TennZip

Top Drawer soccer (TDS) is showing that the Zips have landed their first recruit for 2025. https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/christian-hodges/pid-148197 They show that Christian Hodges is a goal keeper from Westlake, Ohio. They show that he is associated with the Columbus Crew academy. TDS has Christian Hodges ranked as the #100 rated recruit in the class of 2025. Over the past few years, most of the players ranked in the TDS top 50 players....decide to go pro...... Getting a player ranked in the top 100 ...(with so many recruits turning pro)....is now the equivalent of signing a top 50 or top 60 player in 2011 or 2012. This is a very quality recruit to start the 2025 recruiting class. Well done to all of the coaches involved in getting this young man to announce his intentions to attend the finest soccer university in Ohio. In 2022, this young man was selected to be part of the Under 16 Boys National Team https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/twenty-three-players-called-to-u16-bnt_aid51102

Let's compare scores.... Marshall did beat Oakland 4-0 Akron tied Michigan 1-1.......Michigan has a 1-3-3 record now and Michigan is picked to finish last in the big Ten Oakland defeated Michigan 2-1 this week You reference Wright State in your comment.....On Tuesday night, Wright State defeated Bowling Green 3-0. Bowling Green also defeated Michigan earlier in the year. Providence came into the game against Akron with a 2-3-0 record. In the game before they played Akron, Providence lost to UMass 3-2. Since their win over Providence, Umass has tied Dartmouth and lost to Duquesne and Holy Cross. UMass also lost to Hofstra. Hofstra lost to Fairleigh Dickinson earlier in the year. Monday, Fairleigh Dickinson lost 5-1 to Pitt. Marshall scored 3 goals in each of these 3 games...against Xavier (#58 in RPI) ; James Madison (#9 in coaches poll when Marshall played them and 3 against Pittsburgh. As a zip fan, I am not happy with ties against a weak Michigan team, a Providence team with weak results....and a 0-0 team against a toothless Notre Dame team. I have applauded the Zips for their win against a very good Vermont team...and did a bravo, bravo post for their excellent performance against a good FIU team.

Jared Embick is very happy in the press conference

https://rpiupdatemenssoccer.blogspot.com/search/label/RPI Rank As of Thursday morning, Zips are #45 in RPI Georgetown (not on the zips schedule) is the highest ranked Big East team at #7 Listing the RPI teams....for zips opponent.... Game 1....Niagara is at 200 Game 2....Vermont is at 34 Game 3....Michigan is at 144 Game 4...SIU is at 181 SIU has a record of 1-6-0....they did get their first win of the year...this week....3-2 over future zip opponent....Northern Kentucky Game 5...Long Island is at 118 Game 6...FIU is at 49 Game 7...Providence is at 101 Game 8...Notre Dame is at 15 for the first 8 opponents, the average RPI for the first 8 opponents is currently a little over 105 Game 9....St. Johns is at 113 Game 10...Seton Hall is at 82 Game 11....Northern KY is at 206 Game 12...DePaul is at 110 Game 13...Cleveland St is at 168 Game 14....Xavier is at 58 Game 15....Creighton is at 56 Game 16...Marquette is at 36 Game 17...Butler is at 158 For the final 9 regular season opponents, the average RPI is slightly under 110

