DETROIT — Detroit City FC walks away with another three home points after defeating Charleston Battery 2-0 on Saturday afternoon. A Maxi Rodriguez converted penalty in the 87th minute would be the difference in this match, and Elvis Amoh would add on a second in stoppage time to lead Le Rouge to victory against the defending Eastern Conference Champions.
Head Coach Danny Dichio made no changes from the starting XI that secured three points from a 2-0 victory on the road at Rhode Island FC.
Possession was evenly spit throughout the first 15 minutes, as both teams struggled to find any sustained pressure. Detroit City would create the only attack of the first 15 minutes off of a turnover in the 4th minute, which led to a Victor Bezerra shot that the Charleston keeper struggled with under pressure from Maxi Rodriguez.
Fouls were a big struggle for both sides in the first half. Within the first half, Detroit racked up eight fouls, and Charleston racked up seven. Charleston received three yellow cards in the half. Nick Markanich picked up a yellow card in the 32nd minute, Diego Gutiérrez in the 40th, and Head Coach Ben Pirmann picked up a yellow in the 42nd.
Le Rouge was awarded a free kick in the 34th minute that would get crossed into the box, with the target being Devon Amoo-Mensah, but the kick went just too far and out of play.
Both teams would head to halftime tied 0-0. Charleston would have more shots in the half, but Detroit would have the only shot on target of the half.
Detroit made two changes to start the second half, bringing on Michael Bryant and Rhys Williams for Matt Sheldon and Yazeed Matthews.
Charleston’s Emilio Ycaza would pick up the team’s fourth yellow card of the night in the 52nd minute.
Amoo-Mensah would pick up Detroit’s first yellow card in the 55th minute.
Le Rouge’s third change of the night came in the 63rd minute as Elvis Amoh came on the pitch for Victor Bezerra.
Momentum started to shift toward Detroit City after a yellow card to Chris Allan in the 69th minute, awarding Le Rouge a free kick from a dangerous position. Le Rouge sent the free kick perfectly into the box to Bryant, but the Charleston keeper ended up making an incredible save.
Detroit made another substitution after the free kick in the 71st minute, bringing on Ryan Williams for Ben Morris.
Just seconds after entering the pitch, Ryan Williams picked up Detroit City’s second yellow card of the evening.
Le Rouge’s final change of the evening came in the 75th minute, as Alex Villanueva came on for Brett Levis.
In the 84th minute, Carlos Saldaña made an incredible save off a shot from close range to keep this game at 0-0 and preserve the clean sheet.
A corner kick in the 85th minute caused a shot from DCFC to go off a Charleston arm in the box, and Le Rouge was awarded a penalty kick.
Rodrigues smashed the penalty right down the middle, giving DCFC the first lead of the day in the 87th minute.
Charleston received their fifth yellow card of the evening in the 89th minute, a Mark Segbers
foul.
In the fourth minute of stoppages, Elvis Amoh juggles the ball around two defenders, before slotting the ball into the bottom right corner, giving DCFC a 2-0 lead right before the end of stoppage time.
The full-time whistle blew, and Detroit City walked away with their first victory against Charleston since the 2022 season.
The shoutout was Saldaña’s second consecutive clean sheet.
Next Saturday, DCFC welcomes Pumas UNAM from Liga MX to Keyworth Stadium for the first International Friendly since 2019. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets for all Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
Detroit City FC Starting XI: Carlos Saldaña, Brett Levis (75’), Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Matt Sheldon (46’), Abdoulaye Diop, James Murphy, Maxi Rodriguez, Victor Bezerra (63’), Ben Morris (71’), Yazeed Matthews (46’)
Detroit City FC Subs: Nate Steinwascher, Alex Villanueva (75’), Rhys Williams (46’), Ryan Williams (71’), Michael Bryant (46’), Connor Rutz, Elvis Amoh (63’)
For more information about Detroit City FC, visit detcityfc.com and follow @DetroitCityFC on X and Facebook and @detroitcityfootballclub on Instagram.
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Primary Media Contact: Jarrett Maki (Sports Information Director, jarrett.maki@detcityfc.com)
DETROIT — Detroit City FC returned to USL W League action this Thursday, hosting the Michiana Lions. It was a dominant 90 minutes for Le Rouge, who secured a 5-0 win to make it three wins in three in what has been a brilliant start to the season.
Five changes were made to David Dwaihy’s most recent starting lineup, which saw out a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Flint City AFC. Drew Martin, Sarah Troccoli, Danielle Stephen, Sophia Romine, and Lily Jeakle entered the starting eleven for Le Rouge.
DCFC was dominant from the get-go, with virtually all of the possession being spent in the Michiana defensive half in the first five minutes.
