TennZip

Lots of important games today.... Many of them will be complete before the zips take the field 1 pm - St. Johns (11 points currently) at Georgetown (15 points) 1 pm - Xavier (11 points currently) at Villanova (4 points) 2 pm - Seton Hall (7 points currently) at DePaul (2 points) 3:30 pm - UConn (9 points currently) at Creighton (10 points) 7 pm - Providence (11 points currently) at Butler (6 points) 7 pm - Marquette (4 points currently) at Akron (9 points) Go, Zips ! https://www.bigeast.com/standings.aspx?standings=30

thanks for sharing the great news about the women winning... very happy for the players and the coaches......

When I compare the current Thursday afternoon RPI.......to the end of last week RPI, here are the major changes...that I see..... Unfortunately, the Zips are one of 2 teams.....that have seen a fairly significant drop Akron was #12 in RPI....at the completion of all games.....as of Sunday night 10/15 After last night's loss to #117 Creighton (RPI at time of the game), Akron has dropped to #25 in RPI North Carolina was #14 in RPI as of 10/15 North Carolina has dropped to #21 in RPI (North Carolina tied William and Mary in their 1 completed game this week) New Hampshire was #15 in RPI as of 10/15......On Tuesday night, New Hampshire had to play Hofstra (Hofstra was #17 as of 10/15) New Hampshire won the Tuesday night matchup....and New Hampshire is currently #8 in RPI West Virginia was #9 in RPI as of 10/15 Last night, West Virginia defeated Marshall 5-2 (Marshall was 12-0-0 before last night) West Virginis is now #5 in RPI Stanford was #19 in RPI as of 10/15 Stanford was probably helped by Creighton's win over Akron Stanford had wins over Georgetown and Creighton on their first weekend of the season. Stanford shows as #15 in current RPI Stanford plays Oregon State tonight (Oregon State is currently #32 in RPI)....so Stanford could move up a little bit more if they get a high quality win tonight

these were the big east standings at the start of the day start of the day 1. Georgetown 12 points 2. Xavier 10 tie for 3rd ....UConn and Akron 9 tie for 5th....St. John's and Providence 8 tie for 7th...Seton Hall and Creighton 7 9th.... Butler 5 10. Villanova 4 11. Marquette 3 12. DePaul 1 results Butler and Xavier 1-1 Creighton 3 Akron 2 Georgetown 2 Nova 0 Marquette and DePaul 3-3 St. Johns 3 Seton Hall 0 Providence 3 UConn Georgetown now leads east wtih 15 Xavier leads Midwest with 11 (Creighton now has 10 and Akron has 9) Georgetown and Xavier would get top 2 spots if season ended today standings now after 6 games 1. Georgetown 15 3 way tie for 2nd (2 of the teams are in east) 2T. Xavier 11 2T. St. Johns 11 2T. Providence 11 5. Creighton 10 2 way tie for 6th 6T. Akron 9 6T. Uconn 9 8. Seton Hall 7 9. Butler 6 10T. Villanova 4 10T. Marquette 4 12. DePaul 2 if big east season ended today, the zips would be in tournament....but would have to play quarterfinal game on the road

