Frank Abel (1989) - Hall of Fame - University of Akron Athletics

Frank Abel

Induction:
1989
Class:
1964

1959-62
Soccer
‘64

In the early years, Stu Parry, the father of UA soccer, didn’t have the bountiful number of American players to recruit as current coaches now enjoy. As a result, he scoured the area amateur leagues for his talent. Out of those recruiting efforts came Frank Abel, a native of Salzbeurg, Austria who helped guide the Zip booters to a 35-9-1 record and three Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association Championships between 1959 through 1962. A non-traditional student-athlete, the 23-year-old Abel quickly asserted himself his freshman campaign as the starting center forward and leading scorer (8 goals, 3 assists) on an 8-2 team. As a sophomore he again paced UA in scoring with 25 goals and established new record for assists (12) and points (27) as the Zips compiled a 10-1 record. For his efforts Abel was voted first team All-Ohio and All-Midwest. In 1961, Abel and Hall of Famers Fritz Kungl, Pete Milich and Walt Kruppa pulled off one of the biggest upsets in college soccer with a 3-2 victory of defending NCAA champion, St Louis got revenge with a 7-2 victory in Akron’s first-ever post-season NCAA Tournament, Abel, who had his best scoring output of his career with 17 goals and 12 assists was accorded first team All-Ohio honors. The Zips slummed to a 5-4-1 record in 1962, but co-captain Abel played well enough to gain a first team All-Ohio accolade. During his career, Abel, who is fourth on UA’s all-time scoring list, booted 50 goals and the 36 career assists he accumulated continues today as the standard to beat.