8/28 Soccer: Akron @ USF (exhibition)

[Zipsrifle]

I can't get anything. Any updates?

lost 2-1 i believe.

Unfortunately, yes.

Does it matter that much? its an exhibition game

If we had to lose once this year, this is the time to do it.

[ZachTheZip]

I think last year spoiled us. That year was something never seen before in NCAA history, how dominant we were. You can't expect that every year. But it doesn't matter as long as we are the ones holding the trophy in Santa Barbara.

I do wonder if the humidity and heat got to the team. It's also good for the coach to see how they respond after losing a game, in front of a hostile crowd.

[tbozeglav]

I think last year spoiled us. That year was something never seen before in NCAA history, how dominant we were. You can't expect that every year. But it doesn't matter as long as we are the ones holding the trophy in Santa Barbara.

I do wonder if the humidity and heat got to the team. It's also good for the coach to see how they respond after losing a game, in front of a hostile crowd.

I wouldnt say that. We've come to expect a certain level of excellence and success from our soccer team that a loss is a disappointment. It doesn't mean we expect them to be perfect, but we expect them to be damn near close to it. Still, I wouldn't read much into this loss. I want to say that this was just a fine-tuning match that Coach Porter used to try a few things when the consequences weren't as large. Id also suspect he put in some of the younger guys to get them some playing time, but can anyone confirm this? Just a thought.

[johnnyzip84]

I think last year spoiled us. That year was something never seen before in NCAA history, how dominant we were. You can't expect that every year. But it doesn't matter as long as we are the ones holding the trophy in Santa Barbara.

I do wonder if the humidity and heat got to the team. It's also good for the coach to see how they respond after losing a game, in front of a hostile crowd.

I wouldnt say that. We've come to expect a certain level of excellence and success from our soccer team that a loss is a disappointment. It doesn't mean we expect them to be perfect, but we expect them to be damn near close to it. Still, I wouldn't read much into this loss. I want to say that this was just a fine-tuning match that Coach Porter used to try a few things when the consequences weren't as large. Id also suspect he put in some of the younger guys to get them some playing time, but can anyone confirm this? Just a thought.

Both sides were substituting pretty freely when I was watching. The NCAA allows more of this in the exhibition games. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think Nanchoff played either. I'm sure they'd have rather won the game regardless, but sometimes you run into a hot keeper and this was clearly one of those times. If they get a couple of results next weekend, nobody will give this exhibition game a 2nd thought. I mostly in agreement with Zach in that we shouldn't expect the same results this year. It's all about the schedule. This year's team could be improved and still wind up with some losses and/or ties. The key will be avoid the "shock loss/tie" that could put a major dent in their seeding come tourney time. If they can avoid that, I like their chances.

[Johnny Utah]

I made it to the game on Saturday. Thoughts and observations:

1) Big crowd for a USF soccer game - > 2300 people with a lot of students. I've lived down here for 2.5 years and this will be my 3rd season of going to games there. Easily the biggest crowd I remember. They handed out vuvuzela's (sp?) to students. They had to stay on one end of the stadium, but were still humming. Think they are trying to replicate our Rowdies and did a decent job of doing so.

2) Coach Porter saw me on the sideline in my Zips gear prior to the game. Came over to introduce himself and thank me for giving the Zips some love. Great representative for the UofA!!

3) Sat with the Barson family and friends during the game. Really nice people!!

4) Tulloch gives us a dimension that I haven't seen in my 7 years of following Zips soccer. Not only is the dude big, but he is lightning fast. He had the students around me talking. Look for great things from him.

5) Nanchoff did play. Stevenson (may have been Ontiveros - they both came in during 2nd half) substituted for him. He seemed pretty upset after coming off the pitch.

6) USF's 2nd goal was the direct result of one sloppy pass on the defensive end of the field. Can't have mistakes like that and expect to win.

7) We were on the attack the whole game, but the 1st half was something to behold. I love watching Zips soccer when they attack like that!

Lets hope the team takes two this coming weekend!!

[skip-zip]

I think last year spoiled us. That year was something never seen before in NCAA history, how dominant we were. You can't expect that every year. But it doesn't matter as long as we are the ones holding the trophy in Santa Barbara.

I do wonder if the humidity and heat got to the team. It's also good for the coach to see how they respond after losing a game, in front of a hostile crowd.

If we were going to lose, I'm glad it was now.

But, you're right. We need to be reminded how improbable it is to go through a season unbeaten....in ANY sport. A slip-up here or there, and it's all over. We were fortunate this didn't happen last year. It takes a lot of great play AND a lot of luck. We could be head and shoulders better than everyone we play this year, and still not be unbeaten. So, I choose to celebrate what we did last year, knowing that it was a very very special kind of thing. And...hope that we can somehow pull it off again this year.

