2015 MEN’SOCCER GAME NOTES • MATCH 19 VS. WEST VIRGINIA 61st Season • 2010 National Champions • 3 College Cup Appearances • 29 NCAA Tournament Appearances • 11 MAC Championships FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOV. 12, 2015 2015 Schedule and Results AKRON OPENS MAC TOURNAMENT PLAY VERSUS WEST VIRGINIA 13-3-2/4-0-1 MAC No. 4 Akron (13-3-2) DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT vs. West Virginia (7-11) Aug. 28 at VCU (1) W, 3-2 (2OT) Friday, Nov. 13 Aug. 30 at No. 24 Old Dominion (1) L, 1-4 FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field (5,000) Sept. 4 at No. 4 Georgetown (2) W, 1-0 Akron, Ohio • 7 p.m. Sept. 7 at No. 6 Maryland (2) W, 3-2 Sept. 11 No. 14 SAINT LOUIS W, 3-2 Live Stats: www.gozips.com Sept. 16 OHIO STATE T, 3-3 (2OT) Webstream: www.gozips.com Sept. 22 No. 8 WAKE FOREST L, 1-2 Sept. 25 at No. 25 UC Santa Barbara W, 2-0 WHAT’S AHEAD Sept. 30 PENN STATE W, 1-0 Top-seeded Akron begins its quest for its 12th Mid-American Conference Championship Oct. 3 at UAB W, 2-1 (OT) title battling fourth-seeded West Virginia on Friday, Nov. 13, in the semifinals of the MAC Oct. 6 SANTA CLARA W, 2-0 Championship. Game time at FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field is set for 7 p.m. and Oct. 9 at Buffalo * W, 2-1 will follow the conclusion of the other semifinal at 4 p.m. pitting second-seeded Western AKRON MEN Oct. 17 NORTHERN ILLINOIS * W, 4-0 Michigan versus third-seeded Buffalo. Oct. 21 MICHIGAN STATE W, 4-1 ZIPS’ MAC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY Oct .24 at Western Michigan * T, 1-1 (2OT) Akron maintains an 27-8-5 mark in 40 matches in Mid-American Conference Oct. 28 at West Virginia * W, 2-0 Championship history, including 4-0 under head coach Jared Embick. Nov. 1 No. 25 UCLA L, 2-4 Nov. 8 BOWLING GREEN * W, 4-0 AKRON-WEST VIRGINIA MAC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY Nov. 13 WEST VRIGINIA & 7 p.m. The Zips are meeting West Virginia for only the second time in Mid-American Nov. 15 MAC Championship & 1 p.m. Conference Championship play with Akron owning a 1-0 mark in those encounters. The Zips registered a 3-0 victory past the Mountaineers in the semifinals of the 2013 MAC All home matches in bold Championship on Nov. 15, 2013, at FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field. All times listed are Eastern ’ * Denotes Mid-American Conference match Year Location Round Result S SOCCER & Denotes MAC Championship (Highest Seed) 2013 Akron, Ohio Semifinals W, 3-0 (1) denotes VCU Tournament SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS (2) denotes Georgetown Tournament West Virginia (7-11-0) comes into play against Akron on Friday, Nov. 13, on the strength of a 3-2 triumph past Northern Illinois last Friday, Nov. 6. The victory snapped a five-game losing Akron Athletic Communications streak for the Mountaineers. Seniors Ryan Cain and Jamie Merriam have directed the West Cathy Bongiovi, Assistant A.D./Athletics Communications Virginia attack this season each registering a team-high six goals. Sophomore Joey Piatczyc E-mail: [email protected] owns 13 assists, while senior Zak Leedom has added six assists of his own. Sophomore Office Phone: (330) 972-6106 goalkeeper Alec Boerner holds the majority of minutes in goal for the Mountaineers this Sean Palchick, Associate AC Dir. (MSOC Contact) fall recording 42 saves and owning four shutouts and a 1.59 goals against average. As a E-mail: [email protected] team, West Virginia is rated third, third, 22nd, 23rd, 43rd, 55th and 60th, respectively, in Office Phone: (330) 972-2677 the NCAA in assists per game (2.28), total assists (33), total points (101), total goals (30) Chelsea Andorka, Graduate Assistant and scoring offense (1.67), shots per contest (13.61) and points per game (5.61). E-mail: [email protected] Office Phone: (330) 972-7171 Jonathan Platten, Graduate Assistant WVU AKRON E-mail: [email protected] Overall Record 7-11-0 13-3-2 Office Phone: (330) 972-6584 Conference Record 2-3-0 4-0-1 Goals 30 41 Athletics Communications Office Goals-Shot Attempts 30-245 41-288 Fax: (330) 374-8844 Goals Per Game 1.67 2.28 Assists 41 39 Follow Akron Athletics on our website: Shots 245 288 GoZips.com Shots On Goal 95 122 Shot Percentage .122 .142 Shots On Goal Percentage .392 .424 Shots Per Game 13.6 16.0 FOLLOW AKRON Corner Kicks 95 97 Opponent Corner Kicks 104 67 ATHLETICS ON Penalty Kicks 2-3 5-8 FACEBOOK AND TWITTER Opponent Penalty Kicks 4-4 3-5 SERIES HISTORY Friday evening’s game is the 17th meeting between Akron and West Virginia. The Zips lead the all-time series, 13-2-1. Earlier this season, Akron earned a 2-0 victory past the Mountaineers on Oct. 18, 2015. #ZipsGameday 1 #RiZeUP! 2015 MEN’SOCCER GAME NOTES • MATCH 19 VS. WEST VIRGINIA THE COACHES Akron Quick Facts West Virginia: Marlon LeBlanc is in his ninth season as head coach of the West Virginia program, owning a 86-63-26 (.566) record. Overall in 10 years as a head coach, LeBlanc owns a 90-66-26 (.566) mark. Location: ................................. Akron, Ohio 44325 Akron: In his third year on the Akron sidelines as head coach, and ninth season overall, is Jared Embick, Population: ..............................................200,000 who has a 43-13-5 mark (.746), including 90-34-15 (.701) overall, in his seventh year as a head coach. ............................................... (5th largest in Ohio) AKRON HEAD COACH JARED EMBICK Founded: ....................... 