Creighton certainly did not look like the #117 team in RPI. They looked like a very good team...with the exception of the last 8 minutes of the first half. It is hard for me to believe that Creighton had a 3-5-5 record coming into tonight's game. Dyson Clapier went out very early in the game with a foot /ankle injury. Stefan Dobrijevic came in and played very well. Zips also played without Malik Henry. Creighton was probably the better team in the first 35 minutes of the first half. Creighton made some terrible back passes in the last 8-10 minutes of the first half and the GK made a very poor decision that left an open net. Shooky got off a good shot and it just went off the outside post. Shooky also had a great breakaway opportunity but Creighton defended well. Stefan got off an absolute missile of a shot. Their GK made a stellar save. How he held on to the screamer is beyond me. Fitzgerald was there for the rebound if the Creighton GK had not corralled the ball. zips easily could have been up 1-0 at half time....due to Akron dominating in the last 10 minutes. Creighton was the better team....by far.....for the first 42 minutes of the 2nd half. Credit to them. Is VAR not used for all big east games? The Akron coaching staff and all zips players thought that Creighton was offside on the first goal. The 2nd goal should have been reviewed by VAR (if available.) Creighton had 3 players offside and 1 of the guys seemed solely to be trying to block Mitch Budler's view. I know that I am sounding like sour grapes....but I would have liked to have seen the first 2 goals reviewed by VAR. However, I must give Creighton tremendous credit. They swarmed to balls on defense and they had a great game plan in transition. Creighton deserved to win this game. Creighton did an excellent job of finding the open man in transition. Creighton overloaded their right side in the 2nd half and really attacked the zips left side (Akron had Sangwa and Buechte on right side of field...and Jackson and Ashton Kamdem on left side of field). I am a huge Ashton Kamdem fan...but there were several times where Creighton had many players deep on Akron's left side and Ashton was rushing to get back from being on offense. The zips could have had USMNT GK Matt Turner in the net tonight and Creighton still would have scored 3 goals. When Creighton has 3 or 4 players attacking 1 left side CB and the Zips GK, it would not have mattered if Mitch Budler or Seth Wilson of Matt Turner were the zips GK. Creighton was efficient and ruthless in their counter attack. Mitch Budler did not have a bad game. Creighton was very good at at passing quickly and finding the open man. Creighton was better than the Zips tonight. They were better at passing and they were better at defending and they were better at scoring. Creighton did a very good job of high pressing the zips in the first half. Jason Shokalook was very, very unselfish in the 2nd half....and set his teammates up for some good scoring opportuinites. As Zips rule said, this was not the zips night. Zips had opportunites that they did not convert in the first 88 minutes. Creighton was able to convert their opportunites. We all hate to see the zips lose...Creighton threw a good high press and a very good counter attack at the zips. The zips challenge now is to learn from tonight's game.

Mitch and Josef are healthy !!! amyone have video yet?

For what it's worth, the Zips dropped from #3 to #7 in this week's coaches poll https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-men/ The NCAA Division 1 soccer committee ....is much more important than the coaches poll. For those that are able to get the ACC network, you might want to tune into the ACC network between 8:50 pm and 9:05 PM on Friday night. We will get to see where the NCAA soccer committee ranks Akron after they have played 15 games. ACC network will also be televising a pretty good game from 8 pm to 10 pm (#3 Wake Forest vs #6 Notre Dame) The NCAA Division I men's soccer committee will reveal the in-season top 16 men's soccer rankings at halftime of the 8 p.m. ET match between Notre Dame and Wake Forest on the ACC Network on Friday, Oct. 20. Games through Thursday, Oct. 19 will be in consideration for the Oct. 20 top-16 reveal. The announcement gives fans a sneak peek of where teams stand a few weeks out from the selection show, which is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 13. https://www.ncaa.com/news/soccer-men/article/2023-10-03/ncaa-di-mens-soccer-committee-reveal-season-top-16-friday-oct-20-acc-network

