What Happened: Detroit City FC beat the Minnesota TwinStars 6-1 behind four first-half goals on Friday night. In front of 3,210 supporters, Le Rouge kept its unbeaten NPSL record in tact, as it now stands at 2-0-1 in league play.
DCFC scored early and often, receiving four goals from four different goal scorers. Tyler Channell (Saginaw Valley State) got the scoring started in the sixth minute off a nice feed from Cyrus Saydee (Michigan State) from across the box. The opening goal was Channell’s first for City.
Latif Alashe (Michigan) would net City’s second goal, coming in the 29th minute, thanks to a well-placed volley coming off a through ball from Zach Schewee (Bowling Green).
In the winding moments of the first half, Detroit City FC would tack on two more goals in stoppage time. William Mellors-Blair (Michigan) pieced together a creative individual play in which he split the TwinStars defense before ripping a shot into the bottom corner.
And the final play of the half consisted of a perfect ball from Kevin Taylor (Michigan/Minnesota Thunder) that landed on the foot of Jeff Adkins (Butler), who volleyed a shot past the opposing goalkeeper. Le Rouge would head to the locker room with a commanding 4-0 lead.
Even with a fiery attack in the first half, the halftime break did little to cool off the pace of Le Rouge’s play in the final third for the remainder of the match.
Jeff Adkins, the M1 Imaging Center Man of the Match, would get on the assisting end of the scoresheet in the 54th minute when he played a ball to James Murphy (Michigan) on the goal line where he tapped the ball into the back of the net. The goal marks Murphy’s first career goal in a DCFC uniform.
Until the 82nd minute, the 5-0 score line looked to be permanently etched into the scoreboard. But Minnesota finally broke through when Brian Chapman ripped a shot from inside the penalty area to get his team off the snide.
Just one minute later, though, DCFC would add another goal to its evening total. Murphy found Will Mellors-Blair inside the 18-yard box, where Mellors-Blair finished his second goal of the night.
For much of the evening, City won the possession battle outright. The home side was extremely efficient in the offensive third, scoring six goals off 11 shots on target.
The win also marks the first career victory for Detroit City FC goalkeeper Alexandre Bouillennec (Saginaw Valley State).
Looking Ahead: Le Rouge will travel to Lansing United on Sunday, May 31, for a match that’s set to kickoff at 2:00 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium.
