The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Cleveland State
A Pair Of Contests Await The Zips At FirstEnergy Stadium
August 30 | Women's Soccer
Match Notes (PDF)
Akron (1-2-1) vs. Cleveland State (1-3-0)
Thursday, Aug. 31
First Energy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field
Akron, Ohio • 7 p.m.Â
Live Stats:Â GoZips.com
Watch: ESPN3Â (Aug. 31)
Akron (1-2-1) vs. Niagara (1-1-1)
Sunday, Sept. 3
FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field
Akron, Ohio • 1 p.m.
Live Stats:Â GoZips.com
Whats Ahead
Akron returns to the friendly confines of FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet field after a quick road trip to Chicago, Ill. The Zips begin a six game homestand when they step on the field under the lights on Thursday, Aug. 31 against Cleveland State at 7 p.m. Game two of the six-game homestand is set for Sunday, Sept. 3 as Akron meets Niagara at 1 p.m. for an afternoon showdown.Â
Scouting the VikingsÂ
Cleveland State is coming into the match with the Zips having dropped their previous two contests to Ohio (1-0) and Binghamton (2-1), but have an overall record of 1-3 thanks to a 2-1 victory over Kent State. In the Horizon League preseason poll, the Vikings were predicted to finish ninth in the league by the 10 head coaches.Â
Over the Vikings first four contests, 14 different CSU players have earned a starting assignment. Leading the offensive charge for the Vikings has been freshman Jenna Prathapa, who has notched three goals in four starts. Along with Prathapa, Grace Grant and Aliani Lorenzo have each garnered a goal to give the Vikings five scores on the year.Â
Defensively, Jamie Daniels returns in the goal for Cleveland State making all four starts for the Vikings. In 356 minutes of action, Daniels posted a 1.77 goals against average, totaling a .759 save percentage, allowed seven goals, made 22 saves. In the history of the program, Daniels ranks fourth all-time with 188 career saves and third with seven shutouts.Â
Scouting the Purple EaglesÂ
Heading into the third weekend of play for the 2017 women's soccer regular season, the Niagara Purple Eagles stand at 1-1-1. Prior to the contest with the Zips, Niagara visits Robert Morris on Sept. 1. In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason poll, Niagara was predicted to finish ninth by the league's head coaches. A year ago, the Purple Eagles finished eighth in the MAAC with an overall record of 5-10-1
Returning for the 2017 season for Niagara are 19 letterwinners from the a season ago, along with seven freshmen. To date the Purple Eagles have notched four goals this season courtesy of Eva Bachmann, Hailey Bicknell, Kelsey Araujo, and Bayley Sullivan. All four players have combined to record 29 of Niagara's 38 shots on the year.Â
Sabrina Lucas and Shania van Nuland have split the goalkeeper duties through four games combining to make 19 saves and have allowed four goals.Â
Series History
Akron has been successful on the field against Cleveland State with a 7-1 all-time record against the Vikings, including two consecutive 4-2 wins in the past two seasons. Niagara has the edge on the Zips in their four meetings in program history with a 3-0-1 record against Akron. In their last meeting in 2015, the Zips and Purple Eagles played to a 0-0 double-overtime draw.Â
Coaches
Cleveland State: Dallas Boyer began his first year as a head coach in 2017 guiding the Cleveland State women's soccer program. Prior to taking over the Vikings quad, Boyer had been an assistant coach with CSU since 2007. Â
Niagara: Peter Veltri is back coaching the Purple Eagles for his 19th season after joining the program in 1998. Veltri has led Niagara to its first MAAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance and has claimed .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 aÂ
combined 11-26-7 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 the second largest incoming class in the nation with 13. Only New Mexico State has a larger freshman class with 15 freshmen.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 Undefeated 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
2017 Zips Tidbits
- Akron predicted to place fifth in the MAC East in the 2017 preseason poll
- Eight freshmen earned their first career start in the Zips 2017 season opener; Amani Jiu, Abigail Brown, Erin Babcock, Annamarie Alfery, Angela Boyce, Ryley Watt, Rylie Howman, Ally Brown
- Amani Jiu notched her first career clean sheet against Milwaukee, 0-0, and her first career victory with a 3-0 shutout over Green Bay.Â
- Erin Babcock notched her first career goal and first game-winning goal against Green Bay with a header off a corner kick.Â
- Eliese LaCourt tallied her first collegiate assist against Milwaukee and scored her first career goal against Loyola.Â
- Rachel Baughman and Catie Corrigan each scored their first goal of the 2017 campaign against Green Bay with each tallying their second career goal.Â
- Erica Schrader assist to Babcock against Green Bay off a cornerkick was the juniors first of the season and second career assist.Â
- Akron has been called for two yellow cards in 2017Â
Zips in the Pros
Two Akron alumnae are currently playing professional soccer overseas. Lani Smith (2013-14) is currently competing in Sweden with the Vasteras BK 30 and Sydney Blomquist (2013-14) is competing in Finland with Aland United.Â
In Smith's two seasons with the Zips, she was named to the 2014 All-MAC first team and Smith currently ranks first in shots (135), fifth in points (33), goals (15), t-6 in game-winning goals (4) in Akron program history. Â
Blomquist played for the Zips for two season after transferring to Akron from Louisville. In her career with the Zips, Blomquist appeared in 27 games with 23 starts, scored one goal, tallied one assist, and posted 24 shots with 12 on goal.Â
