The picture shows the field during a game, and that by itself shows a relatively full house. Had that been all there is to it, then it still would have been a great shot.
That isn't all there is to it, though. There is also the sky.
One half of the sky is blue, or at least the fading blue of twilight. The other half is overcast, with the orange of the sun as it blends into the darkness of the clouds.
The contrast of the serenity of the sky and the tumultuous action on the field is what makes the picture great.
There's no way to tell who the opponent was that evening the photo was taken. Tonight? The opponent on that same field will be Princeton.
It'll be the opening round of the NCAA men's soccer tournament tonight at 6 (ESPN+), as the Tigers take on the host Zips. For the winner there is a date Sunday at Indiana.
Why is Akron the Zips, by the way? As you probably know, Akron is famously known as the Rubber Capital of the World, and it's been the home of companies like Firestone, Goodyear and B.F. Goodrich.
It was B.F. Goodrich that, shortly after 1900, began manufacturing rubber shoes that became quite popular and were known as "Zippers." Around that time, the university began to look for a mascot and nickname, and a student named Margaret Hamlin came up with the winning entry: Zippers — winning her the $10 first prize.
Once zippers replaced buttons on the majority of pants, though, the nickname was shortened to "Zips."
And so it'll be the Tigers and the Zips. They've played three times before, though not in the last 19 years. The most notable note from those three games is probably the fact that in Princeton's 2-0 win over Akron in 1987, current head coach Jim Barlow had an assist on the first goal.
Akron is, of course, a longtime soccer powerhouse, with one NCAA title (2010) and three NCAA runner-up finishes (most recently in 2018). The game tonight marks the 36th time the Zips have reached the NCAA tournament.
Princeton, for its part, is making its 12th NCAA appearance. The Tigers reached the 1993 Final Four.
Akron earned an at-large bid after winning the Big East Conference Midwest Division during the regular season with a 7-0-1 record. The Zips, by the way, are an affiliate member of the Big East for men's soccer but a full-time member of the Mid-American Conference for everything else.
Most recently, Akron fell to Georgetown in the Big East tournament semifinals 2-1 in OT. The Zips rank sixth in Division I in scoring offense (2.47 goals per game) and fifth in Division I in goal differential.
The main man for Akron is Emil Jaaskelainen, from Bolton, England. Jaaskelainen, a grad transfer from LIU who was a two-time NEC Player of the Year, leads Division I in goals per game with 1.21 per game, which would rank 151st out of 203 Division I teams.
If any team has a reason to be brimming with confidence, it's Princeton. The Tigers earned their spot in the NCAA tournament by winning the Ivy League's automatic bid this past weekend at the league tournament, taking down Cornell (3-2) and Penn (3-1). Both of those teams earned at-large bids as well in the three-bid Ivy.
Princeton played with skill and toughness in the Ivy tournament, but it was more than just that. Princeton also played like a team that believed in each other and itself, one that came from 2-0 down against Cornell to win in OT and did so without ever looking fazed in any ways.
The final against Penn came eight days after Princeton lost to the Quakers at home and yet looked so comfortable and in control the entire time, building a 3-0 lead before a late Penn goal. Oh, and this Penn team is the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
Again, kickoff in Ohio will be at 6. It'll be chilly there (temps in the 30s) but that's a small price to pay to be able to play this deep into November.
Princeton has earned this chance. Now it will look to make the most of it.
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