I was actually up from Georgia and was in Akron for the last 2 games. Notre Dame lost last week to Michigan State...so Notre Dame dropped from 10 to number 15 in the coaches rankings. Based on what I saw last night, Notre Dame is not a top 25 team. Vermont was a much better team than Notre Dame I sat at last night's game with a Notre Dame Graduate. The Notre Dame graduate said this is the worst Notre Dame team that he has ever seen. The Notre Dame grad predicts that Notre Dame will not make the NCAA tournament. My friend has been following Notre Dame soccer since the early 80's. Some of the comments make it sound like the Notre Dame goal keeper stood on his head and made some fabulous saves. Many of his 12 saves were on headers when the zips player was a good distance from the goal. The GK easily handled the headers from a far distance. The Zips probably had 4 very good shots. 1) Jonas Buechte fired off a rocket from a great distance and the GK got a hand on it before it went in the top of the goal. The GK punched it over the top of the goal. ; 2) Fitz made a great run and fired off a shot that the Gk punched out into the field ; 3) Malik cut inside and fired off a strong left footed shot that the GK could only punch back into the field. ; There was a 4th but I have been driving all day...so, I am drawing a blank. I think it was probably a Shooky opportunity in the first half. The GK did not stand on his head. Hopefully, if the zips keep firing strong shots like 2 and 3 above , the zips will be able to get a lot of goals off rebounds. Both 2 and 3 were almost direct shots at the GK but the zips were not ready to pounce on the rebound. I do like the 3 man back line. Daragh Reilly played well last night. However, I also really like Ashton Kamdem. Ashton got no minutes last night(I do not know if he was injured). Joel, Jonas and Daragh have done well as a 3 man back line . Perhaps, Ashton can get some minutes as a left outside midfielder. Like all Zips fans, I am really hoping that Dyson Clapier can return very soon. Gyuwon Chong is working very hard to fill some very big shoes but Gyuwon is probably better as a distributor in the middle of the field. The zips sense of urgency was much stronger in the first half....than it was in the 2nd half. I kept waiting for a zip to be daring in the 2nd half.....and make a challenging run into the middle of the field and draw 2 defenders to him....but the zips more often opted for the safe pass backward. After Friday night's very slow start, it was very encouraging to see the bossing the game in the first half. The 2nd half was played at Notre Dame's pace. The number 1 team in the country....Marshall is winning games like this 4 -0 ...or 5-0......Based on Notre Dame's skill level, the zips should have won this game 2-0 or 3-0. Zips should not be happy tieing a team that is inferior to them

Notre Dame at Akron....is the first of the 5 key games that they profile.... PS....I like their score prediction https://collegesoccernews.com/mens-college-soccer-a-look-at-five-key-contests-coming-up-this-week/

Congratulations to Shooky for being chosen for team of the week for his performances against FIU and Providence https://collegesoccernews.com/college-soccer-mens-national-team-of-the-week-week-ending-september-17-2023/

I have been in Akron area since Friday. I have not been on a computer much. I had not looked at RPI in many days. After Friday night's tie with 2-3 Providence, Akron has dropped to #50 in RPI (as of Monday morning) Notre Dame is #41 https://rpiupdatemenssoccer.blogspot.com/search/label/RPI Rank

it is definitely overpriced. But, it is definitely worth it....to see the games......following live stats only is torture I am very glad that I took the plunge and paid the cost Chad talks with the coaches and the players....and is passionate for the first 4 or 5 games, they showed a feature at halftime....where each player introduces himself...tells where they are from...and an interesting or funny fact about themselves it is really enjoyable to watch... the impressive Joel Sangwa shares that he speaks 4 languages someone is a chess grand master...I think it is Ashton Kamdem ryan kopay..number 28...says I am really good at ping pong josh hardin...number 29...follows Ryan and says ...I am much better at ping pong than Ryan Kopay... Josh Hallenberger and Josef Paulus are hilarious with a deadpan face, Josh Hallenberger says he loves to take long walks on the beach with Josef Paulus when they get to Josef Paulus, Joey says I love to prank Josh Hallenberger on a daily basis hope you get to see all of the players talk at halftime It would be great if Akron Athletics would put the player introductions up on their you tube page so that all season ticket holders could see

Stefan Dobrijevic has made a tremendous amount of improvement from his first year to his 2nd year. This hard working young man....just keeps earning more and more playing time. Congratulations, Stefan. I can not say enough good things about tri-captain Josef Paulus. When I first saw the Hinckley native play, I never expected that he would become a super key player for the Akron Zips. Josef has improved an incredible amount during his time at Akron U. Josef has become a great leader on the field.