I think everyone would trade an unbeaten season for a national title....right?

[tbozeglav]

I think everyone would trade an unbeaten season for a national title....right?

I would... tho having both would be even better!

[johnnyzip84]

I made it to the game on Saturday. Thoughts and observations:

1) Big crowd for a USF soccer game - > 2300 people with a lot of students. I've lived down here for 2.5 years and this will be my 3rd season of going to games there. Easily the biggest crowd I remember. They handed out vuvuzela's (sp?) to students. They had to stay on one end of the stadium, but were still humming. Think they are trying to replicate our Rowdies and did a decent job of doing so.

2) Coach Porter saw me on the sideline in my Zips gear prior to the game. Came over to introduce himself and thank me for giving the Zips some love. Great representative for the UofA!!

3) Sat with the Barson family and friends during the game. Really nice people!!

4) Tulloch gives us a dimension that I haven't seen in my 7 years of following Zips soccer. Not only is the dude big, but he is lightning fast. He had the students around me talking. Look for great things from him.

5) Nanchoff did play. Stevenson (may have been Ontiveros - they both came in during 2nd half) substituted for him. He seemed pretty upset after coming off the pitch.

6) USF's 2nd goal was the direct result of one sloppy pass on the defensive end of the field. Can't have mistakes like that and expect to win.

7) We were on the attack the whole game, but the 1st half was something to behold. I love watching Zips soccer when they attack like that!

Lets hope the team takes two this coming weekend!!

My mistake....I only caught the last 30 minutes or so on-line. Thanks for the "in person" report!

[skip-zip]

I think everyone would trade an unbeaten season for a national title....right?

I would... tho having both would be even better!

I knew someone would say that

[Z.I.P.]

This is all cool. As an Akron grad, I enjoy seeing it. I only wish that more than 1/1.000th of the country gave a darn about soccer. It would be HUGE for our University.

I live in an Akron suburban neighborhood full of sports fans. These folks have their Browns and OSWho and Cavs and Indians flags waving everywhere. All they talk about is sports. And none of them had any clue that Akron was the #1 soccer team in the country last year. They looked at me like was from another planet. Heck...I even had to inform most of them that Akron even has a soccer team !!

I know what you're talking about. I knew a couple junior high students that knew about Akron's soccer team, but that was only because they play soccer themselves.

Youth league soccer has been HUGE in this country for years now, but it still hasn't taken off on a general, pop-level yet. But considering how huge youth league soccer is in this country I can't help but believe (hope?) that it is still only a matter of time.

I have no delusions of college futbol ever being another college basketball, let alone college football, but I do honestly feel it could one day easily rival college baseball as the #3 college sport. I suppose It would either be futbol or hockey.

As hard as I tried not to be drawn into this false ideology (see -- can you tell I was a Soc major? ) I just had to research the subject, because I couldn't believe that baseball could possibly be the #3 NCAA sport attendance-wise. Akron baseball crowds of 25-30 years ago (my era) were smaller than the teams, and my own experience was of Hawaii leading the nation in baseball attendance consistently from the late 80s into the mid-90s, with attendance figures in the 3-4k range (Murakami Rainbow Stadium seats about 4k). Since that time, many universities have built much larger baseball stadiums, or teams are playing at minor league parks. I was amazed to find These attendance statistics for the 2010 season. But note that only 5 or 6 of the top 42 listed are outside the Southern tier.

What I was thinking, was that women's volleyball would be the #3 sport in attendance terms, since over the past decade many Big-12 and SEC volleyball programs have gained a foothold and now outcompete the once-dominant West Coast programs, many averaging around 4-5k, especially Nebraska, Texas, Florida, Minnesota and quite a few others. I'll have to check to find out how VB compares to baseball, but let me admit -- the baseball stats come out of Wichita State, and to me at least, it was a Shocker.

edit: Here are the latest NCAA women's volleyball attendance stats. I was expecting a lot more schools in the 3-5k area, but it was my Hawaii-centric perspective on the sport, my school having led the nation in attendance forever, and VB outdrawing men's basketball since forever here.

edit #2: Finally here are 2008 NCAA men's soccer attendance figures. Only 25 programs draw 1000+ for men's soccer (I suspect women's soccer would be about the same), while 45 schools draw 1000+ for women's VB and for baseball the stats showed just the top 42, with the lowest (OSWho at #42) at about 1200/game. But the top draws (especially LSU) were a lot higher for baseball than VB or soccer. So maybe baseball has the lead, but as far as I can see it's still early in the game, and we're playing a full 90 here!