TennZip

I love this year's tough schedule. The one thing that I did not like when the schedule came out....was the team flying out to La-La land.....and playing a game 3 nights after a super tough home game....and then flying all the way back after one game....to host a tough Penn State team. Cal Santa Barbara has not played a game recently in Akron. I can understand the 2011 game out there....but going out there again in a short turnaround after playing Wake Forest.....does not make sense. If the zips come out flat and listless at Cal Santa Barbara, they will drop out of the top 25. Like ZIPME87, I know this team has the talent and work ethic to go out to La-la land and put a loss on the taco throwing Gaucho team. The good news for the zips in the rankings....is that #8 Elon went to S. Carolina last night and lost 3-1 and #10 Oregon State lost last night to an unranked Gonzaga team. If the zips play like they did in the last 20 minutes last night, I am confident that this team can post "w's" against Cal Santa Barbara and Penn State. This is a solid group of high character kids and I am confident they will flip the switch completely.

http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/4366/NCAADivisionI/men/Poll4 Akron and Penn State both tied Ohio State last week. Penn State dropped from #13 to #21. Zips went from #11 up to #9. Wake Forest dropped from #7 to #15 after losing to Elon

zips are going to have 2 tough games this week. Cal Santa Barbara went into Bruin land last night and spanked UCLA 4-2

Ohio State, in their next game after tieing Akron, played #13 Penn State to a 1-1 tie.

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men zips dropped from 11 to 12....in top drawer poll I am amazed that Indiana is still receiving votes as Rutgers drilled them yesterday 4-1

the mac appears to be a much stronger conference this year Northern Illinois is 4-1 and had a high quality win this weekend...3-2 in overtime over Marquette...always good to see a mac team beat a big east team NIU plays at #1 Creighton Tuesday night Bowling Green is 6-1...they play at Dayton on the 23rd and host Michigan state on the 29th Western Michigan is 5-0-1 after playing Dayton to a 1-1 tie this afternoon. West Virginia is hosting Georgetown this afternoon at 4 today. WVU's best result this year was a 1-0 overtime loss to Michigan State. unrelated to the mac, VCU and Georgetown played to a tie Friday night

I went to the facebook page for zips soccer for the first time ever this weekend...and ended up rereading the players blogs from Brasil. I was so impressed by Victor's passion and intelligence. I am so very glad that Victor is part of the Akron soccer family and I root very for Akron's warrior in the midfield as he is so far from home. Victor and the other Akron players...thank you for fighting so hard for Akron soccer. Victor wrote: first blog: Today is one of those unforgettable days that we have throughout our lives. I am literally living a dream today. Today in Brazil, my two families came together: my Akron family, and my Brazilian family. First I would like to thank everyone that contributed to this trip, and for the realization of personal dream of mine. I look at this trip as a remarkable point for our Akron Soccer Program, and I am confident that I will be writing to you guys in December celebrating the National Championship. To all of the student-athletes, coaching staff, donors, 2SV Sports and all of the people that are directly or indirectly involved on our trip to Brazil, THANK YOU for helping us make this dream a reality. It has been two years and five months since I have been living my two "lives", my American one and my Brazilian one. All of the hours travelling on airplanes and bus did not get me tired; instead, the long trip has so far been rewarding. I wish you all could see how tight I hugged my Dad, Mom and brother, and how happy I was at the airport when I looked back and I saw all of my teammates and coaches celebrating that moment with me. I will never forget that. Never. It was an indescribable feeling. At that moment, I realized how many people support me, will help me when I am in need, and want to see me succeed. In exchange I will leave everything I have on and off the field on this trip, and I cannot wait for the fall to make sure that both of my families feel proud of me. I like the responsibility, and I love being an Akron warrior. final note: For nearly 10 days my Akron Family was in my home country of Brazil. The mix of good feelings still goes through my body and thoughts and everytime I remember those moments my mind flashes me forward to December when with hard work and dedication we will have an excellent opportunity to lift the NCAA National Championship trophy. None of that would be possible if everyone at the University of Akron, donors, coaching staff, 2SV Sports, and all the people involved in this trip did not believe and invest in us. I thank you all so much. It has been paid off already, but my Akron family wants more. We have seen and proven to ourselves that we are more than capable of accomplishing big things. We set a goal during our time in Brasil, which is to put the University of Akron Men's Soccer back at the top of college soccer like in 2010, and to get a second star on our jerseys. I know words will not win anything, but our mindset will.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/marla-ridenour-ua-men-s-soccer-on-the-rise-again-but-big-victories-bring-pressure-1.625048