The Beacon has started making their articles subscriber only https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2023/09/16/ncaa-mens-soccer-akron-providence-big-east-opener-josh-hallenberger-jason-shokalook-daragh-reilly/70855557007/ I will copy the one allowable short snippet that I am allowed to copy (per board guidelines) "This was a tale of two halves," Embick said. "First half, they were better. They were able to jump us and get the early lead. Second half, we just kept coming and wouldn't give in until we were able to at least get a result. Tremendous mentality from our group and tremendous belief. ... To come back from 2-0 and 3-1, two different two-goal leads, I think says a lot about this group." Embick said his message at halftime wasn't anything fancy. "When we are dialed in and locked in on our job and helping teammates and communicating, we have a very good team, a brilliant team that is very tough to compete against, but when we are not locked in we can be vulnerable," Embick said. "The goal at halftime was to find a solution in terms of personnel and get the guys in the right mindset."

Top drawer soccer says that Akron has a new recruit for 2024 midfielder from NYCFC https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/thomas-orourke/pid-126333

one coach ranked Akron as the #1 team in the nation....... and Marshall and Stanford are putting up a great battle for the number 1 spot Stanford with 195 points and Marshall with 194 https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-men/

zips are #19 in this morning's RPI (Tuesday Sept. 12) Marquette with a 6-0-0 record...is the highest rated Big east team at 16 RPI for next 4 opponents Providence with a 2-3-0 record is at 73 Notre Dame with a 4-0-1 record is at 36 St. Johns has a 4-1-1 record but they are at 122 in rpi Seton Hall with a 3-1-1 record is at 103 https://rpiupdatemenssoccer.blogspot.com/search/label/RPI Rank

I pray that Stefan Dobrijevic is not seriously hurt......That was an absolutely unconscionable brutal cheap shot by the FIU player (studs up ) to the knee. A red card and 1 game suspension is really not enough for such a reckless, potential career ending studs up cheap shot.

BRAVO !!!! BRAVO !!!! Best zips team performance of the year..... The zips were fantastic........ they played with out Dyson Clapier and they put a beatdown on a top 20 team...... Zips coaching staff had a great game plan....and the zips great depth really showed tonight Joel Sangwa is an absolute warrior to come back in the 2nd half with a heavily taped wrist and battle for the entire 2nd half. Alejandro "Nano" Varela came in early in the 2nd half for Sammy Tojaga and I think that Nano had his best performance as a zip. Jason Shokalook was a force all night. Obviously, watching the game via video....does not give the same great perspective...that being at the game .....provides but, my goodness !!!!! Malik Henry was an absolute superstar in the 2nd half. In my humble opinion, Malik had his best performance as an Akron Zip Malik was very solid defensively......... Malik had a 12 minute stretch in the 2nd half.....offensively......that I do not think that any player in college soccer will match this year at 33:57, Nano showed great vision and made a great pass from the left side of the field...thru the middle...to the right side of the field and the pass went to Malik Malik cut inside and got off a beautiful left foot shot to the top right corner of the goal GK made a phenomenal save and the zips got a corner kick..... it is hard to describe the great skill and spin that Malik put on the left footed shot and it was on perfect alignment to the top right of the goal box at 29:56, Malik used his speed to blow past a defender...using his right foot then , Malik made a superb cross on the ground right in front of the box.... zips could not get a foot on it....but it was a beautiful cross from a very dangerous player around 22 minutes and change....Malik timed his run perfectly and got a pass after using his tremendous speed Malik made a very strong right footed shot The GK could only put his hands to punch the ball away the rebound did not bounce right for the zips....but the zips will get many goals off rebounds...if Malik continues to fire off strong shots..... Chad Welker was going wild......praising Malik....for taking great shots...... Mailk is going to start getting some goals during the year.....and that is going to make the Zips even more dangerous on the offensive end..... great job, players....great job....coaches........ the camera after the game focused on Michael Nanchoff and Ger Coppenger hugging and congratulating the players...... the huge smiles on Michael and Ger's faces....was an absolutely beautiful sight........... BRAVO

2nd goal was an absolute beauty from Shooky

Best half of the year. Shooky en fuego !!! Joel Sangwa appeared to have his hand or wrist stepped on. Darragh Reilly came into the game to replace the great Joel Sangwa....and Darragh did well as center back first goal shown below

Johnny Fitzgerald replaces Ashton Kamdem in the starting lineup

Congratulations to Josef Paulus for being named to the College Soccer News team of the week https://collegesoccernews.com/college-soccer-news-mens-national-team-of-the-week-week-ending-september-10-2023/

change

Vermont was a very good team.......but you are correct....that FIU is really going to test the zips defense.

