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 [10] 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 [11] 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 [12] Friday, Aug. 29, against the Niagara Purple Eagles at the SU Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
