In their second and final preseason exhibition match, the University of Akron men’s soccer team lost to Syracuse 2-1 at home on Friday night.
After falling to Maryland 3-0 on Monday, the Zips felt the pressure early on in the match as Syracuse took three shots in the first 15 minutes of play, including two headers that were saved by junior goalkeeper Jake Fenlason in the box. Those would be the Orange’s only shots of the first half, however, as Akron settled down and pushed the ball in their offensive end.
Junior defender Andrew Souders made multiple quick stops in the middle to help keep the ball in UA’s possession, and despite not scoring in the first half, the Zips took seven shots in the period.
A series of relays in the 28th minute saw shots by both junior Clint Caso and sophomore Adam Najem along with a follow-up attempt by junior Sean Sepe in the box, the best chance at goal that Akron had in the half.
Just five minutes and 46 seconds into the second half, however, Emil Ekblom of Syracuse took a pass from the left side by Chris Nanco and made a midair kick at the ball, drilling it past Fenlason for the first point of the match.
Fenlason, with six total saves on the night including four in the second half, made an array of defensive stops for the Zips throughout the game, including an aggressive maneuver following the yellow card on junior Clint Caso in the 59th minute that kept Akron temporarily out of trouble.
Ekblom had an open opportunity in the 66th minute with the ball at the top of the box and only Fenlason ahead of him. Firing a shot forward, Fenlason leaped and swatted it away to keep the Zips within one.
What looked to be Akron’s best opportunity on attack for the night came in the 68th minute when freshman Stuart Holthusen fed a ball into the middle, playable for both freshman Jesse Garcia-Aguilar and sophomore Victor Souto, but pushed it just too far that the Orange goalie, Alex Bono, got his hands on it.
Just one offensive possession later, senior Saad Abdul-Salaam found himself with the ball on the right wing and approaching the opposing goal. Dribbling by a defender on his own, Abdul-Salaam took a shot from the far right wing that grazed Bono’s hands and swiped right into the back of the net for the equalizer.
Abdul-Salaam led the Zips in both shots, four, and shots on goal, two, on the night.
With ten minutes remaining, Stefanos Stamoulacatos of Syracuse headed a pass from teammate Korab Syla that forced Fenlason to make a diving save. Less than two minutes later, with the ball still on Akron’s defensive end, two yellow cards were issued to the Zips, both to Souto and freshman Nathan Quirk.
Coming off of the yellow cards, the Orange saw another shot opportunity on a corner kick in the 82nd minute when Skylar Thomas headed a ball right at Fenlason.
With the teams exchanging possessions in the final minutes in attempt to avoid overtime, Syracuse rushed down the field in the last minute of regulation with the ball. After a shot by Oyvind Alseth saved from the close right wing, Nick Perea thrust himself into the box and punched the ball in off of the rebound to give the Orange the winning goal with just three seconds remaining in the match.
Another opportunity to use players off of the bench in an exhibition environment, head coach Jared Embick opted to send in 18 players in total during this match, compared to the 21 he used against the Terrapins earlier this week.
The Zips head out west to take on New Mexico next Friday, Aug. 29 in their regular season opener. That game is slated to begin at 9:00 p.m.
