TennZip

https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=21&articleId=53699&articleTitle=mens-college-takeaways-from-opening-day Akron Resurgence Akron has been a sleeping giant of sorts in recent years. The four-time national finalists have qualified for the NCAA tournament just twice since reaching the College Cup final in 2018. There was renewed excitement this season brought on by the combination of talented returners with several eye-catching transfers. A 1-1 tie with No. 2 Notre Dame away from home adds to the hope that the Zips are back to claim their position among the elite.

best results that help the zips VCU upset #15 Wake Forest 2-1 #12 WEstern Michigan had strong 3-1 win over #14 Vermont result that does not help Pitt 2 #16 Georgetown 0 other scores Ohio State and Cleveland State 1-1 Villanova and St. Peters 2-2 St. Francis 3 St. Bonaventure 0 Temple 1 Army 1 Marquette 2 Drexel 0 Butler 2 Southern Indiana 1 Creighton and Fla. Atlantic 0-0 Seton Hall 1 FIU 0 Providence 2 Quinnipac 0 Xavier and N. Kentucky 0-0 Rhode Island 2 St. Johns 0 U Conn 6 Stone Hill 0 IU Indy 2 UIW 0 DePaul leads UIC 4-1 at 74 Wright State opens their season tomorrow night against Bowling Green

Lots of positives from the first night Emil is good at hold up play....very nice pass to WKWK for the goal Beto had good night at left back.... Matt Dreas is vastly improved...he had good night Josh Hardin and James Buebendorf.....both looked really good at outside back in limited minutes Malik really battled on defense...and had a near assist that forced the keeper to bat away a header from Dice I look forward to Ashton Kamdem returning from sitting out due to red card in last year big east tourney. I really think that Ashton can be a difference maker at left back. zips looked much better in the 2nd half. in my humble opinion, the zips got homered on calls in the road game at ND bring on the Buckeyes...Ohio State and Cleveland State played to a 1-1 tie tonight

Akron at Georgetown on September 28.....shows as being on the big east digital network(BEDN) on flo sports Akron at DePaul on October 19....also shows as being on BEDN on Flo I did not check for the Marquette and Connecticut games

if you click on the full you tube video, you will get to hear co-captains Daragh (on left) and Jonas (on right) speak for over 6.5 minutes

If you click on the full you tube video, you will get to hear Jared speak for over 10 minutes

Notre Dame well represented on the All American teams Bryce Boneau (in another article) is ranked as the 2nd best college player in the country

When you click on ACCNX, it takes you to ESPN.com https://fightingirish.com/match-1-preview-akron/

Emil J. selected to 3rd team pre season All American team https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2024-mens-division-i-preseason-awards_aid53660

I did not see either of the exhibitions. I asked a high school friend for his impressions of the first 2 games I will paraphrase his comments. They looked much worse in the 2nd game than they did in the first game. 2nd game comments - They spent a lot of time passing the ball around on their half of the field. They appeared to be afraid to pass the ball into the midfield as the pass was likely to be intercepted. Most times, the zips looked to pass backwards....rather than looking forward. When the zips were able to cross the midfield, the ball did not stay very long on the zips side of the field. Same problems that we saw late in 2023...when they tied Marquette and other less talented teams. Final comment from my friend...game was very boring. Fans were not engaged. Fans were talking to their neighbors and checking stuff on their phones. my comments - I will pay $10.99 for a month to watch Thursday's night game on ACC TV. And I will pay the obnoxious $30 per month to pay for the very over priced FLO TV so I can watch the home games against Ohio State and Cleveland State on August 25 and September 2nd. I will pay whatever is necessary to watch the game in Kalamazoo. I hope to make it up to Akron in early to mid September I consider myself a devoted fan...and I was thrilled to see the addition of a super highly rated left back in James Buebendorf. I was absolutely thrilled to see that the coaching staff had great success in attracting excellent transfers like Maximus Barboto, Victor Gaulmin and Emil J. Super fast, elusive top talent....Malik Henry and Dyson Clapier...came back for a 5th year because they believe in this coaching staff and their returning team mates. Caleb Borneo was a top 50 rated junior and he is healthy to play this year in the midfield Fans that saw the zips play in the spring say that Beto Ydrach is a fantastic center back and these same fans give credit to the coaching staff for finding a great talent in Beto. My comments below are 2nd hand...for the first 2 exhibitions....but they appear to mirror the problems that we all saw in the disappointing end to last year. I have never played and I am certainly not qualified to be a coach....but as a passionate fan, I think that the Coaches are going to have to make some major adjustments to utilize our super talented new mid fielders....Borneo, Barboto, Gaulmin and Josh Bartels. Teams have figured out how to contest the zips step by step passing style.....and clog up the midfield Last year(similar to 2021 and 2022), our starting left back....struggled greatly to get the ball to our supremely skilled left winger (Dyson Clapier) This year, I am very hopeful that either Ashton Kamdem or James Buebendorf can lock down the starting left back position and use their speed and passing skills to get the ball up to the final 3rd of the field to Stefan, Emil, Dyson, Malik, Josh B. and other skilled scorers. Unfortunately, Ashton got a red card in the big east tourney game and will not be able to play against Notre Dame. I sure hope that James Buebendorf gets a lot of playing time at LB against Notre Dame and that the highly rated freshman can have a stellar zips debut. This team has many talented players in the midfield....and some terrific players as forwards and wingers.....Jared and the 2018 coaching staff....showed in the great 2018 tournament run...that they could get the ball to Marcel Zajac and Stuart Holthusen in good scoring position. All of the transfers and talented new freshman (Bartels, Borneo, Buebendorf) believe in their teammates and the coaching staff.. Soccer is not easy.....Lots of new players ...Rome was not built in a day...but this team can make a deep NCAA tournament run.

would love to hear comments from fans that attended the game???

