Akron Zips 2022

I don't remember the last time I saw NIU being this bad. Could have been 8.

 

I think that sometimes they have played at the Ray & Joan Kroc Stadium at the Salvation Army. They now play home games at the Brooks College Preparatory HS down on the south side a few miles from campus.

I am somewhat surprised that Chicago State is able to maintain an intercollegiate athletics presence, particularly at the D1 level. They really should move down a division. Not only are the facilities poor, the academics are also and are more in line with a lot of D2 or NAIA schools. Actually, there are quite a few D2 schools with better academics than CSU has. The women's soccer team is probably worse than the men's. Since its inception in 2014, the women have a 6-135-3 record! I would not count on the CSU men as being a long-term side in the MAC.

I asked this several times in this thread but haven't yet gotten an answer. Is Gyuwon Chong done for the year? It seems as if he probably is. I have not seen him appear in the box score. It really sucks and it is still unfathomable that Michigan State's Howe did not get a straight red.

In other news, Caleb Porter was fired from the Crew yesterday.

 

Last year they played their games at what was Toyota Park in Bridgeview. Probably got a little expensive. They switched from baseball to soccer a few years believing they could get more bodies to attend the school with soccer with a more diverse population than baseball. They have a roster of 32 as the school has really struggled with attendance. They need soccer to bring bodies to the school. They are D1 in name only. Their basketball team funds the department with guarantee games $$$ at the beginning of the year.

 

I wouldn't imagine that Caleb would seriously consider returning to Akron for the following reasons:

1. It would seem to be a step backward for his career. He would have lifetime security, but does it fulfill his ambition? I don't think so.
2. Caleb is a very loyal person. I think he wouldn't want to hurt his friend and former asst, Jared E.
3. He has a year remaining on his CBus contract which should be paid out. So, financially he should be ok for a while.
4. I think that he would have many offers if he's interested in the very near future. I could see him take his time and possibly start seriously looking in the summer.

Just My Opinion, I have no inside knowledge on what Caleb is going to do. I do say that I was very surprised that he was fired - sure I know about the 2 years of missing play-offs. But, he was right there in the past 2 years. There are a lot more coaches boarding on incompetency.

 

You're probably right. It would need to be a perfect situation, for example, I think he would have a serious think if IU was available (but I don't see that happening anytime soon) possibly Michigan could be interesting. A big school with plenty of funding, good atmosphere with a team under-performing.

From a MLS perspective, Atlanta, NYRB, NYCFC, LAG (probably not) - but it would need to be total control for him to be interested.

 

Thank you for the update.

From what I saw of Chong, he seemed like a special player. He was a very big loss for the team.

I know that referees have a difficult job. That said, the referee that made the call when Chong was injured had an egregious lapse in judgment by not giving Howe a straight red. I am hopeful that he was disciplined in some manner or had assignments curtailed but that is doubtful.

 

I don’t see him doing anything right away. I also believe that he currently has no capacity in US Soccer and I don’t see that changing.

I agree that it would be doubtful for Porter to return to the collegiate game. One school that immediately came to mind when talk of the collegiate game came up is Ohio State. The Buckeyes currently have Hoosier alums Brian Maisonneuve as the HC and Matt Foldsey, also a former Zip before transferring to IU, as an AC. I don’t see Maisonneuve going anywhere right now, though. Also, he is in his 5th year and seems to be finally getting the program turned around somewhat.

Negatives about Ohio State men’s soccer is that it has never seemed like a big thing. They’ll have a decent year or two and then slip back into mediocrity. Also, not having a dedicated soccer facility for a school with that kind of money seems ridiculous. I absolutely hate watching matches at venues that are also used for track & field. It’s a detached experience.

This is a thread about Zips soccer so sorry about getting it derailed a bit by mentioning Porter.