There are still 3 league games left....I was curious......as to which team might have the toughest remaining schedule. I am not sure if this is a valid way to look at it....... ( I am not factoring in whether the games are home or away) However, if you look at it by looking at avg. pts for teams left on the schedule, it looks to me that Butler has the toughest schedule...then followed by Creighton and St. John's ...followed closely by UConn. if a team had to face Villanova, Marquette and DePaul (currently 10 to 12 in the standings) in the last 3 game, they would have the easiest remaining schedule Conversely, if a team had to face Georgetown, Xavier and either Akron or UConn (currently top 3 in standings), they would have the toughest schedule Let's look at it .....by current 1 to 12 in the standings... Georgetown currently has 12 points Left to face Villanove 4 points St. Johns 8 points Marquette 3 points 15 points (average of 5 points per game) Xavier currently has 10 points Left to face Butler 5 points Villanove 4 points UConn 9 points 18 points (average of 6 points per game) Akron currently has 9 points Let to face Creighton 7 points Marquette 3 points Butler 5 points 15 points (average of 5 points per game) on paper....slightly easier than Xavier....both Xavier and Akron have 1 remaining home game and 2 games on the road UConn is tied with Akron at 9 points Left to face Providence 8 points Creighton 7 points Xavier 10 points 25 points (average of 8.33 points per game) tough schedule..... St. Johns is currently tied for 5th with 8 points Left to face Seton Hall 7 points Georgetown 12 points Creighton 7 points 26 points (average of 8.67 points per game) tough schedule Providence is currently tied for 5th with 8 points Left on schedule UConn 9 points Butler 5 points Seton Hall 7 points 21 points (average of 7 per game) Seton Hall is currently tied for 7th with 7 points left on schedule St. Johns 8 points DePaul 1 point Providence 8 points 17 points (average of 5.67 per game) Creighton is tied for 7th with 7 points Left on schedule Akron 9 points UConn 9 points St. Johns 8 points 26 points (average of 8.67 points per game) tough schedule...all 3 of their opponents have winning records in the league Butler is alone in 9th place with 5 points...their remaining opponents all have winning records in the league Left to face Xavier 10 points Providence 8 points Akron 9 points 27 points (average of 9 points per game) very tough schedule on paper Villanova .....currently has 4 points....they have to face the top 2 teams and the last place team left on schedule Georgetown 12 points Xavier 10 points DePaul 1 point 23 points (average of 7.67 per game) Marquette currently has 3 points left to face DePaul 1 point Akron 9 points Georgetown 12 points 22 points (average of 7.33 per game) DePaul last with 1 point Left on schedule Marquette 3 points Seton Hall 7 points Villanova 4 points 14 points (average of 4.67 per game) on paper...the easiest remaining schedule Again, I am completely ignoring home vs. away I know of no good way to determine the advantage of a home game.....I do think that it is fair to say ...that Butler (currently in 9th place).....has 3 very tough remaining games on their schedule. All 3 of their opponents are currently in the top 6 and all have winning records in the league. DePaul plays 3 teams that are currently not in the top 6. I will let each of you...draw your own conclusions ........I obviously hope that the zips can get 9 points in their last 3 games.....and they will be guaranteed to host a Big East quarterfinal game.

Akron travels to Omaha to take on the Blue Jays of Creighton. Creighton will start the game at 6 pm their time.....so us good folks in the east can see the game at 7 pm our time. Creighton has a 3-5-5 overall record and they are currently 3rd in the Big East Midwest division with a 2-2-1 record. Creighton has a very special soccer specific stadium. Morrison Stadium’s seating capacity is 7,500. Construction on the stadium was completed in 2004 and included a video scoreboard, champions room, nearly 2,000 covered chairback seating, five luxury suites, an enclosed press box, concession stands and a banquet area. Let's hope that GK Mitch Budler is healthy and able to play in his home state. Mitch is from Lincoln, NE. Lincoln is about 60 miles from Omaha so Mitch will have lots of family and friends at the game if he has recovered from the injury suffered at Xavier. Malik Henry and Josef Paulus both missed the Xavier game. Wishing good health for these 2 very important zips. With the Marquette game just 3 nights away, the zips will need to use their bench a lot in this tough Wednesday and Saturday game week. Looking at the current Big East standings, 1. Georgetown 12 points 2. Xavier 10 tie for 3rd ....UConn and Akron 9 tie for 5th....St. John's and Providence 8 tie for 7th...Seton Hall and Creighton 7 9th.... Butler 5 10. Villanova 4 11. Marquette 3 12. DePaul 1 top 4 teams will host host home game in the Big East quarterfinals only the top 8 teams make the Big East Tournament Looking at the Wednesday night matchups, there are 3 games (Akron at Creighton, UConn at Providence, and Seton Hall at Providence) that involve 2 teams currently in the top 8. Villanova (1-3-1) at Georgetown (4-1-0 ) 2 pm Butler 1-2-2 at Xavier 3-1-1 7 pm UConn 3-2-0 at Providence 2-1-2 7 pm Akron 2-0-3 at Creighton 2-2-1 7 pm Seton Hall 2-2-1 at St. John's 2-1-2 7 pm DePaul 0-4-1 at Marquette 1-4-0 8 pm Go, Zips !!!! Let's get 3 points...and yes, I will also be rooting for the Butler Bulldogs on Wednesday night.

