The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
DePaul University
Zips Set For First Road Test In The Windy City
August 24 | Women's Soccer
Match Notes (PDF)
Akron (1-0-1) vs. DePaul (0-2-0)
Friday, Aug. 25
Loyola Soccer Park
Chicago, Ill. • 6 p.m. (5 p.m. ET)
Akron (1-0-1) vs. Loyola (Chicago) (1-1-0)
Sunday, Aug. 27
Loyola Soccer Park)
Chicago, Ill. • 2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET)
Live Stats: GoZips.com
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Whats Ahead
After opening the 2017 season with an undefeated weekend (1-0-1) at FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet field, the Zips head on their first road trip of the season and look to continue their early success out at the Loyola Tournament in Chicago, Ill. Akron and DePaul are scheduled to open the Loyola Tournament on Friday, Aug. 25, at 6 p.m. (5 CT) before the Zips meet tournament host, Loyola, on Sunday, Aug. 27, to conclude the tournament at 2:30 p.m. (1:30 CT).Â
Scouting the Blue Demons
DePaul enters the second weekend of play 0-2-0 after dropping its season opening contests to Northwestern, 1-0, and Illinois, 2-1. Prior to the season, the Blue Demons were picked to finish second in the Big East Conference. A year ago, DePaul was the 2016 Big East regular season co-champions with a record of 10-6-2 including 7-2-0 in league play. The Blue Demons received an automatic bid to the Big East tournament semi-finals but fell to Georgetown in penalty kicks, 5-4, to end DePaul's run.Â
The Blue Demons return eight of their 11 starters from 2016, including preseason All-Big East team selections, Lucy Edwards, Franny Cerny, and Alexa Ben. Ben, who was the 2016 Big East Midfielder of the Year, tallied seven goals and three assists for 17 points on the year. Cerny returns as the Blue Demons' leading goal scorer from last season after tallying nine scores on 35 shots, and five game-winning goals. In the net for the DePaul is Lauren Frasca. The senior keeper totaled 1,424 minutes of action in 16 games, posting a 1.39 goals against average, with a save percentage of .577 and surrendered just 22 goals and made 30 saves.Â
Scouting the RamblersÂ
After the opening weekend of play for women's soccer, Loyola currently stands at 1-1 after dropping its season opener to Oklahoma State, 2-0, before ending the weekend strong with a 6-2 victory over Oral Roberts. Prior to their contest with the Zips, the Ramblers will host Drexel on Aug. 25. In 2016, Loyola ended its season with a 5-11-3 overall record, while going 2-4 in conference play, respectively. The Ramblers were pegged to finsih third in the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason poll.
Eighteen letterwinners are returning for the 2017 season for the Ramblers, along with eight freshmen. Looking to lead that group will be junior Jenna Szczesny, who already has a pair of goals this year, and sophomore Sienna Cruz (1 goal, 1 assist in 2016), both of who were named preseason All-MVC selections. Â
Series History
2017 will be the first year that Akron will face both DePaul and Loyola in program history.Â
Coaches
DePaul: Erin Chastin is entering her 10th year at the helm of the DePaul program. The Blue Demons tenured coach has led DePaul to four straight winning seasons, 51-17-13, two Big East regular season titles, one conference tournament championships and two NCAA tournament appearances. In her 10-year career at DePaul, Chastin has compiled a 93-87-21 overall record. Â
Loyola: Barry Bimbi returns for his seventh season with the Ramblers. Bimbi has spent all six years of his head coaching career with Loyola owning a 39-58-21 record.Â
Akron: Noreen Herlihy is in her third season on the sidelines as the head coach of The University of Akron's women's soccer program. The third-year coach has a combined 11-25-7 record leading the Zips since taking over the program. In her first year in charge of the program, Herlihy and her staff led the 2015 Akron Zips to the Mid-American Conference tournament for the first time since 2009 and advanced to the semi-final round for the initial time in program history.Â
Fountain of Youth
The Zips welcome in 13 freshmen to the 2017 roster. Akron is tied for second in the nation for the second largest freshmen class.Â
Seeing Double
