fknbuflobo

True. If the other team isn't winning anything, it ain't much of a "rivalry." It's a ton of fun to beating Ohio State, don't get me wrong. But they haven't stepped up to the plate and made it a "rivalry." I think next year's CSU match could be equally as intriguing/heated/crazy as Ohio State. Only because CSU manned-up and beat the Zips. Ohio State wants to be our rival. But they aren't. They're Robin. We're Batman. Yes, CSU beat us, but I wouldn't say they "manned-up". More like they played better than normal and we over looked the game and played down to them. It was a total fluke. A single game does not justify a rivalry. CSU is not our strongest rival, OSU is! I think OSU may be our strongest in-state opponent. But with an all time series record of something like 6-24-3 (off the top of my head, but I believe that's close) they just don't seem like a rival to me. It's giving their program too much credit. I think Penn State/UA is a better rivalry. But that's just me. I enjoy whipping both. If we're gonna go with an out of state rival, I'd say Indiana Historically, Indiana is Akron's biggest rival, making 2010 tourney victory all the more sweet.

True. If the other team isn't winning anything, it ain't much of a "rivalry." It's a ton of fun to beating Ohio State, don't get me wrong. But they haven't stepped up to the plate and made it a "rivalry." I think next year's CSU match could be equally as intriguing/heated/crazy as Ohio State. Only because CSU manned-up and beat the Zips. Ohio State wants to be our rival. But they aren't. They're Robin. We're Batman. Yes, CSU beat us, but I wouldn't say they "manned-up". More like they played better than normal and we over looked the game and played down to them. It was a total fluke. A single game does not justify a rivalry. CSU is not our strongest rival, OSU is! Remember that day 10/30/2010 was extremely windy with strong gusts.

Bravo, #8!

On the bottom is my email to the editor of College Soccer News regarding their list of 14 top collegiate soccer rivalries. On the top is CSN’s same day reply to my email. Thank you for taking the time to write us and for the opportunity to respond. Thank you also for the ticket offer. That would be a great match-up to attend but we are already committed to be elsewhere that week. We plead guilty to never having seen in-person the Akron - Ohio State contest but we did do a lot of research including direct communication with a lot of people including folks from Akron before making the selections we made. It was on our short list (at least give us that) but was left off in large part as you have pointed out because Akron has so dominated the series. Your description and the information you provided makes a good case for it being included so maybe we missed one by not including it. Sounds like we might have gotten a different response if we had talked to the people from Ohio State. Akron is a great program with so many good things happening that are also great for college soccer. Thanks again for the information you provided and the opportunity to respond. Bob Bradner, Editor, College Soccer News -----Original Message----- Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 1:21 PM To: editor@collegesoccernews.com Subject: The Top 14 Rivalries In College Soccer Importance: High Time permitting in my life; I would like to attend each of the rivalries listed in your entertaining article. However, it is profoundly inexcusable that you would entirely omit Akron/Ohio State from you arbitrary 14 top collegiate soccer rivalries. I do not know what your criteria for this list are, but it would be difficult to believe that you have personally witnessed the Ohio Derby before, and yet excluded it from your list. Akron has commanded the series all-time for 50+ years. Still, the series has tightened considerably during the last decade, with many draws and a few OSU victories. The Buckeyes rightly believe they should reign preeminent within the state of Ohio, regardless of the sport. It galls them that a MAC school like Akron routinely beats them. Recent highlight is the 2008 rematch tilt during the NCAA tourney, won by Akron 2-1 in double OT. See 2010 draw in Columbus before record setting crowd of 8,000 fans. Match ended Zips consecutive streak of not surrendering a goal. These are all hotly contested, if not downright dirty, matches, with enough cardings to fill the book. On the line is future recruitment of exact same high school prospects within the state of Ohio. OSU coach Bluem earned his Master's degree @ Akron in 1984. There are innumerable ties. Hence, the Ohio State match is arguably the most important on Akron's schedule each year. As a Zips season ticket holder, I have your ticket should you choose to attend W/9/28/2011 for the latest installment of the Ohio Derby. Newly anointed Cub Cadet Field will be hopping! Please advise soon.

G Meves D Barson F Mattocks You got three.