At 5:20 pm Sunday October 15th, the zips are #12 in RPI Providence win over Georgetown really helped Akron in strength of schedule. Akron strength of schedule was 99 yesterday morning currently, SOS is 64 Providence was 88 in RPI earlier in the week. They are 62 at 5:20 Jared did a good job scheduling tough out of conference opponents...Zips have wins over #7 and #8...and have a tie against #3 The zips are 0.60 behind #11 Duke in the RPI number. Hofstra is 5 spots below Akron in the ranking but Hofstra RPI ranking is only 0.36 behind the zips. I am so glad that the zips are out of the MAC. Western Michigan has a record of 9-1-3. Their current RPI is 50. WMU strength of schedule is 188. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville has a record of 10-0-3. Their current RPI is 55. Their SOS is 201. Rank SOS OSS 1Marshall 12-0-0 .6733 45 3 2UCF 7-1-2 .6470 2 57 3Notre Dame 9-1-3 .6405 4 20 4SMU 9-1-2 .6366 18 8 5Georgetown 8-2-1 .6208 27 1 6Wake Forest 10-1-3 .6091 43 12 7Vermont 9-2-2 .6000 37 85 8FIU 7-2-3 .5999 33 4 9West Virginia 9-0-4 .5990 81 24 10Clemson 8-3-2 .5973 23 14 11Duke 8-3-1 5960 26 17 12Akron 9-0-5 .5900 64 54 13North Carolina 6-2-4 .5894 16 7 14New Hampshire7-1-4 .5890 49 29 15Virginia 7-3-3 .5884 6 39 16Portland 8-3-0 .5874 65 25 17Hofstra 9-2-4 .5864 46 52 18Loyola Marymount6-1-5 .5831 44 34

After 7 straight league losses, a 0-0 tie...is probably progress. Looking at the stats, Akron women led 17-9 in shots and 6-2 in shots on goal. Next game is at Eastern Michigan. EMU is 1-5-2 in the league and 1-9-6 overall. Would be great if the lady zips could get a win on the road.

Big upset of the night Providence defends their home turf....and comes up with 1-0 win over Georgetown Georgetown is 4-1-0 Providence improves to 2-1-2....8 points UConn defends their home turf and gets an exciting 3-2 win over Marquette UConn improves to 3-2-0....9 points Marquette drops to 1-4-0 standings.... midwest xavier 10 3-1-1 Akron 9 2-0-3 Creighton 7 2-2-1 Butler 5 1-2-2 Marquette 3 1-4-0 DePaul 1 0-4-1 East Georgetown 12 4-1-0 UConn 9 3-2-0 Providence 8 2-1-2 St. Johns 8 2-1-2 Setoh Hall 7 2-2-1 Villanova 4 1-3-1 zips are the only team in the league without a loss I guess that Xavier wanted to do a senior night on a Saturday Xavier still has one more home game. they host Butler on the 18th on the 21st, Xavier travels to Villanova on the 28th, Xavier travels to Connecticut....... zips of course have Marquette at home on 21st....bookended by road games at Creighton and Butler

Zips were missing 2 very key starters.....Captain and team leader Josef Paulus......and the explosive Malik Henry. The left back part of the defense.....Will Jackson and Ashton Kamdem ..both had outstanding games. Credit to Seth Wilson....for coming thru in a very tough situation. Wet field, tough conditions........Proud of the zips

Ashton Kamdem had a very solid first half at left back. It is great that he is getting to play today in front of his Cincinnati area family. With Joey Paulus and Malik Henry both not playing in the first half, Ashton and Stefan have both stepped in admirably. Go, Zips....let's see some of that 2nd half goal scoring.