Freshmen Abigail and Ally Brown are the first pair of twin sisters to play together in an Akron uniform. The sisters play on opposite ends of the field, Ally, a forward, and Abigail, a defender, will use their experience playing together to help make an impact on the field for the Zips.Â
Jiu Earns First MAC Defensive Player of the week
Freshman goalkeeper Amani Jiu (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was named the first Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the 2017 season, league office  announced. Additionally, Jiu earned the first Summa Health Student-Athlete of the Week honor for the 2017-18 academic year, from Akron Athletics. In the opening weekend of play, Jiu (pronounced Joo) helped Akron women's soccer to an undefeated 1-0-1 record. Earning the starting goalkeeper position, the true freshman recorded a shutout and nine saves in the double-overtime 0-0 draw against defending Horizon League champion Milwaukee in her first career start. Two days later, Jiu defended the goal against Green Bay, helping the Zips to a 3-0 victory. UA held the Phoenix scoreless through 90 minutes of play, giving Jiu her first collegiate victory and her second straight shutout to start her career. The back-to-back clean sheets in the opening weekend of play are the first consecutive shutouts to start the season by an Akron goalie since 2006, and just the third in program history.
Zips First Win Secures Undfeated Opening Weekend
An offensive outpouring by the Zips earned Akron its first win of the 2017 season with a 3-0 victory over Green Bay to secure an undefeated opening weekend at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet field on Sunday afternoon.
Akron used a combination of attacking offense, including 13 shots, 11 on goal, and a stout defensive effort to earn the win over the Phoenix.
A flurry of goals from the Zips came courtesy of freshman Erin Babcock (Liberty Township, Ohio), sophomore Catie Corrigan (Avon Lake, Ohio), and junior Rachel Baughman (Alliance, Ohio). Babcock, who scored the first goal of the season for the Zips, also notched her first collegiate goal in her second start.
On the defensive side of the ball, freshman goalkeeper Amani Jiu (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was once again phenomenal in the goal as she recorded her second consecutive clean sheet in her first college starts along with the help of her defensive line made up of four freshmen. In the contest, the Akron goalie made four saves.
Akron Claims 2-0 Exhibition win over Robert Morris
In their one and only exhibition contest of the 2017 preseason, the Akron women's soccer team claimed a 2-0 victory over Robert Morris on Aug. 13. Catie Corrigan and Abigail Brown each scored to lead the Zips to the win. All three keepers on the squad saw playing time and combined to make one save. 20 different Akron players saw action throughout the contest.Â
2017 Preseason Prediction
The 2017 Mid-American Conference women's soccer preseason poll was announced by the league on Aug. 14 and the Akron Zips were predicted to finish fifth overall in the Eastern Division, by a vote of the leagues head coaches.
Out of the East, Kent State was chosen to come out atop the standings and received 10 first-place votes, followed by Buffalo with two first place votes, and Miami (Ohio).
In the West, Ball State was selected to take the division title for the second straight year. Central Michigan and Western Michigan round out the top three spots in the West.
The 2016 MAC regular season champions, Ball State, are predicted to win the 2017 MAC Tournament receiving four votes, while Central Michigan garnered three votes, and Kent State earned two.
A Look Back at 2016
The Zips', guided by Herlihy, ended the year with a record of 4-11-4, and went 1-6-4 in Mid-American Conference play. Ashley Amato is the Zips returning leading goal scorer from 2016 with four goals. Three of her goals came in MAC play with each leading a crucial role in all three contests. Amato was named to the 2017 MAC All-Freshman team for her performance throughout league play. Sarah Sivic ended her storied career with the Zips ranked tied for first in assists (11), second in total points (43), and third in goals (16). Akron's defensive unit and keepers combined to complete three shutouts on the season. The Zips 111 total saves were the second-most in the MAC and their 75 saves in conference play were a league-best.Â
