Akron City FC ends first match in draw with Steel City FC 2-2
Writer: Sideline and Beat Reporter, Liv Sharp
Akron City’s first taste of United Soccer League (USL) 2 play wasn’t a sweet victory nor was it a bitter defeat. When the dust cleared at the end of ninety minutes, Akron City had drawn with old foe Steel City by a final of 2-2.
This was the first look at ACFC’s blend of new and old talent, in front of a club-record crowd of 1,319 fans. With only five out of the eleven starters having donned the blue and red in seasons prior. Among them was starting goalkeeper Cam Victor, who appeared in his club-leading 24th game.
ACFC got off to a hot start with forward Stefan Dobrijevic scoring a goal in the second minute, making him the all-time leading scorer for Akron City with 13 goals.
Dobrijevic swiped the ball from a Steel City defender and a swift toe poke to the back post put ACFC up 1-0.
Dobrijevic said, “They had a little shaky pass to the outside back. I just ran..and when it bounced perfectly right in front of me and the keeper gave me the front post, and I saw my opportunity and took it.”
Despite the club’s hot start, the first of three penalty kicks for Steel City ended in a goal off the foot of forward, Anders Bordoy, in the 16th minute.
A few ticks later, Akron City tacked on another goal off of their first and only penalty kick. This one was from Remi Agunbiade, a forward from Akron University in his first season with ACFC. A little stutter step move from Agunbiade threw off Steel City goalie, Danny Rogers to make it a 2-1 ACFC lead.
“It’s great for a new guy to come in and step up and take the penalty and finish it,” said Hoggarth
The second of two corner kicks for Steel City ended in an own goal knotting the score at two each. Bordoy took it from the left corner and commotion in the box from Akron City led to the ball rolling off the back of defenseman Jamai Royer’s head and into the back corner of the goal.
One of the major stories of the first half was the three yellow cards assessed to ACFC, the first to defenseman Uros Jevtic in the ninth minute, one for Royer in the 25th, and the final to Stan Klaver in the 42nd.
At halftime head coach Andy Hoggarth said, “We’ve got a couple of yellow cards of our own fault, just by diving in, just a little bit of a lack of discipline.”
The second half was a defensive standoff with neither team giving up a goal. University of Akron goalkeeper Brett Kaminski came in for his first shift to start the back forty-five relieving Victor.
Kaminski’s UA teammate Dobrijevic said postgame, “I’m stoked for him. He had a few really good saves, kept us in the game, so huge performance from him. It’s gonna give us a lot of confidence going forward.”
Kaminski made several saves, including a corner early in his shift and a Superman diving save off a 25-yard shot from Justin Kopay.
But the game would end in heartbreak in the 92nd minute. ACFC Captain Jannis Schmidt got the ball on the breakaway but was tripped up by Steel City defenseman Will Afawubo. Afawubo was assessed a red card, and the question on the ACFC faithful’s mind became, “Did Jannis get stopped in the box?” To the referees, the answer to that question was “no” and Akron City was given a free kick.
“It’s one of those things, right? He’s through and the kid brings you down, we’d want our center back to do the same thing,” said Hoggarth. “It is what it is.”
Cleveland State forward Marko Rimac would take it for ACFC but could not find the back of the net over the wall of Steel City players, ending the match in a 2-2 draw.
Next for Akron City is a trip up I-77 to face Northeast Ohio rival Cleveland Force SC. The Force picked up their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Erie Sports Center.
Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 24th, at Krenzler Field on Cleveland State University's campus. Tickets can be purchased at www.clevelandforcesc.com/usl2.