By Nick Lozanovski (special to FCBuffalo.org)
The sun peeked through the clouds as FC Buffalo met expansion team Akron City FC in the inaugural meeting between the two teams, seeing the Blitzers and ACFC play to a 0-0 draw Friday evening at Dobson Field on the campus of D’Youville University.
The draw moves FCB’s record to a win, a draw, and two losses through four matches of the 2022 NPSL season under new coach Ryan “Ozzy” Osborne.”
The game began with both teams exchanging dangerous chances before the play shifted into the Akron City end for long spells of the first half. Akron goalkeeper Cameron Victor registered seven saves in the first half alone, finishing the match with 12 before being sent off in stoppage time following a second yellow card.
Jonny Tekie (Frankfurt, Germany / Canisius College) was substituted for injury during the first half, leading to the introduction of Sergio Fernandez-Arango (Madrid, Spain / University of Saint Francis). Fernandez-Arango was involved in several high-danger chances early in his appearance, while also drawing a yellow card from Akron City’s William Portman within 20 minutes of entering the match.
Despite strong possession for FC Buffalo, the second half saw Akron City embrace the counterattack, creating several chances that called on goalkeeper Andreas Queen (Stone Ridge, N.Y. / Buffalo State College) to make three spectacular saves in the span of 15 minutes for the Blitzers.
The FC Buffalo attack repeatedly created dangerous chances despite not being able to breakthrough with a goal. One of the leaders of the FC Buffalo attack, Nuukele Gboe (Monrovia, Liberia / Niagara University), would leave the game with an injury in the 79th minute.
The offensive barrage would continue despite the loss of Gboe, with the Blitzers creating more dangerous chances as the match wore on. They’d finish with 12 attempts on target. The best of those chances came deep into stoppage time with Ander Castillo (Bilbao, Spain / Medaille College) being foiled on a powerful attempt on target.
A scuffle during stoppage time saw one player from each team sent off, with Fernandez-Arango receiving a red card in addition to Victor’s second yellow. The Blitzers were able to create one more attempt on target following the dismissal of Victor, but reserve keeper Max Kasputis kept the clean sheet intact for Akron City.
FC Buffalo will be back in action on June 4th at Dobson Field against the same Akron City FC Side. See FCBuffalo.org for tickets and further information.
