than that. LeBron should have thanked Cavs fans when he left. I don't care about Dan Gilbert or the City of Cleveland, but CAVs fans were the ones who were wronged. They need to move on, but they certainly don't owe LeBron anything.

Well said GP1. +1

Rookie Rankings: Mattocks' blistering form fuels rapid rise

If the arena were to be built in the area near Canal Park, it would lend support in Late Fall and Winter to the businesses that are supported by the Aeros in Spring & Summer.

I should have been more direct...you should add a 3rd option "I'm neither cheering for K ent nor against K ent because I don't obsess over them." so that I could vote. You're correct in that I should never have read any of the posts in this thread. I felt compelled to reply when I read posts that had gone into smacking our own accomplishments. Then it went south from there into our exchange. Sorry about that...I'll stop now.

Scott Caldwell scored the lone goal around 9 minutes into the match to get the win for the Michigan Bucks 1-0 vs London (Ontario) Friday night. Many thanks to Scott and Chad Barson, who both played the full 90 minutes, for making my 6 hour round-trip drive well worth it by getting the score and chatting with me following the match. It was a little different to see Chad playing mid field, but good effort as always. http://www.buckssoccer.com/scripts/runisa..../+72011+2883704

I'm not sure who you mean by "Everybody". No one has mentioned it at work. I congratulated a K ent grad on their making the CWS, but I've not heard anyone else mention it. I work in Cleveland...so, perhaps by "Everybody", you mean in the Akron and K ent areas. At any rate, it doesn't really affect me. So, good for them. BTW, I didn't vote in the poll because you forgot the "I don't care" or "It doesn't matter to me" option.

Thank you. Exactly my point exactly when comparing our soccer National Championship to K ent being in the CWS, and the subsequent media coverage, which in K ent's case is mostly limited to Cleveland/NEO.

How many MLB games has anyone here ever turned on and heard an MLB announcer say "That guy played for 'powerhouse' K ent State. K ent is one of the elite collegiate baseball teams in the country."? Every time I watch an MLS game with a former Akron player playing, I hear how great The University of Akron soccer program is... I had hoped we had moved away from obsessing over K ent about anything, and that the posters on this board wouldn't even bring up the CWS. I tried to refrain from posting, but when people on this board make STUPID statements like "American kids who tend to not do well at other sports gravitate to soccer so the gene pool isn't as great so the talent is equally bad for all teams", I have to say something. Some of the best, smartest, most dedicated, and proud athletes at The University of Akron are OUR soccer players. I cannot believe you would dis them like that even if you don't like the sport. I'd like to throw around a bunch of expletives here, but that will accomplish nothing except getting me banished from this board. I'll just say that I'm embarrassed by the lack of UA pride demonstrated here.

Great article. Thanks for posting that Bisbee.

Yes. Chase is actually in the 3rd row, not next to the President.

GOAL Mattocks. 66th minute. Vancouver leads Houston 2-0 on Mattocks' brace. Edit: Whitecaps 3-1 Final. Darren subbed out before the full 90 minutes. Nano subbed in later for the 3 minutes of stoppage. Edit 2: Whitecaps FC defeat Houston Dynamo to start the month of June, Mattocks scores twice; late Harvey goal in 3-1 home win Darren Mattocks became the first Whitecaps FC player to score two goals in an MLS match this season, as the young Jamaican’s brace helped the Blue and White end a three-match winless run in MLS, and a five-match winless streak in all competitions, on Bell Pitch at BC Place.

http://www.sounderatheart.com/2012/6/2/305...ong-hgp-chances It's nice to see DeAndre mentioned in this article: But the big winner among the starters is Aaron Kovar. If I can be bold enough to declare a top tier for possible HomeGrown Player signings it would include current Sounders U23 players like Sean Okoli, Deandre Yedlin and Nick Palodichuk. Those three were part of last year's strong U18 run, have selections to national teams, are at top schools and are on short lists of top freshmen of 2011's college season. Kovar belongs in that conversation and maybe at the top.

