Zip_ME87

I agree... the new kits are great! I'll put in the extra effort to learn their names/faces in spite of the difficulty reading the numbers on the pitch. Given their hard work, the pride they bring to The U of A, and how much I LOVE watching them, I have to know their names and be able to recognize them off the pitch.

I agree. He's looking good.

Balogun was one of only 2 subs in the semi-final against Michigan. The Zips had only one sub in the Championship Game (the other sub in the semi-final), and he's now at UNC.

I have a scarf for every MLS team that has a former Zip/Zips playing for them. I agree, though, that the Sounders are my favorite MLS team with Portland being a close second...organizations and fans. I'd love to see a Sounders/Timbers game at either Portland or Seattle.

I absolutely agree. DeAndre played the first half on my side of the field, and he made it look effortless to cover one end of the pitch to the other. I wished I had brought my Sounders scarf to wave as extra acknowledgment for him. EDIT: Great article, btw. Thanks!

Nice comment from Steve Zakuani on his twitter page tonight: stevezakuani11 Steve Zakuani Seattle wins 6-2 and Akron wins 5-0... perfect day of football! #GoSounders #GoZips (BTW...the 6-2 Seattle win was against the Cowlumbus Crew)

Nice start, albeit exhibition

Very nice video. I was there and must say you captured the event very well!

The scarves are awesome...blue, this year, by the way. Reinaldo Brenes (7) is the scrimmage starter you missed.

IMG Soccer Academy retires six jerseys Anthony Ampaipitakwong, #8, Class of 2007: “Ampai” is the most talented midfield player to grace the fields at IMG Academies. After a stint in the US Soccer residency program, Anthony moved over to IMG and never looked back. He captained IMG sides that won the Sun Bowl, Dallas Cup, League Cup, Men’s League State Final, State Cup Final and PDL semifinals twice. After IMG, Anthony attended Akron University where he led them to a NCAA Championship and helped form one of college soccer’s most prolific programs. As a Generation adidas player, Anthony is in his first season with the San Jose Earth Quakes in the MLS. Zarek Valentin, #4, Class of 2008: Zarek is a versatile defender who has poise, guile and tenacity. One of the most competitive individuals to represent IMG, Z’s appetite for the game has caught the eye of every National Team coach in his age range and has represented the US on all of its youth National Teams. Akron Coach Caleb Porter spotted him early on at IMG and Zarek played along Ampai and Blair Gavin at Akron winning the NCAA championship before joining MLS with Chivas USA Not quite right since Ampai is not a GA player, but a nice honor for our former professional Zips.

All I can say is, if those are close to the MLS' rankings...Someone's going to get a HUGE pick-up in Barson! Hard to imagine him being outside the top-5. Can Columbus pick up Chad as a home-grown?

You just did. And, you're right...perfect speed and direction. Actually, it was a very nice series of passes between Darlington and Chabala to set up Chabala's score. Also, you had to love, or at least I did, Portland crushing the Galaxy 3-0 in front of their awesome home crowd (2nd only to the Sounders faithful)...Galaxy's first loss since May 1, I believe.

Beat me to it! 34th minute. Great to see Teal back in the starting lineup tonight.

Outstanding! It looks like he'll be joining his Serbian squad in POOL B for the games. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Hopefully this will help him in preparing for BOTH the 2011-2012 Zip season AND his subsequent European career. I hope the Serb coach teaches him the art of the lay up. He'll increase is scoring average by 6ppg this season if he can consistently make the 2-ft bank shot. No doubt! Here is the Serbian roster for the games. He and another Nikola from URI are the only US college players. Good link. It helped me learn some Serbian. I had no idea that "pictured below" in Serbian is "in BOLD letters." Hey, give them credit...they got The University of Akron correct but not URI. I wonder if the URI folks hate "RIU" as much as UA folks hate "AU"? (I think our Nikola took care of us.)

So, it is the New Mexico game. As Z.I.P. pointed out earlier, I shouldn't have discounted that game so easily. I see that FSC prefers Friday games, but made 2 exceptions...Zips/Gauchos on a Wednesday and Notre Dame/Louisville on a Saturday.

And what makes you think I need larger than XL? This is Z.I.P., not Gozips! Not you. Me.

Thanks Z.I.P., but this T-shirt has been available since January 2011. They never had shirts larger than XL. Nice price reduction, however.

Agree. I was (am) happy for Teal and hope that he finds his way back to being a starter soon. His bobblehead celebration was pretty cool. I'm jealous of the SKC fans...I want a Teal Bunbury bobblehead. EDIT: Teal bobblehead

Saw it live last night (on MLS Direct Kick). Here is the article: bunbury breaks through on bobblehead night EDIT: Teal Bunbury Bobblehead night

