2015 MEN’SOCCER GAME NOTES • MATCH 24 VS. STANFORD 61st Season • 2010 National Champions • 4 College Cup Appearances • 30 NCAA Tournament Appearances • 12 MAC Championships FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DEC. 10, 2015 2015 Schedule and Results AKRON SET TO BATTLE STANFORD IN COLLEGE CUP 18-3-2/4-0-1 MAC No. 4 Akron (18-3-2) DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT vs. No. 8 Stanford (17-2-2) Aug. 28 at VCU (1) W, 3-2 (2OT) Friday, Dec. 11 Aug. 30 at No. 24 Old Dominion (1) L, 1-4 Sporting Park (18,467) Sept. 4 at No. 4 Georgetown (2) W, 1-0 Kansas City, Kan. • 8:30 p.m. ET 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) Television: ESPNU/Watch ESPN 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 Fourth-seeded Akron continues its quest to capture its second-ever NCAA Championship Oct. 3 at UAB W, 2-1 (OT) on Friday, Dec. 11, as the Zips battle eighth-seeded Stanford in the second semifinal of the Oct. 6 SANTA CLARA W, 2-0 NCAA College Cup at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. Game time is set for approximately Oct. 9 at Buffalo * W, 2-1 8:36 p.m. ET. ESPNU and Watch ESPN will carry the game with Glenn Davis and Taylor AKRON MEN Oct. 17 NORTHERN ILLINOIS * W, 4-0 Twellman calling the action. Clemson will face Syracuse in the other College Cup semifinal Oct. 21 MICHIGAN STATE W, 4-1 at 6:06 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 11. Oct .24 at Western Michigan * T, 1-1 (2OT) ZIPS’ NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY Oct. 28 at West Virginia * W, 2-0 Akron maintains an 25-24-7 mark in 56 matches in NCAA Championship history, including Nov. 1 No. 25 UCLA L, 2-4 capturing the school’s first national championship in any sport in 2010. The Zips are 4-1-1 Nov. 8 BOWLING GREEN * W, 4-0 under head coach Jared Embick. Since 2005, Akron owns a 16-4-7 ledger. Nov. 13 WEST VIRGINIA & W, 3-2 Senior Andrew Souders (Amherst, Ohio) is Akron’s active leader in NCAA Tournament Nov. 15 BUFFALO & W, 1-0 games started (7). Sophomore Stuart Holthusen (Auckland, New Zealand) own a team- Nov. 22 No. 23 RUTGERS (3) W, 6-1 high three goals each in career tournament play, while juniors Adam Najem (Clifton, Nov. 29 No. 11 SMU (3) W, 2-1 N.J. and Victor Souto (Sao Paulo, Brazil), sophomore Richie Laryea (Toronto, Ontario (Canada)), and redshirt junior (Lisbon, Portugal) have recorded two, two, Dec. 5 No. 3 Creighton (3) W, 2-1 (2OT) Goncalo Soares ’ Dec. 11 No. 1 Stanford (4) 8:36 p.m. two and one tournament goal(s) in their Akron careers. Najem has registered a team-best S SOCCER four tournament assists as a Zip, while recording two, one and one helper, respectively, All home matches in bold has been Laryea, Holthusen and senior Sean Sepe (West Islip, N.Y.). Najem enters action All times listed are Eastern versus Stanford as the team’s NCAA Tournament career scoring leader with eight points * Denotes Mid-American Conference match on the strength of two goals and four assists. Najem has recorded a team-best 20 shots, including 10 on goal. Najem, Holthusen, & Denotes MAC Championship (Highest Seed) Laryea, Sepe, Souto, redshirt sophomore Robby Dambrot (Akron, Ohio), Soares, senior (1) denotes VCU Tournament Brad Ruhaak (Akron, Ohio), sophomore Adi Dakwar (Fassouta, Israel ), redshirt sophomore (2) denotes Georgetown Tournament Sam Gainford (Liverpool, England), sophomore Anthony Macchione (Camas, Wash.), (3) denotes NCAA Tournament sophomore Jesse Garcia-Aguilar (Portland, Ore.), redshirt junior Danilo Radjen (Broadview (4) denotes NCAA College Cup Heights, Ohio), redshirt sophomore Tyler Sanda (North Royalton, Ohio), sophomore Nate Shultz (Mayfield, Ohio), Souders, have recorded 20, 16, 11, 12, six, six, five, five, three, three, two, one, one, one, one and one shot, respectively. In six NCAA Tournament starts in Akron Athletic Communications goal, senior Jake Fenlason (San Diego, Calif.) has made 33 saves. Cathy Bongiovi, Assistant A.D./Athletics Communications Akron maintains 2-0-1 all-time mark in College Cup semifinal contests. The Zips bettered E-mail: [email protected] Office Phone: (330) 972-6106 Fresno State, 1-0, in 1986, and Michigan, 2-1, in 2010, while earning a 0-0 double-overtime Sean Palchick, Associate AC Dir. (MSOC Contact) draw with North Carolina in 2009. E-mail: [email protected] When postseason play began, the Zips joined an elite group of just five Division I programs Office Phone: (330) 972-2677 that have qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of the past nine seasons. Only Chelsea Andorka, Graduate Assistant Indiana, Maryland, UCLA, and Virginia can share that claim. E-mail: [email protected] Office Phone: (330) 972-7171 AKRON-STANFORD NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY Jonathan Platten, Graduate Assistant The Zips have met Stanford one other time in NCAA Championship play with Akron E-mail: [email protected] registering a 2-0 victory in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 29, 2009, at Office Phone: (330) 972-6584 FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field. Year Location Round Result FOLLOW AKRON 2009 Akron, Ohio Third Round W, 2-0 ATHLETICS ON AKRON VERSUS THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE FACEBOOK AND TWITTER • The Zips are meeting a team from the Pac-12 Conference for the second time this season after suffering a 4-2 home setback versus UCLA on Nov. 1. Akron played that contest against the Bruins without two starters in then leading scorer Richie Laryea (card accumulation) and redshirt junior Danilo Radjen (injury). • In all, Akron is 3-4-1 (.438) versus teams from the Pac-12 Conference. #ZipsGameday 1 #RiZeUP! 