Seaside, CA— Detroit City FC claims another crucial three points as the Push to the Playoffs continues with a 2-0 road victory over Monterey Bay FC. Ben Morris’s goal in the 37th minute would give DCFC the lead right before the half, and Connor Rutz’s goal off of a corner in the 86th minute would seal the game.
Head coach Danny Dichio would make only one change to the starting XI. Nate Steinwascher would return to the goalkeeper position, as the rotation between himself and Carlos Saldaña would continue.
It was a struggle for Detroit City starting off in Seaside, as Monterey controlled the possession throughout the first fifteen minutes. Detroit couldn’t get any possession flowing into the attacking third and couldn’t break the attacking press Monterey was putting up.
Once Detroit broke the Bay’s control of possession, everything started falling into place for Le Rouge. In the 24th minute, a corner kick was driven into the box by Detroit City and headed by Michael Bryant, but his shot went straight into the keeper’s gloves.
Abdoulaye Diop picked up the first yellow card of the night in the 30th minute for a foul in the midfield.
A brilliant buildup in the midfield in the 37th minute leads to Ben Morris receiving a great cross from Connor Rutz, and Morris takes a shot from just over 25 yards out, and it finds the inside of the far post, giving Detroit the lead just before the half. For Morris, it would be his eighth goal of the season, his first since scoring against Hartford Athletic in late August.
Coming out of the halftime break, Monterey Bay controlled possession in a similar way to the first half. Nate Steinwasher would be called to action, as a shot from the top of the box in the 52nd minute was destined for the bottom corner, but a diving save by Steinwasher kept the game at 1-0 for Detroit.
Morris came close to a second in the 59th minute as he took a shot from just outside of the box and barely missed the near post.
As the second half progressed, both sides settled in the midfield and struggled to get much going in the attacking third.
Detroit would be forced into their first change in the 76th minute, as Abdoulaye Diop exited with an injury, and Ryan Williams came on to replace him.
Off of a brilliant corner from Villanueva in the 86th minute, Connor Rutz doubled DCFC’s lead, as the ball fell kindly to Rutz, who only had the keeper to beat. It would be his second straight goal and his third on the season for Rutz.
After the goal, Detroit made a triple substitution: Jeciel Cedeño, Elvis Amoh, and Matt Sheldon entered the match for Connor Rutz, Ben Morris, and Maxi Rodriguez.
Detroit would make one final change in the six minutes of stoppage time, as Laurent Kissiedou entered the match for Rhys Williams halfway through the stoppages.
The full-time whistle blew as Le Rouge claimed another important three points, continuing DCFC’s Push to the Playoffs. With the victory, Detroit City moved up to third place in the Eastern Conference standings, jumping Tampa Bay Rowdies. Detroit sits two points above Tampa Bay, but the Rowdies still have a game in hand on Le Rouge.
Detroit City’s win continues its brilliant run of form, which has seen only one loss since the beginning of August.
Detroit City heads to South Carolina next Saturday to face off against Charleston Battery in another crucial Eastern Conference game for the Push to the Playoffs. Le Rouge will return to Keyworth on October 12th in the penultimate home game of the regular season against Indy Eleven. Tickets for all Detroit City matches can be found at www.detcityfc.com/tickets.
Detroit City Starters: Nate Steinwascher, Alex Villanueva, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll, Michael Bryant, James Murphy, Abdoulaye Diop (76’), Rhys Williams (90+3’), Maxi Rodriguez (87’), Connor Rutz (87’), Ben Morris (87’)
Detroit City Substitutes: Carlos Saldaña, Ryan Williams (76’), Matt Sheldon (87’), Daniel Espeleta, Elvis Amoh (87’), Jeciel Cedeño (87’), Laurent Kissiedou (90+3’)
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)