2011 Milk Cup Elite Scroll to the bottom FOR the second year in a row Northern Ireland have fallen short of Milk Cup glory at the final hurdle. Steve Beaglehole’s boys pushed Denmark all the way in last night’s final but were unable to recover from conceding an early Mark Gundelach goal as the Danes ran out 1-0 winners. Winning Denmark coach Morten Wieghorst said: “I’m delighted for the boys, they are a group who were only brought together 10 days ago. “This is a big achievement because it is the first time we’ve won it, so I am delighted with the result. “It has been a tremendous week and we have enjoyed our stay in Northern Ireland very much the, local people welcomed us and the team has done well. “It is a tough schedule this week , we saw some tired legs out there but they have made history. A few of the boys have surprised me and some of them aren’t far away at all.” Denmark, coached by former Celtic favourite and international Morten Wieghorst, looked strong and composed against Northern in the first meeting between the sides on Monday night. However, Northern Ireland worked them all the way at the Ballymena Showgrounds last night but just came up short with their final ball and simply not able to work Danish enough goalkeeper Jensen enough. The first opportunity of the game was when a James Knowles corner eventually found its way to Newcastle United youngster Lee Toland and his dipping effort from just outside the box was turned away by goalkeeper well by goalkeeper Jensen Eleven minutes into the game and Denmark opened the goalscoring with their first real foray into the Northern Ireland penalty area, coming through a piece of good fortune and crisp finish from Mark Gundelach. The broke kindly into the midfielder’s path off Casper Sloth’s right boot and the Gundelach produced a powerful drive across Wayne Drummond and into the bottom left hand corner. Five minutes later and Liam McAlinden came within a whisker of drawing the sides level. Matthew Ball, scorer against Denmark and Georgia earlier in the week, slipped an inviting pass into the path of McAlinden and he cut the ball just inches wide of David Jensen’s far post. Caolan Lavery then brought a good save from Jensen as Beaglehole’s side continued to look the more threatening. With 30 minutes on the clock James Knowles had time and space to run into, with Lavery an option to his right, however he chose to go himself an dragged his effort well wide from a central position, 25 yards from goal. Three minutes later Jeff Mensah – a goalscorer in Monday night’s 1-1 draw between the nations – flashed an effort over from 20 yards after a driving run from just inside the Northern Ireland half. Former Glentoran goalkeeper Drummond kept his side in the game eight minutes before the break, to prevent Gundelach doubling his and Denmark’s tally. Gunderlanch drove past Jordan Watson and took aim from a similar position in which he scored the opener only for Drummond to bat the ball away to safety. Northern Ireland boss Steve Beaglehole made a brave move with four changes at the break in an attempt to find a way back into the game. It was one of those substitutes Neil Dougan, who picked up McAlinden’s blocked slot and brought a point blank save from Jensen in the Denmark goal. Another sub Andrew Mitchell glanced a header just wide as the home side continued to rack up the half chances but were unable to carve a genuine opportunity for themselves. With eight minutes left however Michael McLellan flicked on a cross from the left and fell into the path of Ryan McLaughlin. However the Liverpool youngster struck the ball well over the bar from a tight angle. McLellan’s night was to end five minutes from time when he reacted off the ball to shove Soren Henriksen to the ground. It was 10men apiece four mintues later when Jonas Knudsen picked up his second yellow card of the game for a foul on Dougan, as the midfielder sprinted down the flank. Denmark comfortable held out for the victory however and the last action of the night was Lee Toland flashing a free-kick well over the bar from just outside the angle of the box – summing Northern Ireland’s fortunes on the night. Elsewhere in the section, last year’s winners USA secured third place with a 2-1 win over Georgia at the Riada Stadium. Taking home the wooden spoon were Israel who lost out on penalties on Mexico in Friday’s first Elite outing. Friday’s Elite Results: Mexico 0 Israel 0 (Mexico win 4-3 on pens), USA 2 Georgia 1 Final: Northern Ireland 0 Denmark 1 EDIT: Soccer by Ives result description Jordan McCrary and Jerome Kiesewetter each scored, as the United States Under-18 national team defeated Georgia, 2-1, to capture third place at the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland. McCrary scored off of a Jose Villarreal free kick in the 39th minute, and Kiesewetter finished off an Omar Salgado cross in the 58th for the eventual game-winning tally. The United States went 2-0-1 in the Milk Cup, defeating Israel and drawing with Mexico prior to Friday's victory. Kiesewetter was the team's leading scorer, notching two goals in the tournament. Salgado, McCrary and Victor Pineda scored the other goals for the United States.

I love how there is even a need to have this article. That just demonstrates how big of a deal Porter is. I agree Yaznasty. It's awesome (as we all know) to have such a highly-regarded coach at UA. I also like that it was media outside of Akron as opposed to the local newspaper.

My guesses, UCSB away on October 5th and Wake Forest at home on October 29th Agreed. Only thing that might make it different is that FSC likes to broadcast Friday night games and the UCSB game is on a Wednesday. The Zips have no regular season Friday home games scheduled. In the past, FSC has broadcast Wednesday night games; that's why, besides the opponent/atmosphere, I'm confident in the UCSB away game. At home, if it's not WFU, it could be one of the Little 12...blOSU, PSU, or MSU. Actually the game against New Mexico on September 16 is a Friday night game. Don't think this would be worth an FSC broadcast though. You're right. I discounted that one in my statement and shouldn't have (because I didn't think it worthy, either). I also agree with Jacob M that the OSU game would be a good one for national TV given the atmosphere. I would hope that televising it wouldn't reduce the crowd size. I trust that all true Zips fans able to attend would do so to torment the Suckeyes and their over-inflated fan base. Too bad Konrad Warzycha is with Sporting KC now...some torment (payback) for the ball in Darlington's face is certainly in order.

My guesses, UCSB away on October 5th and Wake Forest at home on October 29thAgreed. Only thing that might make it different is that FSC likes to broadcast Friday night games and the UCSB game is on a Wednesday.The Zips have no regular season Friday home games scheduled. In the past, FSC has broadcast Wednesday night games; that's why, besides the opponent/atmosphere, I'm confident in the UCSB away game. At home, if it's not WFU, it could be one of the Little 12...blOSU, PSU, or MSU.

My guesses, UCSB away on October 5th and Wake Forest at home on October 29th