Saturday night at Keyworth Stadium, Detroit City FC drew their 2017 home opener, 2-2, against Dayton Dynamo FC.
The friendly match concluded Le Rouge’s preseason with a record of 2-0-1 (W-L-T). The official attendance for the match was 4,168 supporters.
City came out strong both defensively and offensively, with quality scoring chances coming from forwards Jordan Tyler and Shawn Lawson. Defenders Zach Bock and Stephen Carroll set a staunch tone on the backline, limiting the Dynamo’s scoring chances in the first half.
In the 18th minute, midfielder Jeff Adkins sent in a corner to open the scoring. The ball sailed into the box and ricocheted off Dayton defender Peyton Mowery’s foot, resulting in an own goal and putting DCFC up 1-0.
DCFC took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but the score line didn’t last long into the second half.
In the 56th minute, midfielder Cyrus Saydee scored City’s second goal with a strike to the top left corner of the net. Captain David Edwardson assisted on the goal, which put the team up 2-0.
One minute later, Dynamo striker Tristan Lyle scored to silence the crowd and put Dayton on the board, 2-1. Tate Robertson assisted on the goal, which Lyle easily tapped in off his foot.
In the 64th minute, Saydee was hard at work again, setting up defender Seb Harris with a ball into the box. Harris was able to make solid contact, but was denied by Dayton goalkeeper Ryan Hulings.
In the 65th minute, the Dynamo tied the game, 2-2, with Robertson setting Lyle up once again for the goal.
DCFC finished the last ten minutes on the offensive, but to no avail on the scoreboard. In the 82nd minute, midfielder Michael Pio hit a header off a corner, which narrowly missed off the underside of the crossbar. In the 85th minute, striker Shawn Lawson had a shot on goal but was also denied.
After the game, Coach Ben Pirmann said the match was a learning opportunity for several players still getting to know how to play with one another. He said blowing the 2-0 was unacceptable, but is ready to move forward to the regular season.
“I think the biggest thing for me is, preseason’s over,” Pirmann said. “Training was good. We moved in a lot more guys tonight and played some guys who were still getting to know each other. We just have to keep training. Friday is a big night. We’ve got two big games coming up in six days so that’s how we move forward from here.”
Pirmann said the transition play and defensive structure weren’t quite good enough, which allowed the Dynamo to tie the game.
“All in all it was solid, but we’ve got to make sure we definitely clean some stuff up,” Pirmann said. “Our defensive structure in the second half, our transition and then our build up shape and build up movement weren’t quite good enough.”
Saydee earned Man of the Match honors for Le Rouge.
The National Premier Soccer League regular season kicks off at Keyworth Stadium next Friday night against Milwaukee Torrent at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at http://tickets.https://www.detcityfc.com.
City Starting XI: 1 Steinwascher, 5 Carroll, 8 Adkins, 10 Saydee, 11 Watson, 13 Goodman, 14 Bock, 18 Edwardson, 19 Green, 23 Schewee, 45 Tyler
Dayton Starting XI: 0 Hulings, 3 Kebe, 4 Hagenkord, 5 Hutton, 10 Robertson, 11 Dupont, 12 Lyle, 16 Mowery, 18 Schluter, 21 Dehyle, 26 Kinley
