72 Roo

I hate to lose this young man, but I am not as concerned as others. I question whether he had the speed to play today's LB position. We are losing players and it is saddening. Still we aren't alone. Toledo is headed for a major rebuild. Recently I touched base with an operations staff member formerly at UT. Candle asked him to join him at UConn. The pay raise was nearly double. Anyway he told me Candle has taken 22 UT players with him. Obviously Candle would not take any player that couldn't help, so these 22 were scholarship players who were expected to start or get significant PT at UT. Candle is following the plan that Cignetti executed at IU: take the best players, who you know, and build around them. Despite all this I expect UT to be good. They have a great MAC brand in football.

FWIW, I have heard that Cibastian Broughton is the player that the staff is most excited about. He has been under the radar but has all the talent to get the job done with both his feet and his arm. If true that gives Joe a new dynamic at QB that we haven't had for years and one that he has longed for.

More addition by subtraction.

Being highly regarded for developing players to transition to P4 programs is not an accolade that excites many of us. I'd prefer being known for winning.

If I had tuned into this game I would think Akron is good, but nothing special. 19 TO's is enough to explode over. Groce said in his radio comments that a lot of them were due to CMU's pressure. That is not true. They were due to laziness, lack of discipline and lack of patience. Players were trying to make things happen that were not there. Many times trying to penetrate when a fellow player was open in the backcourt. This is on Groce. He is tolerating it and it is time to use playing time to get his message across. The 15 TO's were had against Miami cost us the game. Cut those in half and we win going away. I love John, but it is on him to fix this because it can be worse against the better teams. Everything we do from here on out is preparation for the MAC tourney and the NCAA's. We have to get better.

I thought Jake would stay primarily because he has something to prove and last season he was not a real factor at the TE position. He has all the physical tools to have a good year and I wish him well. I also hope he stays injury free. That was not the case this past season. His leaving the program does not impact us that much.

You are definitely a glass half full kinda guy. This program is teetering on the train wreck classification. There appears little hope, especially seeing the conference games are now here.

Merry Christmas to all on this board, even those who I have blocked! I am very grateful for this forum. Thanks to the creators, moderators and thoughtful posters. I look forward to accessing this site each day. I believe the best is yet to come. And yes, Virginia, there is a winning football team coming to Akron.

Yes, this was coming but I hate to see that it is finally here. However this occurrence reminds me of the exceptional ability Joe and his staff have in uncovering and developing talent. When I see that we are in a serious rebuild again I take heart in the fact that we are in the same boat as other G5's and that we have a staff that can get us to a competitive level. Joe deserves credit for that. Even when I know Joe will have his annual unbelievable game losing decisions I still feel he will find a way to put a team out there that I can support. For that I thank him and the staff. Now about those decisions.....

Thanks for passing this along TennZip. Rarely do you read an article where the interviewed athlete has such mature and articulate comments. Jason is another example of the exceptional quality of young men who come thru the Akron soccer program.

Well stated TennZip. UW has traveled an impressive road to the championship. Still, they did not face us. I think we are that good and would have given them the best test of all.

The championship was played December 6 at First Energy Stadium. The best team lost. Damn!

I did not see Hattie on the 2025 roster. Did she commit as a junior and still had a year od HS? Also I am curious as to which club she played for? Women's soccer in the Mansfield area is not considered that challenging and to get her ready for D1 soccer she should get experience with a top club. Perhaps we will see her on the roster this Fall. I loved that she wanted to be at Akron. She felt at home and recognized the upward trajectory the women's program was focused on.

What we haven't announced will get Zip soccer fans very excited.

This loss is the bitterest pill of all to swallow. Everything had aligned to set up a once in a lifetime run for the Zips to our second star. We have talent. We play a beautiful brand of soccer that attracts that talent. We had an opponent whom we respected, yet we knew we could beat. The coaches had, over the season, developed a scheme that worked considering we lost 23 goals in Emil last season and 8 starters. What an incredible job they did! The crowds were responding to this team. Then comes the game and we beat ourselves. SLU played hard for 90 minutes, but what they did was insignificant compared to what we did to ourselves. I feel so bad for the players. They like each other and play for each other. They are proud to be Zips. They are excellent students. They are what we want in D1 athletes representing our school no matter what the sport. Next year can't come soon enough!