TennZip

This is an Akron Zip board....and we obviously all deservedly want to pay credit to former zip great Darlington Nagbe and legendary former zip coach Caleb Porter. However, I also want to pay credit to the "architect". The architect also has some Akron connections. The architect is 39 year old general manager Tim Bezbatchenko. Bezbatchenko was heavily involved in building the great Toronto teams (won an MLS cup in 2017). This was Bezbatchenko's 2nd year as Crew general manager. He has obviously made brilliant decisions....Nagbe, Zelarayan, etal and this 39 year old leader deserve a ton of credit. The Akron connection for Mr. Bezbatchenko. His grandmother and one of his uncles are both Akron zip mens soccer season ticket holders. Another one of Tim's uncles was the starting QB on some of Jim Dennison's finest gridiron teams in the mid to late 70's. Tremendous credit to Tim Bezbatchenko and Caleb Porter for building a MLS championship team in Columbus.

best part of the article : Quick Hits An ode to Caleb Porter People are going to start thinking Caleb is paying me to say nice things about him. The reality is almost everything I’ve written about him this season was proved to be true on the biggest stage. I’ve said he has an ability to convince his team they can not only win, but dominate any game, no matter how undermanned they are. I’ve also said he builds a culture where winning is expected. We saw both of those traits on show in the final as the Crew took the game to Seattle from the opening whistle and embodied the spirit of their coach. An NCAA College Cup, two MLS Cups — his first being the first in Timbers history, his second coming in just his second season with the Crew where he hasn’t had a crazy budget or anything. Say what you want about him, just remember to include he’s a winner.

I sure do hope that the commentators....talk about the zip 2009 reunion Caleb talks about Teal and Scott in the article

great job, Ben Lundt !!! Congratulations

$650,000 to buy out Bowden. $350,000 to buy out Arth's previous contract. So many bad decisions by the top 2 guys in the athletic department. There are great sports at Akron that are being badly hurt by the top 2 guys continuing to flush money down the toilet for Akron gridiron.

Teal Bunbury and Richie Laryea...included in the MLS team of the week (18 players)

Congratulations to Ben Lundt. first team....GK on all USL team http://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/reno-1868-fcs-kevin-partida-christiano-francois-make-all-usl-team

I think that ACC and sunbelt are playing men's soccer in the fall a few other miscellaneous teams...UAB, Mercer and Kentucky

this should answer one part of your question.... no ncaa soccer tourney in the fall ncaa soccer tourney will be in the spring https://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2020-09-16/ncaa-di-council-approves-moving-fall-championships-spring

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/09/17/deandre-yedlin-mls-5-potential-landing-spots-if-he-departs-newcastle-united-greg

announcers credit the goal to the speed and intelligence of Richie Laryea https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2020-09-09-montreal-impact-vs-toronto-fc/details/video/237194

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/09/08/why-robin-fraser-believes-colorado-rapids-jonathan-lewis-has-plenty-offer-usmnt

https://www.beaconjournal.com/sports/20200904/copley-senior-sam-harter-excited-about-opportunity-to-play-on-university-of-akron-menrsquos-soccer-team Sam Harter of Copley (yes, he has a very talented left footed brother ? ).....will be playing soccer for the zips in the fall of 2021. Welcome, Sam !!! Go, Zips

Ok, here is the roster.....that currently shows on the website.... 28 players https://gozips.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster On February 3rd, Akron did this news release...when 4 new players joined the team (Hazem Sobhy, Ryan Combe, Jordan Seaman and Gabriel Ramos) https://gozips.com/news/2020/2/3/akron-adds-four-newcomers-to-2020-mens-soccer-roster.aspx there is a PDF you can click in in the article to see that roster ......here are the differences that I can see Gabriel Ramos not on fall Roster Kai Wagner not on fall roster Peter Zecca not on fall Roster New players Transfer - #1 Wil Meyer New Freshman #8 Jason Shokalook #23 Damon Williams #27 Paul Jones #28 Nick Scott #29 Josue Hangi Number changes Colin Biros was #8 in spring... he is #10 in fall Natnael McDonald was #33 in spring #20 in fall Hazem Sobhy #23 in Spring #22 in fall at the end of April, this is what Top Drawer Soccer showed as the zip recruiting class I have highlighted in bold...the players that have made it to campus....Remi Smith changed his commitment from Akron to Air Force. I do not know what happened with Dyson Clapier. 11. Akron Commitments: F Jason Shokalook (Internationals SC – No. 52), M Remi Smith (Atlanta United – No. 177), GK Josue Hangi (Atlanta United – No. 178), D M Ryan Combe (Black Rock FC – No. 188), F Damon Williams (South Carolina United FC – No. 197), Paul Jones (South Carolina United FC), M Nick Scott (Internationals SC), D Jordan Seaman (Internationals SC), M Dyson Clapier (Portland Timbers) Transfers: GK Will Meyer (Louisville), M Hazem Sobhy (Ottawa – AZ) The reclassification of Shokalook is a big boost for Akron’s class, which features five players from the Top 200 player rankings.

Akron soccer posted this tweet today...so I figured that I would start a topic. Hopefully, these fine group of young men will get to play some meaningful games in the spring.

https://www.massivereport.com/2020/8/21/21396597/darlington-nagbes-world-class-goal-proves-what-the-columbus-crew-midfielder-can-do

drop the hammer, Richie

so proud of Richie Laryea https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2020/08/22/richie-laryea-credits-teammates-hot-start-toronto-fc-success

mac sports acknowledging Joao

https://www.beaconjournal.com/sports/20200808/university-of-akron-soccer-hungry-for-bounce-back-season-disappointed-zips-face-uncertainty

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29621025/source-mac-cancels-fall-football-season-eyes-move-spring all fall sports cancelled

fantastic article on Joao https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-city-soccer/os-sp-orlando-city-joao-moutinho-20200805-idmnel5vm5egpbyrynhmjz3obq-story.html But his most important contribution during tournament matches doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. Moutinho has become a constant, physical nuisance for attackers, breaking up passes and creating a smothering presence that presses all the way up into the attacking third. Against LAFC, that meant shutting down Diego Rossi, quieting a striker who had scored six times in four games before facing the Lions. Moutinho’s bullish presence on the ball has earned the respect of teammates across the pitch.