As the clock struck zero, SU Soccer Stadium fell silent. Another close fought game finished against the home team as Syracuse lost 1-0 to Akron.
Coming off a surprising 2-1 defeat at Pittsburgh on Sept. 29, this midweek non-conference game would be a perfect opportuinty for Syracuse to get back to winning ways.
They had to do it without midfielder Mo Adams [6], who served a one-game ban following accumulating five yellow cards. This gave Djimon Johnson [7] an opportunity to step into the holding midfield position.
The first chance came through Johnson. His diagonal ball went to forward Tajon Buchanan [8], whose shot hit the outside of the post within twenty seconds. A hot start is exactly what the Orange needed, and because of this it seemed like chances would come during the game.
Syracuse were on the front foot for major parts of the first half, forcing the visiting Zips to just lump the ball up the field whenever they could. A mistake from Akron goalkeeper Ben Lundt left an open goal for Syracuse midfielder Jonathan Hagman [9], however he put the ball well over the goal.
With around twelve minutes to go, Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre brought on forwards Johannes Pieles [10] and Petter Strangeland [11] hoping to get a goal before halftime. And while there was a goal, it wasn't for the Orange.
Good one-touch passing for the Akron forwards and the ball fell to Ezana Kahsay. His shot flew passed Syracuse goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert [12], and the Orange were losing at home, again.
Despite going down, Syracuse looked for another goal. The greatest chance for the Orange in the first half came after quick passes led to shouts of a handball from both Syracuse players and fans. However, no call was given.
Syracuse started the second half quickly. A Buchanan header forced Lundt to use his tall frame to touch the ball off goal. Despite keeping a majority of possession, they didn't have the final bit of quality to level the score.
Despite the 1-0 defeat, McIntyre took a lot of positives from their tough MAC opponent.
"We’ve scheduled a lot of really tough non-conference opponents. Oregon Atate, Akron, The Ohio State. But the issue with that is they are really good teams," McIntyre said.
A highlight of this season for 2017 has been integrating non-ACC opponents during the middle of the season.
Syracuse returns to action Oct. 6, when they play NC State at 7 p.m.
