Men's soccer: Perea's tally lifts Orange past Akron

Syracuse played its final exhibition game of the 2014 preseason Friday evening, and it waited until the final moments to strike.

With only three seconds remaining, Orange midfielder Nick Perea shoveled a loose rebound past goalkeeper Jake Fenlason to send SU to a dramatic 2-1 victory over No. 13 Akron at FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field.

After a scoreless first half, Emil Ekblom converted in the 51st minute to give Syracuse an early lead. However, Akron's Saad Abdul-Salaam answered in the 75th minute by sending a screamer off the hand of SU goalkeeper Alex Bono and into the net.

The Orange applied plenty of pressure in the final minutes, but could not muster a goal... or so it appeared.

Enter Perea, who found a loose ball off a shot from Oyvind Alseth and spotted just enough room to send it past Fenlason for the deciding tally.

Bono made four saves for the Orange, including a diving stop in the 79th minute. Syracuse has now won seven straight exhibition games.

Syracuse opens the regular season Friday, Aug. 29, against the Niagara Purple Eagles at the SU Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.