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NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
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Okie Chippewa Offline
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Post: #1
NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
Akron Zips will be hosting one of the quarterfinals.
11-29-2015 10:21 PM
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Wadszip Offline
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Post: #2
RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
(11-29-2015 10:21 PM)Okie Chippewa Wrote:  Akron Zips will be hosting one of the quarterfinals.

I'm not a big soccer guy, but I watched the stream of the SMU game. The only other college soccer games I have ever watched were the 2009 and 2010 championship games, due to the Zips playing in those (but knew next to nothing about the sport at the time).

While I'm not a big soccer fan by any means, I have kind of gotten into to some of the high level games (World Cup, USMNT games on TV) the last couple of years. Anyway, I expected to see a pretty bad product compared to those high level games. I was surprised at how entertaining this game was. For a college game, it seemed like pretty high quality (though Akron missed on 3-4 opportunities a novice like myself couldn't believe).

If anybody has nothing to do next Saturday or Sunday (didn't look to see which day), gozips.com will have a stream. It's not a waste of time to watch what is the MAC's marquee program/team. This team looks like it could bring home the league's second team NCAA championship. Rutgers was a top 25 team and Akron destroyed them. SMU was No. 11 and it really wasn't close.

Creighton, I believe, was No. 1 ranked earlier this year. So it won't be easy, but the Zips have a great shot at going to their fourth Final Four (College Cup) in program history.
11-30-2015 01:49 AM
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BruceMcF Offline
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RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
Go Zips!

(My kid tried to get onto the Akron soccer team, but couldn't keep his grades up long enough to stay at Akron.)
11-30-2015 10:30 AM
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H2Oville Rocket Offline
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RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
Probably the one MAC team every non-Kent MAC fan (and some Kent ones) support! Go Zips!
11-30-2015 10:50 AM
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NIU007 Offline
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Post: #5
RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
Go Zips!

How did they get so good at soccer?
11-30-2015 10:59 AM
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BruceMcF Offline
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RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
(11-30-2015 10:59 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  Go Zips!

How did they get so good at soccer?
I don't know ... I was in Australia when my kid developed his interest in soccer, and didn't pay any attention to college soccer previously. But I would be guessing a combination of ready access to areas that have been playing high school soccer in large numbers since the 80's (suburban Cleveland, suburban Columbus) and a good coach that gain results with the players he had, and so was able to start recruiting even better players.
12-01-2015 03:54 AM
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H2Oville Rocket Offline
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RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
(12-01-2015 03:54 AM)BruceMcF Wrote:  
(11-30-2015 10:59 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  Go Zips!

How did they get so good at soccer?
I don't know ... I was in Australia when my kid developed his interest in soccer, and didn't pay any attention to college soccer previously. But I would be guessing a combination of ready access to areas that have been playing high school soccer in large numbers since the 80's (suburban Cleveland, suburban Columbus) and a good coach that gain results with the players he had, and so was able to start recruiting even better players.

They also became a pole vault factory. Why? Can't vault outdoors for five months a year but they bring in amazing recruits. If you invest heavily in a niche sport you can have success on a national level.
12-01-2015 08:56 AM
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Wadszip Offline
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RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
(12-01-2015 03:54 AM)BruceMcF Wrote:  
(11-30-2015 10:59 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  Go Zips!

How did they get so good at soccer?
I don't know ... I was in Australia when my kid developed his interest in soccer, and didn't pay any attention to college soccer previously. But I would be guessing a combination of ready access to areas that have been playing high school soccer in large numbers since the 80's (suburban Cleveland, suburban Columbus) and a good coach that gain results with the players he had, and so was able to start recruiting even better players.

I think there is a lot of truth to this. While Cleveland is a blue collar football town. The suburbs have been big on soccer since at least since the early 90s. When my family moved from Cleveland to the burbs when I was 11, I still remember how odd it was that soccer was so popular. I never played the sport or even thought of playing it. But everybody in my neighborhood, it seemed, was on some soccer team (rec league, CYO, etc.). It was a big deal. Plus, the Cleveland Force was popular at that time (it was a professional indoor team). They built several training facilities around Cleveland that were also used by the public (both for soccer and basketball ). I played in basketball league at the facility in Twinsburg, and right next to the basketball courts there were kids playing indoor soccer (in the middle of winter).