Adding in Results for Saturday October 14 (5th game for everyone in league) Seton Hall 2 Creighton 1 Both teams are now 2-2-1 7 points for each thru 5 games St. John's 3 Villanova 1 St. John's improves to 2-1-2.....so they have 8 points thru 5 games Villanova drops to 1-3-1........4 points thru 5 games Butler and DePaul played to a 1-1 tie DePaul is now 0-4-1 ....so they have 1 point in conference standings Butler is now 1-2-2....so they have 5 points after 5 games 1-3-0 Marquette(3 current points) plays at 2-2-0 Connecticut (6 current points) tonight at 7 4-0-0 Georgetown (12 current points) plays at 1-1-2 Providence tonight (4 points currently for the Friars) and of course, the monster game of the week 2-0-2 Akron (8 current points) plays at 3-1-0 Xavier (9 current points) after tonight's contests are done, Creighton will be 3rd in midwest division with 7 points Marquette...could end the night with 3 points, 4 points or 6 points Butler has 5 points....so they will end the night either 4th or 5th in midwest division DePaul will be in the midwest cellar with 1 point Akron and Xavier.....will still be the top 2 teams in the Midwest after tonight Akron will be number 1 with a win Xavier will have the most points in the midwest division....with a tie or a win.... go, Zips.....

https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=21&articleId=52615&articleTitle=5-mens-dl-games-to-watch-this-weekend No. 5 Akron (9-0-4) vs. Xavier (6-3-2) – Saturday, October 14th, 7 PM Eastern, FloFC If there is ever a time to be extra wary of an upset, it is traveling to a conference opponent who already performs well at home and will be extra motivated for senior night. That is the situation undefeated Akron faces as it travels down Ohio in what will be extremely hostile territory.

Shooky continues to be recognized for his great play. https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/97795/college-soccer-americas-3-stars-of-the-week-oct.html?verified=1 College: Soccer America's 3 stars of the week (Oct. 2-8) by Soccer America , 8 hours ago Men: • Samuel Sarver (Indiana). The junior from the Columbus Crew academy scored both goals for the Hoosiers in a 2-1 win at Penn State for their first Big Ten win in four games. • Jason Shokalook (Akron). The junior from Erie, Pennsylvania, via Internationals Academy scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Northern Kentucky and twice in the 3-0 win over DePaul that kept the Zips unbeaten overall (8-0-4) and in Big East play (2-0-2),

I don't have any answers for this....... The Zips have definitely been a 2nd half team this year Let's look at the numbers. In 13 games this year, the zips have outscored their opponents 28 to 7 If you break that down by half, the zips have outscored their opponents 8 to 6 in the first half. In the 2nd half, the zips have outscored their opponents 20 to 1. That seems very hard to believe Let's look at it ...game by game Niagara....... zips won each half 3-0 Vermont scoreless at halftime zips scored the only goal of the game in the 2nd half Michigan Michigan led 1-0 at halftime Zips scored the only goal in the 2nd half SIU scoreless at halftime zips scored the only goal of the game in the 2nd half Long Island Zips led 1-0 at halftime each team scored a goal in 2nd half FIU Shooky came out like a house afire...and scored 2 goals in the first 10 minute 2-0 at halftime scoreless half for both teams in 2nd half Providence Zips trailed 3-1 at halftime Zips won 2nd half 2-0 Notre Dame both halfs were scoreless St. Johns Zips trailed 1-0 at halftime Zips scored the only goal of the game in 2nd half Seton Hall 1-1 at half time Zips scored the only 2 goals in 2nd half Northern Kentucky Scoreless at halftime Zips scored the only 2 goals in 2nd half Depaul and Cleveland State both games were scoreless at half time Zips held both teams scoreless in the 2nd half...while the zips scored 3 goals in the 2nd half in both games in their 13 games this year, there have been 8 games where the zips have not scored a goal in the first half. On the other side, the zips were only held scoreless in the 2nd half against Notre Dame and against FIU. None of us....can argue with the Zips great success. Being undefeated after 13 games is fantastic. However, as a fan, I would sure like to see the zips with a 1-0 lead or a 2-0 lead at halftime in some of their remaining games. We know that the zips have great talent and great depth. Maybe, we are just seeing the zips wearing down teams in the 2nd half. Several of the posters (myself included) have given a lot of credit to the coaches for great halftime adjustments. I just thought that it was interesting to see the scoring comparisons by half. Let's hope that the Zips beat Xavier 3-0....with a 2-0 lead at half time...Go, Zips