Pitt, Friday night's exhibition opponent, is predicted to finish 9th....in the 15 team ACC Notre Dame (opponent in the regular season opener) was selected to finish 2nd in the ACC https://theacc.com/news/2024/8/13/clemson-selected-2024-preseason-acc-mens-soccer-favorite.aspx

take a look at the pre season 2023 Top Drawer soccer first team All American team again, this was 2023....12 months ago....last year, Akron had Joel and Dice on pre season All American team and did not even make the NCAA tournament. So, pre season accolades.....do not guarantee great success We all know that Dice struggled with injuries in 2023 I am encouraged to see how highly that Emil J......was thought of...pre 2023 Zips need a healthy Dyson Clapier in 2024. Top Drawer Soccer(TDS) will announce their 2024 top 25 poll on Monday August 19 TDS will announce their 2024 pre season All American teams on Tuesday August 20 below is what TDS predicted...12 months ago..... TDS August 2023 Preseason Best XI Teams First Team F: Alex Meinhard (Clemson), Emil Jaaskelainen (LIU), Stas Korzeniowski (Penn) M: Christian Soto (Washington), Joran Gerbet (Clemson), Laurence Wootton (Ohio State), Dyson Clapier (Akron) 😧 Tommy Silva (UCLA), Joel Sangwa (Akron), Ronan Wynne (Denver) GK: Alex Lopez (Tulsa) https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2023-mens-division-i-preseason-awards_aid52390

to answer your 2nd question... again, a yes Emil played 85 minutes. 4 shots 3 of them on goal you might have to click on individual...when you click on box score link below https://gozips.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2023/long-island/boxscore/8958

I am very , very impressed......by your knowledge of world soccer I went to zips roster....and could not answer your first question.... I went to LIU 2023 roster....and I was super impressed by the work done by their soccer SID. Here is the answer to your first question: Personal: Emil is the Son of Maria and Jussi Jaaskelainen Father Jussi made 530 appearances with the Bolton Wanderers from 1997 through 2012, had a Premier League stop with West Ham United Wanderers during a two-decade goalkeeping career in England, and played 56 international matches representing Finland Has two brothers, William and Robin Brother William plays in EFL League Two with AFC Wimbledon Under the 2023 history....this is also very impressive about Emil (pre season top 11 All American) Ranked No. 5 in nation in Top Drawer Soccer preseason D-I player rankings and No. 76 in postseason D-I player rankings Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI first team https://www.liuathletics.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/emil-jaaskelainen/3760

Good luck to the lady Zips this fall. I predict that they will exceed expectations. Go Zips !!! https://getsomemaction.com/news/2024/8/12/womens-soccer-western-michigan-selected-as-favorite-in-mac-preseason-coaches-poll.aspx

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/2024-ncaa-division-i-players-to-watch-forwards/

https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=21&articleId=53632&articleTitle=mens-soccer-transfers-to-watch-for-2024 Emil Jaaskelainen, Akron One of the leading strikers in the last few years of college soccer, Jaakelainen scored 43 for Long Island as a two time NEC Player of the Year. The Zips were looking for a Jason Shokalook replacement and they found one in a grad senior that could be the difference in winning a Big East title.

this is encouraging.....2 zips mentioned.... I also think that transfer Maximus Barboto is going to have a big year for the zips https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=21&articleId=53632&articleTitle=mens-soccer-transfers-to-watch-for-2024 Victor Gaulmin, Akron One of the best DIII players in NCAA history will take on DI soccer for his final season of eligibility as Gaulmin transfers to Akron from St. Olaf College. An All-American in all three seasons, the French midfielder led the Oles to the DIII national title last fall, scoring 16 and assisting 10 in 26 matches. It will be interesting to track how Gaulmin’s dominance and ball striking excellence translates to the highest level of college soccer.

no video or live stats https://gozips.com/news/2024/8/10/akron-mens-soccer-hosts-first-of-two-home-exhibition-matches

I am not sure if this article......about January 2024 addition Maximus Barboto....had ever been posted here https://njithighlanders.com/news/2023/12/20/mens-soccer-maximus-barboto-named-to-the-topdrawersoccer-com-mens-national-top-100-postseason-list.aspx

I had not previously heard anything about the transfer from LIU...... sounds very encouraging... A native of Bolton, England, Emil Jaaskelainen, a forward arrives at Akron following a distinguished career at Long Island where he was a four-time All-NEC selection, three-time All-Region honoree and a two-time NEC Player of the Year. He garnered United Soccer Coaches All-Region accolades for the third consecutive campaign a season ago and was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List en route to being invited to the adidas MLS College Showcase. As a freshman, he was selected as the NEC Rookie of the Year. He capped his career at Long Island registering 43 goals, 14 assists, 100 points and 15 game-winners on the strength of 275 shots, including 129 on net.

looks like a joke of a pre season poll......it looks like they completely mirrored last year's year ending poll.... last year, the big east conference released their pre season poll on August 15. Hopefully, that will be a poll....where the coaches actually look at off season changes. I am excited about this year's team....Buebendorf and Kamdem will be a dramatic improvement at left back. the zips will be much stronger in the midfield...with Barboto, Borneo, Bartels and Gaulmin.