Remi Agunbiade scores late to give Akron 2-1 win over Syracuse
- We're obviously thrilled that he's back, head coach Jared Embick said, as Remi Agunbiade scored with less than five minutes remaining to give the No.
- Tied 1-1 late in the contest, Agunbiade prowled near midfield in the 86th minute as Francisco Tolaba delivered a pass upfield.
- Akron struck first in the eighth minute during the teams' first meeting since the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
We’re obviously thrilled that he’s back,
head coach Jared Embick said, as Remi Agunbiade scored with less than five minutes remaining to give the No. 10 Akron Zips a 2-1 victory over the No. 14 Syracuse Orange at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Tied 1-1 late in the contest, Agunbiade prowled near midfield in the 86th minute as Francisco Tolaba delivered a pass upfield. The junior beat his defender, gathered the ball, and shot it while falling to the turf to find the bottom left corner. The strike marked the Zips’ fourth game-winning goal in the final 10 minutes of a match this season, with each late winner coming from a different player. The final margin arrived with 4:20 left on the clock, lifting Akron to 7-1-2 while dropping Syracuse to 7-4-1.
Jack Roman Opens Scoring Before Syracuse Answers
Akron struck first in the eighth minute during the teams’ first meeting since the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Working quickly off a free kick near midfield, Matt Dreas caught Syracuse napping and launched an arching ball to Jack Roman. Roman lobbed the delivery over the goalkeeper’s head and into the back of the net to give the hosts an early advantage.
Syracuse altered its formation from a 5-3-2 to a 4-3-2-1 at the start of the second half, which opened up opportunities for the Zips. The Orange had already equalized in the first half when Badr Laghijibi passed to Nathan Scott at the top of the box. Scott one-touched the ball to Kristjan Fortier, whose shot from 21 yards out beat Akron goalkeeper Brett Kaminski to the right post at the 29:18 mark.
Late Defensive Stops Secure Zips Victory
Head coach Jared Embick challenged a potential cleats-up foul by Buster Honeywood on Agunbiade inside the box, but a video review resulted in no foul being called. Shortly after, Londen Sears fouled Kameron Kist at the top of the box to concede a penalty kick. Kaminski guessed correctly and stopped Honeywood’s central penalty attempt with his foot.
Londen Sears had a point-blank shot with roughly eight minutes remaining that Syracuse goalkeeper Juan Martinez-Bastidas managed to deflect with his forearm. Minutes later, Kaminski made a diving stop with two minutes left to keep a deflected ball from trickling across the goal line. Overall, Syracuse outshot Akron 12-10, while the two sides combined for 28 fouls.
Creighton Clash Awaits on Senior Night
The victory gives Akron two consecutive wins for the first time in a month and marks their second win against a ranked opponent this season. I think now we’re just starting to play our best game,
Roman said. You can see it in the past two games. We’re connecting with each other more than we ever have the whole season, so I think if we can continue doing that the rest of it’s going to play out how we want.
The Zips will return to BIG EAST conference play to face No. 6-ranked Creighton on Sunday, October 6, at 6 p.m. for Senior Night.