This is not directly related to the Cleveland State game. However, I want to give tremendous credit to Michael Nanchoff for his several times a week updates to season ticket holders. Michael Nachoff's updates are information filled and they are greatly appreciated by myself....and I am sure by many others in zips nation. This morning, Coach Nanchoff gave us the great news that Joey Paulus was doing pretty well today (all things considered). So many people were so worried about Joey. Very thoughtful and kind for Coach Nanchoff to provide an update on one of our beloved team captains. Coach Nanchoff also shared that Jason Shokalook is currently the leading goal scorer this year for Division 1 men's soccer. Congratulations, Jason.......As Jason said last night , that is a true team achievement as the defenders and midfielders are winning the balls and defending well. The wingers and midfielders are making good passes to Jason. Jason is showing great finishing skils. Thanks again,Coach Nanchoff for the frequent updates...and the great news this morning about Joey....and about Jason, our NCAA leader.....proud of all the zips.

With 4 regular season games left, it is probably a good time to look at RPI Going into last night's game at CSU The zips were #23 in RPI with a .5799 score their strength of schedule was at 97 After all Tuesday night's games the Zips score dropped to .5795 and their strength of schedule dropped to 104 However, the Zips are now #21 in RPI Before looking at each team on the schedule, the zips are an impressive 2-0-1 against teams currently ranked in the RPI top 16 Niagara RPI is 203 (211 teams in Division 1) Vermont 15 Michigan 89 Michigan has had a weird year 2 wins, only 3 losses and 7 ties (They have no losses in the big Ten....Michigan is 1-0-5 in Big Ten) Southern Ind 196 Long Island 151 Fla. Intl 16 Providence 88 Notre Dame 5 St. Johns 67 Seton Hall 62 N. Kentucky 205 DePaul 102 Cleve. State 139 For the first 13 games, the zips opponent have an average RPI of 103 the last 4 zips opponents have an average RPI of 85 Xavier has a 6-3-2 record and they are 41 in RPI Creighton , I believe...was picked by the Big East coaches...to win the Big East Midwest Creighton has a 3-4-5 record and they are 103 in RPI Marquette has a 7-4-1 record and they are 83 in RPI Butler has a 2-6-3 record and they are 112 in RPI

Pete Milich numbers are incredible.... 31 goals and 13 assists in 14 games... I love hearing people tell stories about watching George and Louie Nanchoff Akron has been blessed to have some truly great players. Number one overall draft pick Steve Zakuani. What a career that he would have had...if he had not suffered a gruesome injury. I believe that Teal Bunbury is in his 14th year in MLS. Marcel Zajac still holds a special place in my heart as his goal scoring spree occurred in the NCAA tourney and it powered the zips all the way to the NCAA title game in 2018. This article says that Pete Milich had 85 goals in his 4 year career. They also played fewer games in his era (or he was injured???)...note 21 goals in only 10 games in 1962 https://www.hustlebelt.com/2011/6/2/2202239/macwood-squares-whos-the-greatest-akron-soccer-player-ever Bottom line, Akron soccer is truly blessed right now to have Jason Shokalook....on a truly special roll. It would be great if the soccer SID would do some research and share the record for multiple goals in consecutive games and number of goals record over a 4 game span. Akron long time soccer fans have been blessed to see some great goal scorers....Milich, Zakuani, Bunbury, Mattocks.George and Louie Nanchoff, Jason Shokalook.

humble Shooky https://www.instagram.com/p/CyPfbC-sMTM/

3rd goal ....really gives you more appreciaion for Shooky.... he really had to contort his body and head...to get the angle to put ball in the net credit again....to Akron Athletic department for getting these goals up on social media https://www.instagram.com/p/CyPkl_mPLB7/

great pass by Stefan great technique by Shooky... great goal....great team play https://www.instagram.com/p/CyPkZNLMOJW/