Detroit City FC ended its National Premier Soccer League regular season with a come-from-behind 3-3 draw against Lansing United this Friday night at Keyworth Stadium in front of 6,310 supporters.
City was down 3-0 at the 68th minute mark and struggling to create chances until Shawn Lawson scored his seventh goal this season to put Detroit on the board in the 70th minute.
Though dropping to ten men in the 75th minute due to Omar Sinclair’s second yellow card, Detroit found enough spark to tie it. Second-half substitute Seb Harris scored in the 79th minute and Man of the Match Owain Hoskins equalized for his first City goal in the 87th minute.
The clubs’ first meeting of 2017 was in East Lansing last Sunday afternoon when Le Rouge took home the victory, 2-1, in come-from-behind fashion.
Detroit (9-3-2, W-T-L) finishes in second place in the Great Lakes Division with 30 points.
Through the first ten minutes, City controlled possession and saw a couple quality shots from Lawson, Hoskins and Jordan Tyler, who made his second appearance for City tonight.
Sinclair left the game briefly due to an injury in the 20th minute, forcing Detroit to play with 10 men for five minutes until he was able to come back out on the pitch. Dave Edwardson, Adam Spinks and Kervin Kenton were leading the way creating chances for City, regardless.
After the thirty minute mark, Lansing began to snuff out City’s chances better and create more of their own. This momentum led to a United goal from Morris Kamara in the 39th minute. Kamara chipped DCFC goalie Fernando Pina off an assist from Farai Mutatu.
With Le Rouge unable to click offensively or defensively after the goal, Lansing took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann subbed in Harris, Jeff Adkins, George Chomakov, Zach Schewee and Tyrone Mondi to start the second half.
City nearly tied the match in the 50th minute, but Lawson narrowly missed a wide open net off the crossbar. Then in the 64th minute, Adkins fed a wonderful ball to Mondi, but his shot just missed wide right.
To add insult to the miss, United buried their second goal on the counter one minute after Mondi’s miss. James DeCosemo took it himself and kicked it right by Pina, who’s diving effort fell short.
Three minutes later, a defensive collapse allowed Tumi Moshobane to give United a 3-0 lead after firing one in from the left side.
The Boys in Rouge didn’t give up, though. In the 70th minute, Lawson kicked off the comeback and put Detroit on the board when he ripped the ball through traffic and into the back of the net.
The ball was sent into the box originally on a free kick after a yellow card was issued to Lansing.
Roddy Green came into the match for Edwardson in the 72nd minute as DCFC’s final substitute.
Sinclair took his first yellow card in the 62nd minute. Then, in the 75th minute, the defender took a second yellow card for tackling a Lansing player, forcing City down to ten men for the remainder of the match.
Being down a man didn’t phase the team, though, as they got another one back in the 79th minute off a corner attempt. Seb Harris was in the right place at the right time when he headed it over everybody to cut the lead to 3-2.
Harris proceeded to take the ball and windmill it make to the half line to get play going again immediately.
The comeback was completed in the 87th minute off yet another corner attempt for Detroit. This time, Hoskins lept over a Lansing defender to place it in the right corner, equalizing the match, 3-3. Green received a yellow card after the goal for a shove on a Lansing player.
In extra time, United had a dangerous free kick which Pina had to hang the post for to keep the match level to the end, 3-3.
Detroit will be looking to take their second half performance and use it as momentum as they look ahead to the first round of playoffs next Saturday. Its opponent has yet to be determined.
With the regular season now over, City also has two international friendly matches remaining against Venezia FC next Tuesday and Windsor TFC on August 2nd. Tickets for the match against Venezia can be purchased here.
Le Rouge Starting XI: 0 Fernando Pina (GK), 2 Owain Hoskins, 9 Shawn Lawson, 12 Luke Hauswirth, 16 Adam Spinks, 18 Dave Edwardson (Capt.), 22 Mauricio Castorino, 32 Elijah Rice, 44 Kervin Kenton, 45 Jordan Tyler, 96 Omar Sinclair
Lansing Starting XI: 0 Joe White (GK), 3 Sammy Conti, 9 James Decosemo, 10 Tumi Moshobane, 11 Farai Mutatu, 12 Alec Greene, 14 Andres Reales, 15 Morris Kamara, 16 Michael Caccavo, 20 Stevenson Storm, 22 Dominic Hart