http://www.sounderatheart.com/2012/6/1/305...her-step-closer by Dave Clark on Jun 1, 2012 10:24 PM PDT in Sounders: Academy, U23 PDL and Reserves Tonight's 2-1 Reserve loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps has two stories for Seattle Sounders fans. One is much larger than the other. It was the story that caused people to change their plans, to adjust their schedules, to come to Starfire a third straight night. Steve Zakuani is back. Or closer to back. Or however you want to parse the language. "Today is a great day," Zakuani said to the press post game. "I got to see the fans, the fans got to see me. It's great to be in front of the fans again. It's a bit emotional also, because it's been 13 months. I feel good because I'm going in the right direction." And the fans did get to see him. There were glimpses of what he was. There was knowledge of what he'll be. There was an attempted chip that was a bit too low. Steve Zakuani wants that attempt back, because he knows exactly what his mistake was. If he gets that same opportunity again he almost certainly makes it. This evening wasn't about performance for Zakuani though. "Today was more than a result. It wasn't about performance," he said with a smile. "It was crossing off another on a really, really big checklist. I did it so I'm happy. I'm going to go home and tomorrow I'm going to be sore, but it's a really good feeling." He was clear. It's going to be a long time before you see exactly the same Steve Zakuani. He spent most of the night as a forward. He used a lot of burst speed. It wasn't the same speed, but close. There were a few times he made those endline runs that were his signature in 2010. His crosses were usually low. He's not going to wait until he's 100% to tell Sigi he's ready. He wants to contribute as soon as he can contribute, even in short periods of time. But it will be different. "The fans are going to have to understand that it's going to be a while before they see me picking up the ball on the halfway line dribbling 50 yards with the ball. If they can understand that it's going to take time, he said, "then it will be good. I need more games like this because that's the only way I'm going to get it back. Training's good, but I need more games. I'm hungry to get into the real thing." Seattle Sounders fans are hungry too. Several hundred whetted their appetite on a Friday night. They saw the new Steve Zakuani. He's a lot like the one you remember. A man with many friends throughout the league. One who is generous and thanks many for helping him in his time of need. He's also still a man that looks right with a soccer ball a few yards ahead of him so he can sprint on to it. Even if he doesn't think he can yet.

Darren Mattocks is starting tonight for Vancouver against Houston in today's only MLS match. http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2012-...van-v-hou/stats EDIT: And he scores in the 4th minute.

Wow, that's horrible news. Way too young.