Sophia Romine of DCFC had the first chance of the half. She found herself on top of the 18-yard box, hitting a left-footed effort that ended up being a comfortable save for the Michiana keeper.
DCFC continued to dominate play, finding themselves in multiple dangerous positions around the 18-yard box.
In the 13th minute, DCFC found their lead after some brilliant play from Lily Jeakle down the right flank. She found Emily Pagett at the top of the six-yard box, who needed only one touch to give Le Rouge a 1-0 lead.
Just eight minutes later, DCFC made it a two-goal lead. After a run of play on the top of the Michiana 18-yard box, Romine slipped Hannah Crum into the 18-yard box, who burst past her marker before firing a shot into the bottom right corner from a razor-tight angle to give DCFC their second in 20 minutes.
DCFC didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal following their second, consistently winning the ball off Michiana as they continued to try and break down Michiana’s low block. In the 29th minute, Jeakle found herself on the top of the 18-yard box, skipping past two players before firing a shot on target that was saved by Michiana’s keeper.
Just seconds later, Romine made it three with a wonder strike from 20 yards out. Picking the ball up on the top of the 18-yard box before dancing past her marker and firing one into the top right corner of both the post and crossbar as DCFC found themselves comfortably ahead 3-0 after just 30 minutes.
“I was feeling kinda confident in that area of the field the whole game,” Romine said postgame. “Dani was behind me and she was telling me ‘Take it Sophie’ so she was giving me confidence throughout the game so when I heard that, I knew I had the right shot.”
DCFC just continued to hound down the Michiana goal with Jeakle, this time finding herself on the top of the 18-yard box. She rocketed a shot off the crossbar to nearly make it four for DCFC in what was nothing short of a dominant first half.
The final action of the half came in the 43rd minute. Danielle Stephens, this time leaving the crossbar ringing after she picked her head up from 30 yards out before lacing one that looked ready to nestle itself in the top left corner. As DCFC headed into the break comfortably after a dominant half that saw them lead 3-0.
“We got better as the game went on,” Head Coach David Dwaihy said postgame. “In the beginning, it was tricky because it was a contrast to what we saw in the last two games. The pace was a little faster in those games, but today the opponent sat back and gave us more time on the ball.”
The second 45 minutes saw a reinvigorated Michiana early on, earning both the first shot on target and corner of the half in the first five minutes but with nothing to show for it.
As the half settled, DCFC began to find themselves once again in control of the majority of play. In the 60th minute, a run of DCFC possession found Emily Pagett on the top of the 18-yard box whose effort flashed high and wide of the Michiana goal.
Just two minutes later, DCFC made it 4-0 thanks to some high-pressing from Jeakle, who plucked the ball off Michiana inside their 18-yard box before finding some space and rolling the ball into the bottom right corner to make it a goal and assist for her on the night.
In the 72nd minute, DCFC earned a penalty following a razor-sharp counter-attack that saw Jeakle be taken down in the box. Jeakle would step up to take it and have her attempt be met by the Michiana keeper to keep the score at 4-0.
Jeakle would still find her second just eight minutes later. A ball in behind from Megan Miles would be chased down by Kayla Addison all the way to the right byline of the Michiana 18-yard box, getting her head up to find Jeakle, who showed great composure from 6 yards out to make it 5-0 for DCFC.
The final action of the half would see DCFC have a chance to make it 6 in the 88th minute after Romine released Alexandria Nathan out wide, who floated a ball into the back post to find a rising Jeakle as her headed effort would crash off the Michiana crossbar.
“[The victory] is right where we want to be because it puts pressure on the other teams,” Dwaihy said. “If we can keep putting three points up on the board, that’s what we want to do. Every game is gonna be tough and everybody can go into the weekend feeling good about where we are but when we hit training on Wednesday, it’s time to look ahead and see how we keep this going.”
Detroit City will close out their three-match homestand on Saturday, June 1, when they play host to Cleveland Force SC. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m., and the match can be streamed at CBSDetroit.com.
Detroit City FC Starting XI: Gabrielle Schriver (46’), Ella Offer, Avery Peters, Acadia Murphy, Drew Martin (67’), Sarah Troccoli (46’), Danielle Stephens (67’), Sophia Romine, Emily Pagett (67’), Hannah Crum (46’), Lily Jeakle.
Detroit City FC Substitutes: Alexandria Tefend (46’), Deighton Wamer (46’), Ella Kane (46’), Kayla Addison (67’), Ava Landstra (67’), Nina Ferraro (67’).
Goalscorers: Pagett (13’), Crum (21’), Romine (30’), Jeakle (62’) (80’).