Boyds, MD (September 15, 2021) – Detroit City FC headed to Boyds, Maryland for a midweek matchup against Maryland Bobcats FC.
The biggest chance of the opening minutes came for Maryland after a loose ball broke their way on top of the box. #1 Nate Steinwascher came out to meet the play aggressively and was successful in stopping the attack, but was a bit shaken up from the contact. Despite taking a moment to recover, Steinwascher would remain in the match.
After a chance from Maryland, Le Rouge was able to pounce on the counterattack. #19 Pato Botello Faz would find himself with a full head of steam with the ball and the box and was taken down for a penalty while trying to round the Maryland keeper. Unfortunately, Botello would just miss his penalty with an effort that skipped on the top of the crossbar.
Momentum eventually swayed back towards Maryland as they were able to work some chances down their right flank due to the hard work of #99 Mohamed Sesay. Despite the attacking plays, nothing would find the net thanks to a wide shot and another key save from Steinwascher.
With more time on the ball, Detroit was able to probe the Maryland backline successfully. In the 33rd minute, #10 Cyrus Saydee slipped a ball into the box for #23 Darwin Espinal, who sent in a fizzing cross by the face of the goal. This time, Pato would convert his close-range effort to put City up 1-0 as they approached halftime.
After a lengthy severe weather delay during halftime, the two teams were only able to kick off the second half for a brief moment before nearby lightning against sent the teams back inside.
Eventually, the teams would take the field again to finish the second half. And it didn’t take long for City to pick up where they left off. In the 49th minute, Pato was able to send the ball to #11 Connor Rutz in the box who turned and passed it to onrushing #17 James Vaughan who neatly slotted the ball into the corner of the net to put City up by two.
But the Le Rouge offense wouldn’t stop there. In the 56th minute, the ball fell to #21 Maxi Rodriguez in the box and he easily beat the scrambling Maryland defense for City’s third goal of the night. And then just eight minutes later, another City chance bounced off of the Maryland keeper and back into the box. Substitute #2 Jimmy Filerman was alert and pounced on the loose ball to make the scoreline 4-0.
With City up comfortably, lightning struck again in the 72nd minute of the match. This caused the match to end, as a 30-minute delay would have reached midnight which is when NISA rules require delayed games to end. With the second half being played, City was awarded the win and all three points.
Detroit City FC, now 5-1-0 in the fall season, will return to Keyworth Stadium to face off against Stumptown AC on Saturday, September 18 with kickoff set for 7:30 pm ET.
Click HERE for NISA Fall 2021 Season standings.
Click HERE for NISA Fall 2021 Season player stats.
Match: Detroit City FC vs. Maryland Bobcats FC
Date: September 15, 2021
Competition: NISA
Venue: Maryland Soccerplex – Boyds, MD
Kickoff: 7:05 pm ET
Weather: 80 degrees, mostly sunny
Lineup: 1-Nate Steinwascher, 5-Stephen Carroll (Capt.), 15-Matt Lewis, 12-Tendai Jirara, 17-James Vaughan, 23-Darwin Espinal (Bryan, 61’), 21-Maxi Rodriguez, 11-Connor Rutz, 10-Cyrus Saydee, 19-Pato Botello-Faz (Matthews, 61’), 22-Kevin Venegas (Filerman, 61’)
Subs: 13-Armando Quezada, 2-Jimmy Filerman, 3-Javan Torre, 14-Javi Steinwascher, 20-Yazeed Matthews, 25-Rich Bryan, 99-George Chomakov