Bucks Open Cup Run Ends with Penalty Kick in OvertimePDL team dominates but can’t finish off Lions Pontiac, MI (June 5, 2012)- The Michigan Bucks run towards Open Cup history ended Tuesday night when the home team was defeated by the Dayton Dutch Lions (D3 Pro) 2-1 on an overtime penalty kick. The fourth round win for Dayton puts them into the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup where they will travel to Kansas City on Tuesday, June 26 to play Sporting KC of Major League Soccer (MLS). The Bucks came out a bit shaky defensively in the opening minutes but quickly settled into their aggressive tempo much to the delight of the rowdy crowd of over 1,100 fans at Oakland University. Lions forward Eli Garner created several early runs that had the Bucks back line on their heels before he finally opened the game’s scoring. While colliding with a Bucks defender at the top of the eighteen, the ball fell to his feet with only Bucks keeper Adam Grinwas to beat, and he calmly chipped him for a 1-0 Dayton lead in the 12th minute. The goal served as a wake up call to the Bucks, who proceeded to take control of the game offensively with continuous pressure from Tom Catalano and Nermin Crnkic. In between offensive counter attacks by the lower division PDL side, Grinwis came up with two big saves to keep the lead at 1-0 into halftime. Bucks coach Gary Parsons’ game plan was working fairly well into the second half, when injuries caused the Bucks some real problems. The US Open Cup operates under FIFA rules, where each team is only allowed three substitutes for the game. “We expected a long night and a very physical battle. The plan was to go into half time tied or close, if we didn’t have a lead and then make the offensive substitutions that would change the game. With Simon (Omekanda) and Stew (Givens) having to come out to injury, we were never able to bring on Kenny (Uzoigwe) or Stefan (St. Louis) to finish off the scoring. Kenny would have been the difference maker in the second half and over time, but we didn’t have the ability to sub him in,” concluded Parsons. Parsons first sub of the game was replacing forward Steve Miller with Anthony Grant at halftime. Grant has played in two PDL games this year and has scored two goals in each, so the young Jamaican from Bowling GreenUniversity was ready for the call. In the 55th minute, Grant would beat his defender to the ball at the penalty spot, leave him on the ground and struck side netting when he buried his shot past Dayton keeper Matt Williams to knot the score at 1-1. Two minutes later Givens would pull up with a hamstring injury that would force Parsons to use a valuable sub in the back line. Joey Dillon was called on to finish the game at right back. In the 72nd minute Omekanda pulled up lame and had to be replaced by Zach Steinberger, who added instant life to Catalano and Crnkic, who were relentless all night long. With the Bucks lineup complete for the evening, the home side knew they needed a goal in regulation to insure they would not have to play down a man if another injury occurred. The Bucks dominated from the time Steinberger entered the game and he created three spectacular chances, hitting the post on one and sending a cross through the box that only needed to find a body part to be the game winner, but somehow eluded three Michigan players at the six yard line. The Bucks bombarded Williams’ goal with 22 shots on the night (to Dayton’s 8) forcing the goal keeper to make several key saves. The Bucks had several opportunities to score in the waning moments of regulation time, but the ball would not find the back of the net. In overtime, it was much of the same as the younger side continued to press. Kevin Cope had two headers just creep over the bar on successive corner kicks while midfielder Scott Caldwell and defender Chad Barson continued to pick up Lion turnovers and start the counter attack looking for the winning goal. In the 7th minute of the 30 minute over time period, Dillon was isolated on his Lions attacker just inside the penalty box when he awkwardly challenged for the ball. The Lions player went down and referee Kevin Terry Jr. pointed to the spot, much to the dismay of the Bucks bench and the partisan crowd. Michigan native Joel Delass slipped his PK inside the post just past the outstretched arm of Grinwas who guessed the right way but was a few inches short. The Bucks went back to the offensive attack and threw everyone forward for the remaining 23 minutes and created a couple of free kicks that would also just miss the mark. “This is a funny game,” said Parsons. “Sometimes you can dominate but just not finish. So far this year we have not really had this problem so you hate to see it crop up in a game of this magnitude; but it does happen. My heart goes out to these boys. They have played three professional teams on three consecutive Tuesdays and have taken all three to the 90th minute plus and came away two wins in the three tries. We knew we needed to get this done inside of 90 minutes because I was afraid we just wouldn’t have the legs to go on. Our schedule since we started the season three weeks ago has been absolutely brutal and isn’t going to get any easier.” Parsons was referring to the four US Open Cup matches since May 15 and the five league matches the Bucks will play, including the match at Toronto on Thursday and against Chicago on Saturday. Michigan will have to rely on its depth to get through the rough stretch which will have the team playing nine games in just over three weeks to start off the 2012 campaign. The team is currently 3-0 in league play and finish this year’s Open Cup run with a record of 3-1. Bucks Chairman/ CEO Dan Duggan was disappointed with the outcome but pleased with the great crowd, the recent support of the team and his players’ efforts the past three weeks. “Yes we do live for the Open Cup opportunity and this year we took advantage of it by hosting three games in four weeks. That being said, I think US Soccer has learned a couple of things about our success. First, you can’t have Open Cup games on four consecutive Tuesday nights in May and early June. It is not good for the players with the combined league schedule and it certainly is impossible to sell tickets in six days week after week. To have the youth clubs in the area cancel practice the past two Tuesday’s and encourage their kids to attend these high level matches was the fundamental reason why we had the success that we did. We feel like we pushed everyone and used a ton of favors to get people to the matches. With the fee structure that US Soccer is operating under now, a hosting team has to sell at least 2,000 tickets or they will lose money on the event. This will have a negative effect which will keep some teams from bidding or wanting to host in the future. I suspect there will be some changes to next year’s tournament, but all in all I am happy with most of the modifications they did put in this year and I do like have the tournament concluding in early August. We just need a couple of weeks between each round to catch our breath, play our regular season schedule and if we host, have time to properly promote the match so everyone can make it to the event.” After returning from Toronto on Thursday night, the Bucks will host the Fire at CatholicCentralHigh School in Novi on Saturday. Kick off is 7:30 PM and tickets can be purchased in advance for only $5 by visiting the Bucks web site at www.buckssoccer.com and clicking on the TICKETS link. Tickets at the gate will be $10 Adults and $7 Students (5 and under are free to Bucks games). The Bucks and Fire are two of the top PDL teams each year and are the teams who have sent the most players on to MLS. Last year the Fire had eleven players selected in the MLS draft and the Bucks had five so fans will once again get to see tomorrow’s MLS stars today by coming out and supporting the Bucks as they try to hold on to first place in the Great Lakes Division. The article doesn't say it, but I know Chad Barson and Scott Caldwell have been a big part of the Bucks' success. The both played the full 120 minutes against Dayton. This had to be some great experience gained by playing against MLS players in the US Open Cup. I hope to get up to Detroit on a weekend this summer to see Chad and Scott with the Bucks, but I think there's only 3 remaining weekend games at "home" (this Saturday, which I can't make and 2 in July).