'Very exciting ... very stressful:' Akron men's soccer ties Providence in Big East opener

The University of Akron men's soccer team did not initially receive a warm welcome into the Big East Conference on Friday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Providence came to Ohio and didn't care about Akron's greatness in the Mid-American Conference, its national championship in 2010 or its current No. 3 ranking in the country.

The Friars took control in the first half, but the Zips rallied in the second half to erase a two-goal deficit twice to garner a 3-3 draw in their first match as a men's soccer member of the Big East.

"Great game," Akron coach Jared Embick said. "Very exciting I think for the fans, and for the coaches very stressful."

Daragh Reilly scored the goal to get Akron (5-0-2) even at 3-3 in the 87th minute when he headed the ball into the net off passes from Highland graduate Josef Paulus and Jason Shokalook.

"In those times [in the final minutes], the game can go a bit chaotic when you are sprinting up and down the field and you are playing for set pieces," Reilly said. "You just gotta keep believing. When you are 3-1 down with 15 minutes to go, it is easy to kind of give in, but we have great character to come back. ... To come from two goals down is hard against any team."

Providence makes Akron work for draw in Big East opener

Friday's game was the first time Akron and Providence met in men's soccer. The Zips have played several of their new conference rivals in nonleague matches in the past, but Embick admitted there is still "uncertainty."

"Learning the teams and how they play and all that is different as well as exciting," Embick said. "Obviously, I think the talent level and the athletic level is a little bit higher overall, top to bottom. You gotta be ready to play from the start."

Providence (2-3-1) took a 2-0 lead when Diego Batista converted a penalty kick in the eighth minute and Gervork Diarbain netted a goal in the 32nd minute off a pass from Pearse O'Brien.

Akron countered with a goal in the 42nd minute as Firestone graduate Stefan Dobrijevic crossed a pass to Josh Hallenberger in front of the net, but Providence answered a minute later when Nathan Messer scored off a pass from Miguel Candela.

Akron cut its deficit to 3-2 in the 78th minute when Shokalook converted a penalty kick, and Reilly added the final goal 10 minutes later.

"This was a tale of two halves," Embick said. "First half, they were better. They were able to jump us and get the early lead. Second half, we just kept coming and wouldn't give in until we were able to at least get a result. Tremendous mentality from our group and tremendous belief. ... To come back from 2-0 and 3-1, two different two-goal leads, I think says a lot about this group."

Embick said his message at halftime wasn't anything fancy.

"When we are dialed in and locked in on our job and helping teammates and communicating, we have a very good team, a brilliant team that is very tough to compete against, but when we are not locked in we can be vulnerable," Embick said. "The goal at halftime was to find a solution in terms of personnel and get the guys in the right mindset."

Akron's Alejandro Varela said he was pleased his teammates "fight to the end."

"We are very happy with the performance at the end," Varela said. "... We are focused, we are hungry and we are all expecting a great game against Notre Dame [at home on Tuesday]."

How Akron made its way to the Big East

Akron was forced to find a new conference last year when the MAC stopped sponsoring men's soccer because of the declining number of MAC schools fielding a team.

The Zips landed in the Big East as the 12th member of a league that also includes Providence, Butler, Connecticut, Creighton, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Saint John's, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier.

Akron is trying to make its mark in the Big East after competing in the MAC from 1993-2002 and winning 21 regular-season championships and 15 tournament titles. The Zips compiled a 137-23-15 MAC regular-season record under coaches Ken Lolla (1993-2005), Caleb Porter (2006-2012) and Embick (2013-2022).

Porter led Akron to the 2010 NCAA Tournament title with Embick as an assistant coach. Embick has taken the Zips to to three of their six College Cup appearances, and is continuing Akron's mission for a second NCAA championship.

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: University of Akron men's soccer ties Providence in Big East opener