College commitment: Avon's Ariana Vakos to continue soccer career at Akron

Avon junior Ariana Vakos has traveled the country and the world chasing her dreams. She was able to make them come true close to home. Last week Vakos, the Eagles' second-team All-Ohio goalkeeper, announced on her Twitter feed that she had orally committed to continue her soccer career at the University of Akron. I am super excited to announce my verbal commitment to play D1 soccer at the University of Akron! I want to thank my coachs, teammates, family, friends and especially god for helping me on this journey. #gozips💙💛🦘 pic.twitter.com/tiJbzVSgry — Ariana Vakos (@arianavakos) March 23, 2023 "It has always been my goal and my dream to go play collegiate soccer," Vakos said. "The first time I went to Akron, I just fell in love and found a place that felt like home. So in the recruiting process I started comparing every place else to Akron and what Akron had to offer, and once I had that offer from Akron I decided it's my time and I am going to commit." Although Vakos preferred to stay close to home so her family could watch her play, she's not afraid to hit the road. She's played as far away as Argentina and traveled to Barcelona in 2019 as captain of the U.S. Youth National Futsal team. "I've always been independent so I wasn't closed off to the idea of going far away, but being close to home and having my family be able to come and watch me play made a little impact as well," Vakos said. Vakos has a unique skill set that allowed her to earn All-Greater Cleveland and All-Southwestern Conference honors in goal each of the last two years but also allows to ditch her gloves and jersey and play in the field. She also scored two goals and had two assists as a midfielder last season. "Ariana plays goalkeeper but she is just as good of a field player," Avon coach Attila Csiszar said. "She's a superior athlete. Typically when you're a goalkeeper you don't play the field much but this girl has great feet. Her first touch on the ball is fantastic. She's a next-level player." Csiszar has been coaching Vakos on the club level since she started her soccer career as a young girl. "If I didn't have him I probably wouldn't be where I am today," Vakos said of Csiszar. "He's had the biggest impact on me of anyone in the soccer world. He's uncle to me. Ever since I was little I've played for him. He's pushed me every day, he's made me cry multiple times, but it was all worth it because he's helped me to be my best." Csiszar said when he starts coaching young players they all say they want to be collegiate players but Vakos is one of the few to put in the work to make the dream a reality. "I've coached her since she was 6 years old and she has literally put 110 percent into this sport," he said. "She is mentally strong, she attends every training session. She is so deserving of this and I'm excited to see where she goes in this game." The Eagles have complied a 39-12-4 record in Vakos' first three years on the team and advanced to the regional finals in 2020. "I'm looking forward to getting into college and working hard but first I'm hoping we can have another great year at Avon," Vakos said. "Nothing is given, everything is earned. I have to keep working and see what happens from here." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.