# 2018 Akron Zips men's soccer team

The 2018 Akron Zips men's soccer team represented The University of Akron during the 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Zips, played in the Mid-American Conference.

## Player movement
### Departures

A program record of 19 players departed the program following the 2017 season. Most players either graduated or declared for the MLS SuperDraft while others transferred to local NCAA Division II soccer programs.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| João Moutinho | 2 | DF | 6'1" | 170 | Freshman | Lisbon, POR | Declared for MLS SuperDraft. Selected 1st overall by Los Angeles FC. Signed with club. |
| Nick Hinds | 3 | DF | 5'8" | 150 | Sophomore | Plantation, FL | Signed with Seattle Sounders FC 2 |
| Niko de Vera | 4 | DF | 5'5" | 140 | Senior | Camas, WA | Declared for MLS SuperDraft. Selected 28th overall by New York Red Bulls. Signed with New York Red Bulls II. |
| Marc Alexander | 5 | DF | 6'0" | 180 | Freshman | Pittsburgh, PA | Transferred to Hartford. |
| Sam Gainford | 7 | FW | 6'1" | 168 | RS Senior | Whitehaven, ENG | Graduated. |
| Stuart Holthusen | 9 | FW | 6'1" | 151 | Senior | Auckland, NZL | Declared for MLS SuperDraft. Selected 64th overall by Portland Timbers. Did not sign with club. |
| Manuel Cordeiro | 10 | MF | 5'9" | 153 | RS Senior | Porto, POR | Graduated |
| Reggie Laryea | 12 | MF | 5'11" | 151 | Sophomore | Toronto, ON | Left the program. Signed with Sigma FC |
| Pau Belana | 13 | MF | 5'11" | 162 | RS Senior | Barcelona, ESP | Graduated |
| Shane Wiedt | 16 | DF | 6'3" | 180 | RS Junior | Akron, OH | Transferred to Pittsburgh. |
| Nate Shultz | 18 | DF | 6'0" | 160 | Senior | Mayfield, OH | Declared for MLS SuperDraft. Selected 48th overall by LA Galaxy. Signed with LA Galaxy II |
| Dener Dos Santos | 19 | MF | 5'8" | 154 | RS Senior | Joinville, BRA | Graduated |
| Alex Mapp | 20 | DF | 6'0" | 175 | RS Freshman | Medina, OH | Transferred to Ashland. |
| Jackson Crawford | 22 | DF | 5'9" | 164 | RS Freshman | Massillon, OH | Transferred to Ashland. |
| Barth-Luther Mouafo | 23 | MF | 6'0" | 197 | RS Senior | Douala, CMR | Graduated |
| Nick Costa | 28 | GK | 6'0" | 215 | RS Sophomore | North Royalton, OH | Transferred to Ashland. |
| Codie Lynd | 30 | GK | 5'9" | 175 | Freshman | Belleville, IL | Transferred to Maryville. |
| Nate Brown | 31 | DF | 6'2" | 162 | Senior | Scarborough, ON | Graduated |

### Transfers

| Name | Nat. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Dennis Cole | SLE | 5'7" | 143 | Sophomore | Freetown, SLE | Transferred from Sacramento State. |
| Abi Mohamed | SOM | 5'11" | 151 | Senior | Westerville, OH | Transferred from Ohio State. |
| Daniel Oliveira | POR | 5'7" | 145 | RS Freshman | Lisbon, POR | Transferred from Técnico. |
| Diogo Pacheco | POR | 5'10" | 160 | RS Sophomore | Lisbon, POR | Transferred from Lusófona. |
| Leonard Sohn | CAN | 5'10" | 151 | Junior | Richmond Hill, ON | Transferred from Manhattan. |
| Peter Zecca | USA | 5'10" | 162 | Sophomore | Weston, MA | Transferred from St. John's. |

### Recruits

| Name | Nat. | Hometown | Club |
| Ahmed Allen | USA | Stafford, VA | Bethesda SC |
| Dion Akhigbe | NGA | Copley, OH | OYSA North Challnger |
| Colin Biros | USA | Canton, OH | Columbus Crew U-17 |
| Ricky Ceballos | MEX | Mexico City, MEX | UNAM U-20 |
| Pol Hernández | ESP | Teià, ESP | Espanyol U-18 |
| Nick McCausland | USA | New Franklin, OH | Cleveland Internationals |
| Marco Milanese | ITA | Isernia, ITA | Napoli U-17 |
| Ivan Nikolić | SER | Toronto, ON | Sigma U-20 |
| Carlo Ritaccio | ITA | Westbury, NY | BW Gottschee |
| Nick Sibila | GER | Munich, GER | Deisenhofen U-19 |
| Sam Tojaga | USA | Erie, PA | Real Salt Lake U-17 |