Saturday night - Big East games, most ranked games and zips opponents no wins on Saturday night for Big East teams UMass 3 Providence 2 Ohio State 1 Butler 0 Fairleigh Dickinson 0 Villanova 0 Harvard 1 #23 Seton Hall 1 in the match of the night... #16 West Virginia 1 #3 Portland 0 thanks to Big Green Truck for pointing out...that WVA goal came at 89:57 Pitt 3 #9 Wake Forest 0 #12 Vermont 2 LeHigh 1 #20 Notre Dame 3 Clemson 2 zips play Notre Dame on Sept. 19....Irish are 4-0-1....only blemish - first game tie against Indiana Oakland 3 Cleveland State 0 Robert Morris 2 Northern Kentucky 1 Duquesne 2 Niagara 1 Evansville 4 SIU 0

Looking at the box score for last night's game, the starters combined to play a total of 920 minutes. There were only 5 subs used....and 1 of them only played 16 seconds (GRRR...on stopping the clock for that sub) the 5 subs....combined to only play a total of 70 minutes. FIU is a high powered offensive team. Last year, the zips escaped with a 5-3 win. Last year, FIU really attacked the sides late in the game as Will Jackson had played the full 90 and Ashton Kamdem had played 77 minutes. (Malik was returning from injury and only played 13 minutes). Jackson was out of gas at the end of that game and FIU scored goals at 83 minutes and 85 minutes. I can certainly understand...the coaches using the 2 center backs for all 90 minutes. However, with this quick turnaround (just 70 hours from the end of Friday game to the start of Monday game), I would sure hope that Will Jackson and the starting right back only play 30 minutes to 35 minutes per half. This team is supposed to have great depth. In last night's game, only 3 subs played more than 10 minutes. I sure hope that we see more than 3 subs Monday night with more than 10 minutes. LIU was the much fresher team last night in the 2nd half. They had 5 subs with more than 10 minutes...and had 2 other subs that played 9 minutes Zips bench players....that did not get in the game last night......Rui Reis, Matt Dreas, Daniel Firek, Alen Kapic , Joshua Hardin....and Darragh Reilly only played 16 seconds I have not listed Nathan Ferguson...and Jackson Herbert....and Dyson Clapier...and others that are battling injuries are the bench players not quality players? I have heard a respected former Akron player.....is raving about how good that Daniel Firek is.....Alen Kapic looked good the other night. Rui Reis had 14 goals and 10 assists for Keiser last year. Are the players that I listed...also dealing with injury? The next 3 games....are huge for the zips....highly ranked FIU on the 11th....first big east game on the 15th...and highly ranked Notre Dame on the 19th.....I sure hope the zips depth....can be a huge factor in helping the zips go 3-0 or 2-0-1 in that stretch Minutes for last night's game Budler 90 Buechte 90 Sangwa 90 I am OK....with all 3 of those 90 minute guys above Jackson 90 Malik 90 Shokalook 90 Wan Kamal 79 Paulus 79 Tojaga 77 Gyuwon 73 Kamdem 72 subs Nano Varela 24 Stefan D. 19 Fitzgerald 17 Hallenberger 9 Reilly 16 seconds Ashton Kamdem and Malik Henry have proved to be a dynamic duo on right side...... but Johnny Fitzgerald......is high energy and high skill....sure would love to see him play more than 17 minutes Malik Henry at RB and Johnny Fitz at RW and Ashton Kamdem at LB and Dyson Clapier at LW......in the last 15 minutes of the first half.....is going to make Akron dangerous on both sides.......those 4 would be a hand ful for the next 3 teams.....late in any half.....sure hope that Dice is back Monday night (as one zno poster predicted)