Im just guessing that those year round Cleveland Force centers that were built in the 80s helped play a role with kids who already liked soccer hone their skills year round. While Akron now is mainly national and international kids, they still have quite a few homegrown kids on the team. ... Eight of the 29 players are from Ohio on this year's team. All eight are from either Cleveland or Akron.
(This post was last modified: 12-02-2015 03:58 AM by Wadszip.)
12-02-2015 03:45 AM
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Wadszip Offline
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Post: #9
RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
(12-01-2015 08:56 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  
(12-01-2015 03:54 AM)BruceMcF Wrote:  
(11-30-2015 10:59 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  Go Zips!

How did they get so good at soccer?
I don't know ... I was in Australia when my kid developed his interest in soccer, and didn't pay any attention to college soccer previously. But I would be guessing a combination of ready access to areas that have been playing high school soccer in large numbers since the 80's (suburban Cleveland, suburban Columbus) and a good coach that gain results with the players he had, and so was able to start recruiting even better players.

They also became a pole vault factory. Why? Can't vault outdoors for five months a year but they bring in amazing recruits. If you invest heavily in a niche sport you can have success on a national level.

This is pretty simple. They hired Dennis Mitchell as their head coach. He was a pole vaulter in college and was highly regarded as a PV coach when coming to Akron. Then the school built the Stiles indoor facility and it took off.

And, yes, Akron is heavily investing in "niche" sports. Soccer is in the final eight, and the men's track team would have been easily top 10 in the country (still may be even after losing World Champion PV Shawn Barber a year early). At the same time, its not like Akron is doing that and neglecting the revenue sports. The football team is bowl bound and men's basketball is still, IMO, the class of the league. ... At least MAC semis the last 8 years.
12-02-2015 04:11 AM
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H2Oville Rocket Offline
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Post: #10
RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
(12-02-2015 04:11 AM)Wadszip Wrote:  
(12-01-2015 08:56 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  
(12-01-2015 03:54 AM)BruceMcF Wrote:  
(11-30-2015 10:59 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  Go Zips!

How did they get so good at soccer?
I don't know ... I was in Australia when my kid developed his interest in soccer, and didn't pay any attention to college soccer previously. But I would be guessing a combination of ready access to areas that have been playing high school soccer in large numbers since the 80's (suburban Cleveland, suburban Columbus) and a good coach that gain results with the players he had, and so was able to start recruiting even better players.

They also became a pole vault factory. Why? Can't vault outdoors for five months a year but they bring in amazing recruits. If you invest heavily in a niche sport you can have success on a national level.

This is pretty simple. They hired Dennis Mitchell as their head coach. He was a pole vaulter in college and was highly regarded as a PV coach when coming to Akron. Then the school built the Stiles indoor facility and it took off.

And, yes, Akron is heavily investing in "niche" sports. Soccer is in the final eight, and the men's track team would have been easily top 10 in the country (still may be even after losing World Champion PV Shawn Barber a year early). At the same time, its not like Akron is doing that and neglecting the revenue sports. The football team is bowl bound and men's basketball is still, IMO, the class of the league. ... At least MAC semis the last 8 years.

They're OK in the MAC but no revenue sport makes a national dent. Not true of track or futbol where they're among the best.
12-02-2015 06:35 PM
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jdgaucho Offline
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RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
Akron is in their 3rd College Cup in the last 10 years. Go Zips!
12-10-2015 06:08 PM
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jdgaucho Offline
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Post: #12
RE: NCAA Men's Soccer down to the Final 8
(11-30-2015 01:49 AM)Wadszip Wrote:  
(11-29-2015 10:21 PM)Okie Chippewa Wrote:  Akron Zips will be hosting one of the quarterfinals.

I'm not a big soccer guy, but I watched the stream of the SMU game. The only other college soccer games I have ever watched were the 2009 and 2010 championship games, due to the Zips playing in those (but knew next to nothing about the sport at the time).

While I'm not a big soccer fan by any means, I have kind of gotten into to some of the high level games (World Cup, USMNT games on TV) the last couple of years. Anyway, I expected to see a pretty bad product compared to those high level games. I was surprised at how entertaining this game was. For a college game, it seemed like pretty high quality (though Akron missed on 3-4 opportunities a novice like myself couldn't believe).

If anybody has nothing to do next Saturday or Sunday (didn't look to see which day), gozips.com will have a stream. It's not a waste of time to watch what is the MAC's marquee program/team. This team looks like it could bring home the league's second team NCAA championship. Rutgers was a top 25 team and Akron destroyed them. SMU was No. 11 and it really wasn't close.

Creighton, I believe, was No. 1 ranked earlier this year. So it won't be easy, but the Zips have a great shot at going to their fourth Final Four (College Cup) in program history.

I was there in 2010 at the College Cup and watched Akron beat Louisville for the national championship. fun times.
12-10-2015 06:10 PM
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