## Squad information
### Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | GER | Ben Lundt |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Pol Hernández |
| 3 | DF | ITA | Carlo Ritaccio |
| 4 | DF | ITA | Marco Milanese |
| 5 | DF | CAN | Leonard Sohn |
| 6 | MF | USA | Skye Harter |
| 7 | FW | ERI | Ezana Kahsay |
| 8 | DF | USA | Morgan Hackworth |
| 9 | FW | NGA | David Egbo |
| 10 | MF | ITA | Marco Micaletto |
| 11 | FW | CAN | Marcel Zajac |
| 12 | FW | USA | Colin Biros |
| 14 | MF | POR | Diogo Pacheco |
| 15 | FW | USA | Braden Petno |
| 16 | MF | USA | Sam Tojaga |
| 17 | DF | USA | Joe Korb |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | DF | SRB | Ivan Nikolić |
| 19 | MF | CAN | Faisal Ghaffur |
| 20 | DF | USA | Ahmed Allen |
| 21 | MF | USA | Christian Lue Young |
| 22 | MF | SLE | Dennis Cole |
| 23 | DF | POR | Daniel Oliveira |
| 24 | GK | USA | Tor Saunders |
| 25 | DF | USA | Daniel Strachan |
| 26 | MF | SOM | Abdi Mohamed |
| 27 | DF | IRL | Declan Watters |
| 28 | MF | NGA | Dion Akhigbe |
| 29 | DF | USA | Nick McCausland |
| 30 | GK | GER | Nick Sibila |
| 31 | GK | MEX | Ricky Ceballos |
| 32 | FW | USA | Peter Zecca |

### Coaching staff

Front office :
| Athletic Director | Larry Williams |
| Associate Athletic Director | Mary Lu Gribschaw |
| Associate Athletic Director | George Van Horne |
| Faculty Representative | Matthew Juravich |
| Senior Administrative Assistant | Kathy Rex |
| Coaching staff ||
| Head coach | Jared Embick |
| Assistant coach | Leo Chappel |
| Goalkeepers coach | Ger Coppinger |
| Assistant coach | T.J. Kolba |
Last updated: December 5, 2018 Source: GoZips.com

## Schedule

| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 11* 7:00 p.m. | No. 2 | No. 11 Denver | T 1–1 | | Cub Cadet Field (1,126) Akron, OH |
| August 13* 7:00 p.m. | No. 2 | Cleveland State | W 2–0 | | Cub Cadet Field (1,264) Akron, OH |
| August 17* 7:00 p.m. | No. 2 | vs. No. 2 Indiana | T 1–1 | | Bishop D'Arcy Stadium (3,193) Fort Wayne, IN |
| Regular Season ||||||
| August 24* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | No. 2 | No. 9 Butler | T 2–2 $^{2OT}$ | 0–0–1 | Cub Cadet Field (2,579) Akron, OH |
| August 27* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 2 | No. 17 NC State | L 0–2 | 0–1–1 | Cub Cadet Field (1,474) Akron, OH |
| September 1* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 2 | Pittsburgh | W 1–0 | 1–1–1 | Cub Cadet Field (1,790) Akron, OH |
| September 7* 10:30 p.m., WACDN | No. 12 | at No. 24 Seattle U | L 1–2 | 1–2–1 | Championship Field (514) Seattle, WA |
| September 9* 4:30 p.m., P12N | No. 12 | at No. 9 Washington | L 0–2 | 1–3–1 | Husky Soccer Stadium (900) Seattle, WA |
| September 15* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Canisius | W 10–0 | 2–3–1 | Cub Cadet Field (1,585) Akron, OH |
| September 20* 10:00 p.m., YouTube | | at Grand Canyon | W 1–0 | 3–3–1 | GCU Stadium (1,638) Phoenix, AZ |
| September 26* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at VCU | W 4–3 $^{OT}$ | 4–3–1 | Sports Backers Stadium (682) Richmond, VA |
| October 1* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Syracuse | L 1–3 | 4–4–1 | Cub Cadet Field (1,598) Akron, OH |
| MAC Tournament ||||||
| November 6 4:00 p.m., ESPN3 | (4) | (5) SIUE First Round | W 2–1 | 8–6–2 | Cub Cadet Field (360) Akron, OH |
| November 9 5:40 p.m., ESPN3 | (4) | at (1) No. 12 West Virginia Semifinals | W 3–1 | 9–6–2 | Dlesk Stadium (250) Morgantown, WV |
| November 11 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | (4) No. 24 | vs. (3) Western Michigan MAC Championship | W 3–0 | 10–6–2 | Dlesk Stadium (94) Morgantown, WV |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 15* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | No. 16 | Rider First Round | W 3–1 | 11–6–2 | Cub Cadet Field (421) Akron, OH |
| November 18* 2:00 p.m., ACCN Extra | No. 16 | vs. (16) No. 20 Syracuse Second Round | W 3–1 | 12–6–2 | Beyer-Small '76 Field (421) Hamilton, NY |
| November 25* 5:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 10 | at (1) No. 2 Wake Forest Third Round | W 1–0 | 13–6–2 | Spry Stadium (1,686) Winston-Salem, NC |
| November 30* 9:00 p.m., P12N | No. 4 | at (6) No. 2 Stanford Quarterfinals | W 3–2 | 14–6–2 | Cagan Stadium (1,405) Stanford, CA |
| December 7* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 2 | vs. No. 4 Michigan State College Cup | W 5–1 | 15–6–2 | Harder Stadium (4,988) Santa Barbara, CA |
| December 9* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 2 | vs. (11) No. 3 Maryland National Championship | L 0–1 | 15–7–2 | Harder Stadium Santa Barbara, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from TopDrawer Soccer. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Statistics

Individual Player Statistics (As of December 2, 2017) :
* Player
* Goalkeepers |||||||||||||
* Defenders |||||||||||||
* Midfielders |||||||||||||
* Forwards |||||||||||||