Broken Down in Buffalo: Akron City FC falls to FC Buffalo 0-2
Writer: Sideline and Beat Reporter, Liv Sharp
Popped tires and back roads couldn’t stop the ACFC squad from making the trip up to Buffalo, but the dominating pressure from FC Buffalo made the drive home a solemn one.
After winning their first matchup with FCB by 3-0, Akron City was hoping the momentum would shift their way. However, Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Buffalo stopped them in their tracks.
ACFC started the game with the same lineup as their Tuesday squad, while FCB Head Coach Carl Kennedy made some adjustments. The biggest, literally being, starting Kobe Grant, the 6’4 center back who ACFC saw in the latter half of their first match.
A 3 pm kickoff turned into 4:40, with around 20 minutes for the ACFC squad to get warm. This led to a bit of a slow start until around the 10th minute.
The first real chance for Akron City came around the 14th minute, with a streaking Marko Rimac going 1-on-1 with Pedro Salmon, before getting tripped up just inside the box. No penalty was called, and much like Tuesday’s game, the intensity only rose from there.
ACFC would see another opportunity. Colin Biros had all the momentum headed past the 25-yard line, but Buffalo goalkeeper Jack Root dove and smothered the ball, swiping the possession away from Biros.
Buffalo slowed the pace down the following possession, before a rapid pick up of pace ended in a goal off the foot of Bradley Binns. He was surrounded by three ACFC defenders and sent an excellent pass to Luis Felipe Santos, which drew Akron City keeper Brett Kaminski off his line. Santos swiped it back to Binns, and despite a blocking attempt from defenseman Will Wagner, Binns sent the ball to the back post.
After going down 1-0 in the 18th minute, ACFC pushed the pace, getting the first corner of the match, but two headers from Binns and Grant put an end to a promising possession.
Akron had a few more decent chances in the box, but the intense Buffalo defense stopped them short every time.
Buffalo would score again in a similar fashion to their first goal, this time in the 37th minute. Jamie Moore’s initial header was blocked by but not caught by Kaminski, allowing forward Matheus Spina to take a shot and score the second goal of the match for Buffalo.
The score would remain 2-0 headed into the break.
“We’ve had chances we haven’t taken, we had three or four very good opportunities, and we’ve not defended well twice,” said ACFC Head Coach Andy Hoggarth
To start the second half, Coach Hoggarth sent out Jamai Royer, James Buebendorf, and Gabe Altawil in place of Marko Rimac, Mikey Lennon, and Stan Klaver.
While the second half didn’t feature any goals, there were plenty of fireworks on and off the pitch, including multiple questionable stoppages that ended with over six minutes of extra play. This ended with assistant coaches on both sides each earning yellow cards.
In the 65th minute, Biros had another opportunity with a free kick from the 30-yard line, but it was volleyed out of play.
The pace of the game continued to slow with cramping and exhaustion kicking in, and despite a last-minute push in tempo, it would be a 2-0 loss for the boys in red.
Akron kept keeper Root occupied with a total of five shots on goal throughout the match, but he managed to handle them all, giving him his 3rd clean sheet of the season.
Despite a gut-wrenching loss, Hoggarth and Co. understand that there are many more matches to be played, and they have a single goal in mind.
“It’s got to be 15 points. If we can go win all five games, 12-15 points might be enough to get a playoff spot.” Hoggarth said. “We’ve got to believe we can go win all five games.”
Akron City’s second out of three matches on this road trip will see them return to Cleveland to take on the Force. ACFC beat Cleveland 2-1 in their first meeting, and they tied 1-1 in their second. Kickoff from Krenzler Field is at 7 pm this Wednesday.