Ok thank you, I wasn't quite sure if Xavier had made the tournament last year. Well, it will be another good test for us then. Damn! It's funny (in more than one sense) reading this description. I remember not very many years ago, when "we were Xavier" -- just making the NCAA tournament was considered a successful season. Do not forget how far we have come! And that there is just one Coach Porter BTW, Xavier has a very fine player from Jackson HS -- one of the state's best players in HS, who was "not good enough" for Akron. I live in Jackson and I believe F Danny Baraldi has signed with Bowling Green, so we will see him this year nonetheless. Weather permitting, I will be at the Xavier scrimmage.

First off, nice turnout for a spring match. A lot of schools would love to see that many people at a regular season match. Game play was sloppy at best today. I didn't see the Zips string together a lot of passes like we're used to. That will come with time and chemistry. Our back line was pretty bad today. Hopefully the freshmen can really step up this fall. Porter tried a lot of different looks today. At one point there were 8 mids on the field with Barson, Mattocks and Meves the only guys truly in their positions. At the time Speas was up top and Holmes was tucked back in the midfield which I found interesting. A few of the individual performances that I remember well enough to write about: Mattocks: Same old Darren. Flashy on the ball. Loves to have the ball at his feet at run at guy. Needs a lot of maturity for this team to do well this year. Seemed to be a me first guy for a majority of the match. Needs to learn to pass the ball instead of doing it all himself. Great shot on the goal from outside the box. Holmes: I really like what I saw out of Holmes. He had a great shot on goal from a header that was cleared by a UM defender. Had another shot on goal that bounced off the downed defender over the goal. Looked cool and calm on the ball and my first impression was that he can be a major contributor for this team. Stevenson. Started at right-back and shifted left late in the game. looked really good in joining the attack and I think that he could fill in for Kofi well in that role. Unfortunately, he was weak in defense and from my angle, I think he was partially responsible for the first goal. Jacob, I like your breakdown. Allow me to retort. F: Mattocks is truly a natural finisher seeking to refine his game. I think he is becoming a more willing and accurate passer. His score was a real cracker! Speas is not the starting forward; though he can get minutes there, he belongs in the midfield. Navarrette did not show much in limited time. I was disappointed about that. Where was Tulloch? M: I was wondering if Holmes would fill the gap left by Nagbe; he will not. Instead, Holmes will fill the gap left by Ampaipitakwong (with better finishing). Great seeing Holmes finally out there, especially when he was a bit chippy in that scuffle. Brenes was OK winning the ball, though he should have done better with that chance in the first half. Otiveros was generally disappointing. His tackling was bad, his passing was bad, and he could not settle the ball on a windy day. I hope he improves. Caldwell was the same. Balogun is a strong tackler, but his passing is inconsistent. Perhaps Balogun would be better suited in the defense rather than holding mid. D: The back line was awful. Maryland is a quality side, no doubt about it, but they made us look really bad. Stevenson does not belong back there, nor does Schmitt. Culbertson looks like he may develop eventually. Where was Afsarifard? Dagilis was surprisingly bad at knowing when to clear, when to settle, when to pass back, etc. Barson was the same. I sure hope things look different with Yedlin and Gallego. Otherwise, this will be a long season. Can someone please confirm that Genovese and Diaz have left the program? I am particularly sad to see Genovese leave. I was really rooting for him.

Nice grab, Yaz. Those facilities look world class. Wow! I am still waiting to get a good look #9 Diego Navarrete. Guess I will see on Saturday. Has anyone an update on Luke Holmes?

Thanks for the recap, Yaz. I am concerned about the status of Luke Holmes. Anyone with a Luke Holmes sighting?

Did Luke Holmes go on the Spanish trip? No yes OK. As far as I can tell, Holmes did not see action in any of the matches. Very curious! Sorry. I'm friends with one of the managers and he put photos from the trip on facebook. It looked like Luke was with the team but not dressed. Maybe he is injured? I'm not really sure. Either way, you are correct, he didn't play. Hopefully we will see him as well as the rest of the new guys in the coming weeks. Anyone planning on making any of the trips for Spring season? I will definitely be @ the Maryland scrimmage. April 2nd, right?

Did Luke Holmes go on the Spanish trip? No yes OK. As far as I can tell, Holmes did not see action in any of the matches. Very curious!

Did Luke Holmes go on the Spanish trip?

Yo, where did you get that shield icon?