1870 as Buchtel College ...............................................26,000 Jared Embick, who had previously served as the Zips’ associate head coach and recruiting Enrollment: coordinator, officially became the seventh head coach in the history of The University of Akron men’s Nickname: ......................................................Zips soccer program in December of 2012. Colors: .............................Blue (282) & Gold (871) The 2015 campaign marks his third year leading the Zips and the squad has registered a 43-13-5 Conference: ....................................Mid-American (.746) ledger after going 13-6-2 a season ago. .........................................................(East Division) During Embick’s time at Akron, the Zips have posted the highest winning percentage in the nation President: ........................Dr. Scott L. Scarborough with an overall record of 153-26-21 (.818), including a 48-2-2 (.942) mark in Mid-American Conference Director of Athletics: ......................Larry Williams play, while securing seven conference tournament titles, eight trips to the NCAA Tournament and two Faculty Athletics Rep: ........... Dr. Deborah Owens appearances in an NCAA final. Athletics Dept. Phone: ...............(330) 972-7080 Akron entered the 2014 season seeking to reload the Zips’ talented foundation with a young squad Ticket Office Phone: ...1-888-99-AKRON (-25766) following the departure of six starters from a 2013 team that posted a 17-4-1 record and a No. 7 national ranking. Season of Soccer: ...............................61st (1955) Recording their 14th consecutive double-digit victory campaign, the Zips finished the season with All-Time Record: ................................677-249-87 a 13-6-2 ledger, including 4-1-0 mark in the Mid-American Conference. Akron’s efforts were rewarded as the Zips earned the MAC’s regular season and tournament crowns en route to collecting a berth in All-Time MAC Record: ........................... 114-12-7 the NCAA Tournament for the 29th time in program history. MAC Tournament Titles: .................................. 11 The Zips became one of just six Division I programs to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in each of .......[1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, the past eight seasons with their 29th overall selection. .......................................2010, 2012, 2013, 2014] Led by Adam Najem, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Jake Fenlason and Andrew Souders, who were selected as MAC Regular-Season Titles: ............................ 18 first-team All-MAC men’s soccer selections, seven Akron student-athletes garnered All-MAC accolades NCAA Tournament Appearances: .............................29 a year ago. Additionally, Stuart Holthusen, Richie Laryea and Victor Souto were recognized as second- NCAA College Cup Appearances: ....3 [1986, 2009, 2010] team selections. S SOCCER ’ NCAA Championshop Appearances: .. 2 [2009, 2010] The Zips came into the campaign maintaining a No. 13 preseason ranking by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) as well as being tabbed preseason No. 14, 15 and 23 by Stadium: ........FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field TopDrawerSoccer.com, College Soccer News and Soccer America, respectively. Capacity:..........................................................5,000 Akron’s opening night line-up featured seven players making their initial collegiate starts for the Field Dimensions: .....................................120 x 77 Zips, while six first-year players took to the field at No. 5 New Mexico. ...............................................Natural Grass Individually, Najem, who garnered first-team All-Great Lake Regional honors, ranked fourth, fifth, Surface: eighth, eighth and 24th in the NCAA in goals scored (14), total points (32), goals per game (0.67), AKRON IN THE NATIONAL POLLS points per match (1.52) and game-winning goals (4). Jake Fenlason was equally impressive in goal rating 27th, 32nd and 53rd nationally in goals against average (.785), save percentage (.811) and total saves (73). NCAA RPI ..NSCAA ..TDS ..... CSN In January, 2015, Abdul-Salaam became the 10th Zip to have his name called during the first round Preseason NA .............25 ......... RV ........24 of the MLS SuperDraft with his selection 12th overall in the MLS SuperDraft by Sporting Kansas City. Aug. 31 NA .............NA ......... NA ........RV Due in large part to Embick’s recruiting efforts, Akron identified and secured some of the best AKRON MEN Sept. 8 NA .............RV ......... NA ........22 prospects in the country – and around the world – with top-five recruiting classes in each of the past Sept.