Detroit City FC defeated Grands Rapids FC, 2-0, at Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park, MI., on Saturday night to move to four wins in a row in National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) action.
Shawn Lawson broke the ice in the 62nd minute, scoring the game’s first goal for City and his fourth in four games. Bakie Goodman added his second goal of the year in the 74th minute to put City up, 2-0.
Man of the Match was Nathan Steinwascher in net for earning a clean sheet on five shots, as well as stopping a penalty kick.
The penalty came at a decisive moment of the game, right before the half. Steinwascher was able to deny Scott Doney’s attempt, though, keeping the score tied at 0-0 heading into halftime.
After the game, head coach Ben Pirmann said Steinwascher’s performance was the difference in helping Le Rouge get the win.
“He’s great at penalties,” Pirmann said. “He was big time. He was ready to go and won us that game.”
The victory extends City’s win streak to four in the league and advances their record to 4-2-1 (W-T-L). Though the team still sits in third in the Great Lakes Division, its 14 points have them only four points behind Lansing United in second place.
“To be candid, we probably played our best half of soccer in the first half,” Pirmann said. “It was almost a catastrophe to go down one nothing. I thought we should have been up two, three, nothing, at halftime.”
He said the difference in the second half came from pressing harder up the field. He also noted how Mondi and Lawson have been connecting well to setup goals.
“We had to press a little bit in this second half,” Pirmann said. An unbelievable finish by Shawn. Tyrone and Shawn keep finding each other. That took a lot of the pressure off. They’re a good side, they’ve got good players, but I thought we handled the game for a full 90 minutes.”
The first half featured a quick pace, several shots for both sides and plenty of physical play.
Max Todd was working hard early with a shot in the 13th minute. He earned a couple of corners for City. Three minutes later, Bakie Goodman set up Mondi for an open shot on goal, but it went wide.
The most dangerous chance of the half came in the 45th minute, when City goalie Nathan Steinwascher was whistled for a foul in the box. The penalty kick was stuffed by Steinwascher, who also made the follow-up save.
After a couple shots on target to start the second half, Shawn Lawson finally opened the scoring in the 62nd minute with City’s first goal. Mondi sent in a ball from midfield to find the striker in the box. His headed effort sailed over Fazekas’ outstretched arm to put Le Rouge up, 1-0.
In the 70th minute, a yellow card was issued to Goodman for a takedown on a Grand Rapids forward. Immediately after, Grand Rapids had a dangerous shot, but once again, Steinwascher made a heads-up stop to keep Detroit on top.
City went up 2-0 in the 74th minute thanks to a rip from Goodman. An opportunistic deflection fed the ball to the midfielder who was able to bury it from the top of the box.
City looks to keep building momentum going into Friday’s home match against Kalamazoo FC at 7:30 p.m. at Keyworth Stadium. Pirmann said City have a challenging schedule coming up, with four matches in eight days.
“We really played well in that first half,” Pirmann said. “We gotta make sure we do it again Friday. We got Kalamazoo at home and then four games in eight days. It’s tough. All we’re focused on right now is building up for Kalamazoo on Friday.”
Detroit Starting XI: 1 Steinwascher (GK), 3 Spencer Glass, 5 Stephen Carroll, 9 Shawn Lawson, 10 Cyrus Saydee, 12 Luke Hauswirth, 14 Zach Bock, 13 Bakie Goodman, 15 Max Todd, 96 Omar Sinclair, 97 Tyrone Mondi
Grand Rapids Starting XI: 1 Noah Fazekas (GK), 3 Peter Brown, 4 Tony Deakin, 6 Cam Cavanagh, 11 Scott Doney, 12 Greg Timmer, 15 Kosti Moni, 23 Nick Abdoo, 26 Trent Vegter, 32 Anthony Bowie, 35 Jalen Rodriguez