How many roster spots do we have? Typical Porter here! I don't know but these two bring the 2011 recruits to eleven. Congratulations on beating me to the punch on this one Bisbee. I read something about Bonilla, from Gwinnett Soccer Association last week, but didn't have time to research. I think he may be from the same club as Clint Mathis. I have to check with Clint's former coach, who's now skipper of Honolulu SC Bulls. My first knowledge of the transfer (Quinn). However, I can I guess let the cat out of the bag, since it doesn't appear he will be a Zip: The English player, whose coach was on here and Bigsoccer last Summer attended the January Elite camp, but apparently won't be attending UA. He also, I understand, had pro options in the states and trained with a MLS side. So are you saying that Quinn won't be a ZIP? Yeah, Z.I.P. Is this Quinn coming here or no?

“His core strength is good, but I think his first touch is what gets him out of those situations,” Collins Hill boys coach Drew Prentice said. “He’s almost impossible to dispossess. His first touch almost always gets him out of trouble. And his speed from zero to seven, eight yards, it’s tough for people to keep up with that athletically. And he’s almost faster with the ball than without it.” I never heard of Dominic Bonilla before recently. That means nothing. What I find interesting is that this coach’s description of Bonilla is exactly how I would have described Darlington Nagbe coming out of St. Edwards HS.

I vote for Steveie Z. Then Teal. Zakuani

Porter talked about playing home against Cleveland State at the American Outlaws' USA/Chile watch party a few weeks ago. Also, Maryland at home too i've heard. Yes, Caleb said the Zips are home against Cleveland State, Xavier, and Maryland this Spring. He also mentioned 2 games in one day at Ultimate Soccer Arenas (nice place) in Pontiac, MI...one of them against the Wolverines...as well as a trip to Xenia, OH. Who are we scheduled to play in Xenia; Central State or Wilberforce? Please reply ASAP so we can notify the appropriate school to start a soccer team. I still have some eligibility left (if not legs). Please forward contact information for Central State.

There is an Akron alum who is head coach of a solid Coastal Carolina program who I recommended to the administration for Ken Lolla's position. We are very lucky to have Coach Porter, and I am glad things worked out the way they did. However, I think Shaun Docking would be a great fit for UNC because he already knows the NC area and has done great things with a small scale program. He also has the Akron soccer brand on his resume, which can't hurt either. http://www.goccusports.com/sports/m-soccer...ng_shaun01.html Shaun Docking would be fine choice for UNC. Remember him as a player in 1986? Coach Parker moved him from forward to defender for his senior year. The match vs. hated Indiana was moved to Buchtel Field because LJF was too muddy. We had not beaten them in like …. forever. The crowd was kept from the field only by ropes. That was perhaps the dirtiest collegiate match I have ever seen. Let’s just say that Mr. Docking’s uniform required cleaning afterward. Dude was a baad man that afternoon! Can you remember the score?

You have it backwards, but it's been used. Akron Arsenal is one of the area's oldest clubs. Really? I have been kicking around Akron since the late '70s and never heard of them. Who are Akron Arsenal? Now a team from Ravenna should be called.... naw, that's too easy!

Another fantastic article. Too bad there is some troll over there claiming that Akron plays negative football and just packs it in to win at all costs. Couldn't be further from the truth. Besides being , the best thing about Akron is their style of play. I've never seen a troll that thinks he knows so much and actually knows so little. His claim that Akron had possession about 37% of the time against UVA two years ago is laughable. UVA had all 11 behind the ball the entire second half and overtimes. What a joke. At first I could scarcely believe what I was reading. In the 2009 final, perhaps UVA had better scoring chances, but AU definitely had much more of the ball. From where is this negative soccer comment coming? What is this person watching?

+1 To be without the two cogs in our offensive system severely crippled the 2009 team in the College Cup. Everyone usually points out Ampai was out, and forget that Nano was out too. You are correct. Nano an Ampai out made a difference. I still believe that Bunbury should have done better that weekend. The 1986 team would have beaten the 2009 team.

I was disappointed to see no reference to the soccerroos, but the commercial looked sharp anyway.

Hey ben Z, you on here now?

Everybody in? Yedlin * Gallego * Trapp * Chiu * Culbertson * Murrow* Holmes * transfer from Loyola/St. Ignatius (what is this D's name?)

When is the next big televised match?