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Akron Racers?

It would be easy for Zips to look past this one - at their peril.

Akron 1-0 Penn State http://www.gozips.com/sports/msoc/2015-16/releases/20150930x5u9d4 http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/093015aaa.html Akron squandered numerous chances to score during flow of play. PK was well deserved and well taken. Lineup change @ UCSB seems to have become permanent. The addition of Radjen seems to have solidified the back line. Souders improves his pro stock every time he plays outside by demonstrating that he can play anywhere along the back. Shultz and Souders inexplicably swapped sides several times. Soares is one tough customer. He lacks speed, agility, and grace. His skill is average. But he tackles really hard and he is rarely out of position. I like him in the starting eleven, just to set the tone. Freshman Belana has relieved Soares every match. I like that rotation: Soares first half, Belana second half. Belana is more skilled, more talented, and more creative than Soares. A handful of others contributed from the bench, namely Stuart Holthusen and Sean Sepe. Quality win versus a traditional foe.

Zips need to defend their home turf tonight.

Yes, the Webstream was extremely poor, albeit free. I would actually rather have paid for a good connection. Good coaching, be it Embick, Chappell, or whomever. Nice adjustment! I never would have guessed Radjen as impacting any match this season. I love it when these guys are smarter than I am; they should be! But even I recognized that Belana was struggling with the physicality of Holding Midfield in the NCAA. Soares is less agile, less technical, but much tougher. So, there is flexibility now at HMF, depending upon the opposition, as to who will be the battery mate to Souto. Zips fixed their Defense! Let us build on that.

My video feed was horrible. I could barely watch it. SwitchIt, Back 4 were? You say it was: Shultz - Radjen - Ruhaak - Souders Please confirm. Because I thought it was: Radjen - Souders - Ruhaak - Shultz Whatever. The addition of Radjen seemed to work, right? And I (sorta) called the Soares at DMF. Clean Sheet!

Radgen played entire match at left back?

UCSB 0-1 Akron HT

Looking forward to this one! Wish I could fly out there! RPI points aplenty, ripe for the picking! Time for Zips to fix their Defense!

Gaucho Mike, I will be watching the video stream tomorrow night, praying that the inevitable tortilla shower does not crush the video camera. But seriously, never throw anything at a player, in any sport, anywhere. I am pleased to learn that all Gauchos are related. I have always suspected as much. Gaucho Dan's RPI is the stuff of PhD dissertation in Statistics. I actually understand Statistics better from following his RPI over the years. (Which is quite a statement coming from an English major.) UCSB needs to travel to Akron one of these seasons. Make it happen! Lobby TVS! He will do it. Zips faithful throw a righteous tailgate! You are invited!

DiG, Your assessment of MAC competition is right on it! Paper Tigers indeed! More is the pity.

Dave In Green, Soccer and Basketball were the two sports I played consistently, well into adulthood, in organized leagues. I love both, and I miss playing both. Soccer is more physically taxing than Basketball. Soccer is rougher, and the substituting is much less frequent, because of the rules. There are repeated, maybe too many, stoppages in hoops. Just the nature of the two sports. I do not place any particular value on this observation. I reference no scientific data whatsover outside my own experience, but I would hazard a guess that Soccer requires 30% - 40% more recovery time than does Basketball. Both are great sports, the two best sports, IMO. I have always considered the training for each complimentary, one to the other.

A trip to Santa Barbara would be fine during one of those weeks with only one match. Much, much more valuable a fixture (on several levels) would be vs. Indiana. We should play Hoosiers every single year. Tradition, proximity, recruiting, Big10 - the factors abound.

Gaucho Mike, are you related to Gaucho Dan, RPI Wizard, Statistician Extraordinaire? Big Soccer!

SwitchIt, Your analysis is spot on, especially astute regarding the poor play of our CBs. Some of my favorite players on the squad play there, so it pains me to agree with you that they have not been up to snuff. Souders and Ruhaak have been slow to diagnos opposing offense, and they do not anticipate well enough. The DM needs more teeth, and Souto lacks the range to do it by himself. I suggest Souders move to DM instead of Belana. Perhaps Cregan or Clarke can man the other CB. Soares also showed flashes at DM vs. WF. Bottom line is that the lineup needs some new blood, something different. Giving up 2.5 GPM (or whatever it is) is not championship football. Not by large margin! And what is going on with Stuart Holthusen? After not playing for several matches, he seemingly did his best to get ejected during 15 minutes of spot duty in the second half.

Akron and OSU draw? Same as it ever was!

DO NOT TAKE buckeyes FOR GRANTED!!!!!

Tuesday noon(ish) EST.

2009: 23W-2D-0L runners-upThe wound that will never heal!

First 10 minutes. This was not long ball over the top. This was irresponsible, too cute, play along the back line. Billikens simply took the ball and scored. Nothing fancy about it. There is not much statistical promise in allowing 2 goals per match.

ODU will be a tournament team.

I do not believe analogy holds. We were better then. CSU was far inferior to us at the time. Give ODU credit. They are a quality side. They got a bit lucky with the long passes.

A coach must choose his spots to do this. This manuever should only be employed infrequently. Nice job, coach!