TennZip

Akron soccer made 3 final fours from 2015 to 2018 and was in the NCAA final in 2018. NCAA finalist in 2009...NCAA champion in 2010. The athletic department has not done a good job of marketing the tremendous value of having an elite top 5 team ...almost every year. Akron soccer is the shining star of the Zips athletic department.

The Crew with Darlington and Caleb...are fun to watch

Joao Moutinho (criminally underrated???) - not by Zips fans https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/07/20/armchair-analyst-good-bad-every-team-mls-back-tournament-thus-far Pareja's actively helping young players like Chris Mueller and Joao Moutinho (a criminally underrated attacking LB) level up into something more than just names on the roster, Good Takeaway: The reclamation process for Jonathan Lewis — scoring that goal above — and Kellyn Acosta continues apace. The Rapids bet big on unlocking productivity from these two obviously talented players, and there is mounting evidence that both bets were good. I'm going to assume Lewis will start the final Group Stage match, for what it's worth. He offers a directness that none of the other winger options manages, and at some point you have to let him play through the "young player" mistakes and just get him out there because he gets you goals. 10g/8a in ~1700 MLS minutes is a statement, and Robin Fraser should listen.

Richmond Laryea is kicking butt in Toronto

about the fall schedule https://www.beaconjournal.com/sports/20200716/mid-american-conference-delays-start-of-some-fall-sports The Mid-American Conference announced Thursday the league will delay the start of fall Olympic sports. According to a news release those sports include men’s and women’s soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, volleyball and cross country and encompass exhibition and non-conference matchups. Those sports will begin Sept. 3, allowing MAC member institutions to better prepare safety protocols as guided by the conference’s COVID-19 Medical Advisory Panel, Council of Presidents and the NCAA’s Resocialization of College Sports Guidelines

Steve Z.....tweeting about his former coach and D-Nag

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/29399268/how-olympic-sports-fighting-survival-collegiate-level this article just infuriated me...... soccer is a strength....because it won the regular season conference title in three of the past 5 seasons???? how about making the final four (college cup) in three of the past 5 seasons...and being an NCAA champ and three time NCAA runner up.... Take Akron, for instance. AD Larry Williams was already looking at three- and five-year plans to address budget shortfalls due to a projected dip in enrollment. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which he said "carpet-bombed our runway" and led to the school eliminating three programs: men's cross country, men's golf and women's tennis. It was "heart-wrenching" to make those calls to the coaches and athletes involved, Williams said, but facing hard truths was necessary to move forward. That meant getting leaner and focusing on their strengths, like men's soccer, which has won its regular-season conference title in three of the past five seasons.

Akron is one of 3 schools analyzed in this article.... this supports Clayton Murphy's thought process https://www.sportico.com/2020/leagues/college-sports/maybe-colleges-should-be-adding-sports-not-dropping-them-1234608297/

https://www.beaconjournal.com/sports/20200630/olympian-clayton-murphy-says-uarsquos-handling-of-eliminated-sports-damaged-reputation-relationship-with-donors

Very powerful letter. Mr. Maloney correctly points out that Williams and Miller have not been around long enough to appreciate the history and achievements of Akron track and field. https://www.si.com/college/video/2020/05/26/uconn-football-program-failures this article about UConn football....could just as easily apply to Akron football. I know that Williams was not around when the Infocision decision was made. George Van Horne was part of the athletic department leadership team at that time. The gridiron at all costs mentality of the last 10-15 years has really hurt other UA sports . It is time for those involved in the Football at all cost decision....to pay the price. Men's soccer, mens basketball, track and field and swimming could be even better with better support and leadership from the Athletic department leadership. Portion of the article about UConn.......(feel free to substitute Akron athletic dept leadership and Akron when they give name of AD and Akron when whey they use UConn) The nine years since then, they've been terrible. They have made bad coaching hires, they have agreed to ridiculous contracts. And I want to see the athletic director, David Benedict, on the day in June when he has to stand up there and tell a bunch of sports, "You no longer exist," take the fall for coming up with a contract for football coach Randy Edsall that includes bonuses for scoring first for having a better red zone, scoring percentage for leading at halftime and other completely useless means to put more money in the football coach's wallet. They built facilities, they got into the arms race when football was never a sustainable, long-term, big time sport at UConn. And now a bunch of athletes and non-revenue sports are going to pay the price for it. We'll see how many, but I feel sorry for those kids, and I hope the athletic administrators and everyone who runs UConn takes the proper fall when it happens.

https://www.massivereport.com/2020/6/22/21298005/darlington-nagbe-looking-forward-to-more-games-with-the-crew

for 2020....yes......as there are currently 6 teams (UA, WVU, SIU-E, WMU, BGSU and NIU) when SIU-E leaves for the cupcake league, the MAC will drop below the required 6 let's just hope that we have a college soccer season. Covid does not want to go away

womens lacrosse- Johns Hopkins Mens Hockey- Notre Dame

Blue and Gold, thank you much for posting his blog entry. It is shameful that Akron gridiron is so badly impacting successful programs like Akron Track and Field and Akron Men's soccer.

the MVC is a pretty weak league for soccer. SIU-E will stand a much better chance of getting into the NCAA. Akron, West Virginia and Western Michigan are all consistently stronger than the 5 teams that SIU-E will join in the MVC. Easier travel schedule as well for SIU-E...and better rivalries. The addition of SIUE increases MVC men's soccer membership to six teams. Current men's soccer league members include: Bradley University, Drake University, the University of Evansville, Loyola University, and Missouri State University.

the man, the myth, the legend !!!!

if you click on the picture with the text, Darlington did an excellent writeup Love to Darlington and his family

Sad times...when DeAndre's grandfather is glad that DeAndre does not currently live in the US https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/06/02/usmnt-defender-deandre-yedlin-all-were-asking-were-seen-equal

very cool......please go away...corona virus....so we can have a season PLEASE !!!

Top Drawer Soccer is now showing that this young man....has committed to the Air Force Academy for fall 2020. College Soccer news also did not list this young man as a zip recruit when they listed the zips as having one of the best 2020 recruiting classes.

https://canpl.ca/article/richie-laryea-on-onesoccer-hangout-breaking-through-with-canmnt-importance-of-cpl

a truly great ZIP https://gozips.com/sports/2020/4/20/in-their-own-words-zarek-valentin-alumni-postcard.aspx

Steve Z.....the legend !!! https://gozips.com/sports/2020/4/23/in-their-own-words-steve-zakuani-alumni-postcard.aspx

very positive comments about Joao in this article https://worldfootballindex.com/2020/05/mls-rising-stars-talent-eastern-conference/ small snippets from article “I think Joao Moutinho has a really high soccer IQ,” said former Orlando goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo, who now serves as the club’s broadcast analyst. “We know him for his ability to combine in small spaces, and also a great ability to get high on the flanks and deliver a quality cross with his left foot.”