Well said, Zip_ME87. I love this team as well. Next week will be a true test of what this team is capable of. Flying out to California and playing a tough cal santa barbara team ...3 days after battling a top ACC team....will be a tremendous challenge. This team shut out an excellent Georgetown team and Georgetown, 2 days later, scored 3 against UCLA. This team can achieve great things. Soccer is an unforgiving game and it always takes 90 minutes of unrelenting passion. I believe this group will grow from last night's game

had not read the beacon yet...when I posted above Coach Embick and Sam Gainford quotes from the Beacon: Embick: Gainford, who finished the match with the final assist on all three goals after scoring two goals in Friday night’s win over St. Louis, was taken out in the first half to have stitches put in his nose. “In a game where we weren’t necessarily competing in all spots, he was competing and running hard despite not being 100 percent,” Zips coach Jared Embick said. “And he obviously has the talent and skill to go with it.” “At the end of the day, I think 3-3 ends up being a fair result,” Embick said. “I think they outplayed us the majority of the game.” “They kind of understand our players, their strengths, and what they’re capable of,” Embick said of the teams’ familiarity with each other after playing twice last season. “Most importantly, I think Ohio State knows who they have to be to play us and have success against us.”

no quotes from Coach Embick in the zips writeup? comments from Bluem on Ohio State page http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-soccer/recaps/091615aaa.html

st. louis wins on an own goal..... own goal by louisville player on short cross into the box

St. Louis is showing tonight that they are indeed a very good team... they are playing at #19 Louisville tonight St. Louis led 2-1 for most of 2nd half....Louisville scored at 88:44 on a header they are getting ready to head to the first OT in other top national games #7 Wake Forest and #20 Elon were both 5-0-0 heading into their match tonight Elon def. Wake 1-0 unranked Xavier went into South Bend and upset #2 Notre Dame 1-0 I hope that the billikens can get a win in OT....as that will help the zips in RPI

Buckeyes always play a physical game and that challenges the pure soccer that the zips want to play. I am sure that the players will be self-motivated and the coaches will have the team ready.

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/tds-mens-team-of-the-week:-sept-15_aid37485

http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/4287/NCAADivisionI/men/Poll3 #11 in the most official of the polls

http://www.collegesoccernews.com/index.php/polls/csn-top-30-poll/807-college-soccer-news-top-30-national-poll-week-ending-september-13-2015 #7.....in college soccer news Richie was also named to their national team of the week

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men zips #11 Western Michigan moves up from 29 to 24

Maryland player got a red card at 75 minutes. other interesting scores.....Virginia and duke 2-2 tie. Louisville and Syracuse 1-1 tie. Bowling Green 3 Evansville 1 ; Western Michigan 8 St. Bonaventure 0 ;

Very gutsy, impressive win for the zips. This team has tremendous character coming back from 2 goals down against the #15 team in country. Adam's free kick was a thing of beauty. Victor made a great run and a super pass to set up the first goal. Students were loud and proud. Miserable weather in the 2nd half but this was a memorable, special win, Brad and Andrew really stepped up.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/university-of-akron-men-s-soccer-returns-to-national-rankings-following-wins-at-georgetown-maryland-ready-to-host-saint-louis-on-friday-1.623098 I am surprised....but I am glad to see the zips getting some good press before the home opener

http://www.collegesoccernews.com/index.php/articles/803-these-teams-are-off-and-running-with-a-great-start-to-the-2015-college-soccer-season will be interesting to see how they do....when they start playing teams like Michigan State and Syracuse....and the MAC champs

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men the top drawer poll is done Monday morning....so it was done before the huge win over Maryland. Look at the teams receiving votes. Western Michigan is #29 in their poll. So, we have BGSU in the NSCAA poll and Western Michigan in the top drawer poll. I know that LZip has been upset that other schools have been getting votes to win the MAC. However, I look at it as a positive that some other MAC teams are getting respect on the national level. I would imagine that WMU and BGSU both are using akron's national championship as a recruiting tool (come to our school and you can compete against Akron, which has won a national championship). Improved teams in the MAC will help the zips in the NCAA tournament as they will have more competitive games in October and early November.

http://www.nscaa.com/rankings/4227/NCAADivisionI/men/Poll2 zips #26..... and they show the losses in the records for UCLA and Maryland Maryland stayed at #4....with a win over UCLA and a loss to the Zips check out who is #24.....I guess their wins over Drexel and Cleveland State impressed the voters (sarcasm, just one more service I offer)

http://www.collegesoccernews.com/index.php/polls/csn-top-30-poll/797-college-soccer-news-top-30-national-poll-week-ending-september-6-2015 college soccer news did their poll after sunday's nights game...they had the zips at #22....as a result of the win over Georgetown St. Louis #15 in their poll