Game #3 - Army - Monday, August 24th at 7 pm

[Zips1991]

Army comes to campus tomorrow (August 24) for a 7 pm kickoff. I don't want to say any game should be easy, especially this early in the season, but Army hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 1996.

 

They won 7 games last year, after winning 4 games in 2024 and 3 games in 2023.

 

The weather forecast looks perfect for tomorrow and it's the first day of classes so it could be a decent crowd. 

[csims0917]

First day of school. Lots of people on campus! 

[UAZipster0305]

Should be a win in front of a respectable crowd. If we beat Dayton, 3-0, I think we beat Army 4-0. Go Zips!

 

Also, I'm a bit disappointed that the Gozips.com men's soccer game previews this season have not (yet) featured all-time series data as it relates to current opponents. I ALWAYS read them for that reason, and I think it is a particularly interesting way to celebrate the tradition and dominance of our program. I hope this gets fixed going forward.

Edited yesterday at 04:14 PM by UAZipster0305

[Let'sGoZips94]

Tune up game before the big one on Friday. Score early, score often, stay healthy. Go Zips!

[TennZip]

Will be good to see tri-captain Matt Dreas back on the pitch.

[Zips1991]

Definitely not a good crowd so far. Hopefully it fills in before (or shortly after) kickoff. 

[TennZip]

 

[csims0917]

Crowd improved greatly. This is pretty nice 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Army is allowing the play down the sides. Wish we wouldn't play into that. Would love to see more shots from the top of the box.

[UAZipster0305]

11 shots so far at 55' and only one is on goal?! We HAVE to do better than that!!!

[AkronAlumnus]

Boring game thus far

[Let'sGoZips94]

Just now, UAZipster0305 said:

11 shots so far at 55' and only one is on goal?! We HAVE to do better than that!!!

 

They've been playing the runs down the side with crosses in to create the "shots". 2 headers were decent but they have otherwise been weak attempts. Even the SOG was a weak curling attempt from the top of the box but at least they tried something different. 

[UAZipster0305]

Army must be packing the box and putting 11 players behind the ball. I hate it when inferior teams do that. It makes me wish the regular season still had OT.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Our midfield attack is leaving a lot to be desired. 

[UAZipster0305]

No heroes tonight. Too bad because that's a game we obviously should have won. Oh well. On to the next.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Really bad draw. Had all the pressure in the first half, couldn't capitalize. Slept walked through the first 20-25 minutes of the second half and left themselves with too little time to break through. 

[csims0917]

Wasted a good crowd. Onto the next 

[TennZip]

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/soccer/2026/08/24/akron-mens-soccer-army-college-soccer-live/91392058007/

 

Akron coach Jared Embick said the result was "disappointing but not devastating."

 

"We had a lot of the ball, but I don't think we created a lot of quality chances Embick said. "Army is a very disciplined, tough team. We knew all that coming in. I felt we needed to have a bit more killer instinct in areas we should have had it."

Edited 15 hours ago by TennZip

[Let'sGoZips94]

43 minutes ago, TennZip said:

I felt we needed to have a bit more killer instinct in areas we should have had it."

 

This is the quote of the night that hits the nail square on the head. Hoping this wakes the team up, especially the attack, for Wake Forest. 

[TennZip]

 

[AkronAlumnus]

Had a nice crowd last night, would have been nice to at least give them a goal...  

 

Smh, this is exactly why casuals have a hard time getting into soccer to begin with. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

33 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Had a nice crowd last night, would have been nice to at least give them a goal...  

 

Smh, this is exactly why casuals have a hard time getting into soccer to begin with. 

 

To be fair, Army is known for (national) defense. 

[Zip_ME87]

8 hours ago, TennZip said:

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/soccer/2026/08/24/akron-mens-soccer-army-college-soccer-live/91392058007/

 

"Army is a very disciplined, tough team. We knew all that coming in. I felt we needed to have a bit more killer instinct in areas we should have had it."

 

Often the Zips wear teams down. However, it's not a stretch to believe that Army cadets are well-conditioned. Especially tough to wear them down when they used 6 subs for a total of 177 minutes. The Zips, on the other hand, used 5 subs for 68 minutes. Our guys were attacking to the end, but given 2 games in 4 days and 3 games in 8 days, I trust that our deep bench can lighten the load a bit more.

 

[Reslife4Life]

Results on first day of classes (or sunday before classes) since I have started following the Zips

2026: 0-0 draw w/ army

2025: 1-0 W vs Northern Kentucky

2024: 0-2 L vs Ohio State

2023: 1-0 W vs Vermont

2018: 0-2 L vs NC State

 

 

[Zips1991]

1 hour ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Had a nice crowd last night, would have been nice to at least give them a goal...  

 

Smh, this is exactly why casuals have a hard time getting into soccer to begin with. 

I overheard basically this exact conversation on the way out of the game so it's definitely real for some people.