Playing in front of tens of thousands of fans, signing autographs, and traveling around the globe with one of the best teams in the world while being in the national team pool is the fantasy of almost every youth soccer player in the world. But for Notre Dame College’s 2010 First Team All-American, Tom Mellor, he experienced all of those things before leaving high school. “I want to prove people right, and prove people what I’ve got,” declares Mellor as
Polite and unassuming, yet oozing national pride and self-confidence Juan Coca laughs as he recalls the video he sent Notre Dame College’s Head Men’s Soccer Coach Michael “Mac” McBride. “My video was so bad really, my video was so bad. I didn’t even like me as a player in the video; I was like what is this?” Coca said in his distinguishable Spanish accent. McBride noticed the skills in the video despite what Coca recalls it being a last minute idea
AFC Cleveland, Northeastern Ohio’s newest sports franchise, is proud to announce to announce the signing of Mount Union striker Thomas Beck and defender Phil Spagnolo. Beck, a Poland (OH) native and Cardinal Mooney graduate, was the leading scorer for the Purple Raiders as a sophmore in 2011. He tallied 12 goals and 4 assists on his way to All-OAC First Team honors. Beck was also named OAC Men’s Soccer Player of the Week for 9/19/11 and landed on the 2011 Lycoming
I had a lot of thoughts come to mind when writing this article to support Caleb Porter. First and foremost, I wanted to tap into the positives of his career and all he has done for the University of Akron and the American game as a whole. My initial thought was to attack the critical comments made by our colleagues in the soccer media. There were two problems with this. It would bring back a lot of the negativity that
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced today the addition of West Virginia as an affiliate member in men’s soccer beginning in the 2012-13 academic year. The addition of the Mountaineers will increase the MAC men’s soccer membership to eight members—five from MAC full-time membership (Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan) and three affiliate members (Florida Atlantic University, Hartwick College, West Virginia). “I am pleased to welcome West Virginia University as an affiliate member in men’s soccer beginning with the 2012
Four home matches and two contests against NCAA Tournament qualifiers highlight the 2012 University of Akron men’s soccer spring schedule, as announced by head coach Caleb Porter Wednesday. The Zips will host Patriot League champion Colgate at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field on Apr. 7 and travel to two-time defending Atlantic-10 champion Xavier, which is coming off its best season in school history, in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Apr. 21. UA will also welcome a pair of in-state foes, Cleveland State (Apr.
Former Indiana State head coach and University of Miami (Fla.) assistant Vernon Croft has joined The University of Akron women’s soccer coaching staff, head coach Chris Pfau announced today. Croft will assist in all aspects of the program, including the training of the goalkeepers and other team members. “I am very excited about the hire of Vernon Croft,” Pfau said. “I have great respect for him as a coach. To have someone on staff with his background as a 10-year Division
University of Akron head men’s soccer coach Caleb Porter officially announced the six members of the Zips’ 2012 signing class Wednesday. Included in the group are four of the top 11 recruits in the country, according to Top Drawer Soccer, which ranked the six-member class No. 1 in the nation. The group, which features a wealth of youth national team experience, includes two midfielders, two forwards, one defender and a goalkeeper. Of the six recruits, five are members of their respective youth
The University of Akron women’s soccer team will welcome 10 new student-athletes to the program next fall, having already added a transfer student-athlete this spring, head coach Chris Pfau announced Friday. The group includes eight in-state recruits – seven from Northeast Ohio – and one athlete from California, Illinois and Minnesota. The class consists of four defenders, three goalkeepers, two midfielders, two forward/midfielders, and one defender/midfielder. Many of the players come to Akron after receiving high honors at both the club