2015 MEN’SOCCER GAME NOTES • MATCH 24 VS. STANFORD • The Zips are encountering a Pac-12 team in NCAA Tournament play for the third time. Akron bested Akron Quick Facts Stanford, 2-0, in 2009, before garnering a 3-3 double-overtime draw with California in 2010. The Zips advanced to the College Cup in 2010 after outlasting the Bears in penalty kicks, 3-2. Location: ................................. Akron, Ohio 44325 Population: ..............................................200,000 SCOUTING THE CARDINAL ............................................... (5th largest in Ohio) Stanford (17-2-2) enters its showdown versus Akron on Friday, Dec. 11, having earned 3-1, 3-1 and 2-1 Founded: ....................... 1870 as Buchtel College victories over Santa Clara, Ohio State and top-seeded Wake Forest in the first three rounds of the NCAA ...............................................26,000 Tournament. The Cardinal own a 4-1-0 mark in their last five games. Junior Jordan Morris leads Stanford’s Enrollment: offensive efforts having recorded team-high marks in goals (11), points (25), shots (53), shots on goal (28) Nickname: ......................................................Zips and game-winners (5). Junior Eric Verso and sophomore Corey Baird own 12 and 11 assists, respectively, Colors: .............................Blue (282) & Gold (871) to lead the Cardinal. Junior Andrew Epstein owns the majority of minutes in goal for Stanford this season Conference: ....................................Mid-American and has recorded 56 saves, while owning a 0.69 goals against average and nine shutouts. As a team, .........................................................(East Division) the Cardinal are rated second, seventh, ninth, 11th, 14th, 14th, 20th, 24th, 27th, 28th, 29th and 41st in President: ........................Dr. Scott L. Scarborough the NCAA in winning percentage (.857), total assists (44), assists per game (2.10), team goals against Director of Athletics: ......................Larry Williams average (0.69), points per contest (5.81), total points (122), total goals (39), scoring offense (1.86), shutout Faculty Athletics Rep: ........... Dr. Deborah Owens percentage (0.43), shots per game (14.90), shots on goal per contest (6.33) and save percentage (.795). Athletics Dept. Phone: ...............(330) 972-7080 Ticket Office Phone: ...1-888-99-AKRON (-25766) STANFORD AKRON Overall Record 17-2-2 18-3-2 Season of Soccer: ...............................61st (1955) Conference Record 7-1-2 4-0-1 All-Time Record: ................................682-249-87 Goals 39 56 Goals-Shot Attempts 39-313 56-411 All-Time MAC Record: ........................... 114-12-7 Goals Per Game 1.86 2.43 MAC Tournament Titles: .................................. 12 Assists 44 47 .......[1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, Shots 313 411 ............................ 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015] Shots On Goal 133 169 MAC Regular-Season Titles: ............................ 18 Shot Percentage .121 .136 NCAA Tournament Appearances: .............................30 Shots On Goal Percentage .425 .411 NCAA College Cup Appearances: ....3 [1986, 2009, 2010] Shots Per Game 14.9 17.9 S SOCCER ’ NCAA Championshop Appearances: .. 2 [2009, 2010] Corner Kicks 124 139 Opponent Corner Kicks 69 90 Stadium: ........FirstEnergy Stadium - Cub Cadet Field Penalty Kicks 4-5 7-10 Capacity:..........................................................5,000 Opponent Penalty Kicks 3-3 3-5 Field Dimensions: .....................................120 x 77 SERIES HISTORY ...............................................Natural Grass Surface: Friday evening’s game is the third meeting between Akron and Stanford. The Zips lead the all-time AKRON IN THE NATIONAL POLLS series, 2-0-0. Akron posted a 4-3 overtime decision at Stanford on Oct. 2, 1994, while besting the Cardinal, 2-0, in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 29, 2009. NCAA RPI ..NSCAA ..TDS ..... CSN THE COACHES Preseason NA .............25 ......... RV ........24 Stanford: Jeremy Gunn is in his fourth season as head coach of the Stanford program, owning a Aug. 31 NA .............NA ......... NA ........RV 49-20-10 (.684) record. In 17 years overall as a head coach he maintains a 236-81-41 (.716) ledger.