CLEVELAND — The University of Akron soccer team was named the winner of the Male Collegiate Athlete of the Year Award at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards ceremony.
Coach Jared Embick and several of his players were presented with the honor at the 19th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards dinner at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel Grand Ballroom Wednesday night.
The Zips went just 7-6-2 during the regular season, but they hit their stride at the right time of year, sweeping their way to the Mid-American Conference Tournament with wins over SIU-Edwardsville (2-1), at 12th ranked West Virginia (3-1), and then, Western Michigan (3-0) over a six-day stretch to qualify for the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
After defeating Rider College in the first round, the Zips ran off three straight road victories over Top 20 teams: No. 20 Syracuse, No. 2 Wake Forest, and then, No. 2 Stanford in a 12-day stretch to advance to the NCAA College Cup.
In the semifinals, the Zips posted a dominant 5-1 victory over the Michigan State Spartans before suffering a 1-0 loss to the University of Maryland in the NCAA Championship Game.
The 2018 season marked the second time the Zips finished as the national runners-up and their third appearance in the College Cup finals. Akron won the 2010 NCAA Championship under new Columbus Crew coach Caleb Porter.
The Zips won the honor over Ohio State University football player Dre’Mont Jones and University of Mount Union wrestler Jairod James.
The Male Collegiate Athlete of the Year Award is presented annually to the athlete who best distinguishes the characteristics of athletic prowess and is in good academic standing at his respective school.
