DoHaeng Michael Kitchen

June 30, 2019: Toledo Villla FC (NPSL Regular Season)

dohaeng

January 28, 2020

June 30, 2019
NPSL Regular Season Match
Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI
Attendance: 6,892
Detroit City FC 6, Toledo Villa FC 0

PRIDERAISER TOTAL: 24 goals at $897.57 per goal!
Standings 8-2-1 = 26 pts, 1st Place.

DCFC Max Todd (Shawn Lawson) 25′
DCFC Max Todd (Bakie Goodman) 37′
DCFC Shawn Lawson (Kervin Kenton) 54
DCFC Max Todd (Bakie Goodman) 61′
DCFC Santiago Agudelo (Cyrus Saydee) 80′
DCFC Cyrus Saydee (Santiago Agudelo) 88′

Today was Prideraiser’s last day to pull more money out of the pockets of supporters and into the Ruth Ellis Center. With 18 goals already tallied during the month, a match against Toledo Villa FC would certainly add to the staggering amount. And City didn’t disappoint, putting six goals up on the scoreboard.

When the final penny was counted, the Northern Guard Supporters raised $26,531.69 for the Ruth Ellis Center. And here, all you thought we did was taunt, swear, and blow smoke.

Also this season, Detroit City FC sold limited edition screen prints on match days to support water-based efforts in Detroit and across the world. We the People of Detroit and Viva Con Agua received the proceeds of these beautiful prints, of which only 40 of each were produced. Today’s match was created by our own Fish. You usually see him rounding up and directing the ball-kids for the match at Keyworth. A locomotive moving full steam ahead, like the trains that pass by Keyworth and like the force of City’s forward movement this season. I was thrilled to add it and a couple others during the season, to my office atmosphere.

The beginning of this match was delayed for an unusual reason. Our opponent from Ohio brought the wrong jerseys to the match. We had to wear our white kits. Not a problem, except for the fact that they had to be brought over from the Fieldhouse, which is not far from Keyworth. However, they had not been washed. So, during the warm-up and in the time during the delay, we had to wash and dry our kits before taking the field.

Clean uniforms for another clean sheet, making it nine straight shut-outs.

Max Todd’s goals at the 25th and 37th minute gave City a two-goal lead going into the locker room. At halftime, the Ruth Ellis Center provided entertainment in appreciation of the Northern Guard’s Prideraiser campaign.

City continued to dominate in the second half under Trevor James’ instructions.

In the 54th minute, a beautiful series of passes found their way to Shawn Lawson, making it 3-0.

Max Todd completed the hat trick in the 61st minute. Twenty minutes later, Santiago Agudelo made it 5-0.

Cyrus Saydee added a goal in the 88th minute, and City finished with a 6-0 victory.

June 22, 2019: at FC Columbus (NPSL Regular Season)

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January 26, 2020

June 22, 2019
NPSL Regular Season Match
Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, OH
FC Columbus 0, Detroit City FC 3

DCFC Max Todd (Shawn Lawson) 23′
DCFC Cyrus Saydee (Danny Deakin) 50′
DCFC Shawn Lawson (Danny Deakin) 57′

Record: 7-2-1 = 23 points, First Place.
Prideraiser Goals = 18

Another trip into Ohio. This time, to the state’s capital – Columbus – to a stadium very near the airport.

Once again, City was just dominating. A goal in the first half by Max Todd…

…and two in the second half by Cyrus Saydee and Shawn Lawson, respectively.

It doesn’t matter who we put in net. Hunter Morse played the first half, Owen Finnerty played the second, and City kept another clean sheet for the 8th straight match. As for the State of Ohio, City has taken 58 out of a possible 69 points from Ohio-based teams, compiling an 18 wins, 4 draws, and 1 loss record.

Maki-vision streaming the match back home.

June 16, 2019: at Toledo Villa FC (NPSL Regular Season)

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January 24, 2020

June 16, 2019
NPSL Regular Season
St. John’s Lyden Field, Toledo, OH
Toledo Villa FC 0, Detroit City FC 5
Attendance: More Rouge Rovers than Villa fans

Record: 6-2-1 = 20 pts. 1st Place
Prideraiser Goal Total: 15

DCFC Tommy Buono (Danny Deakin) 11′
DCFC Seb Harris (Danny Deakin) 53′
DCFC Cyrus Saydee (Danny Deakin) 77′
DCFC Danny Deakin 80′
DCFC Shawn Lawson 84′

Red Card: Toledo Villa FC Colin McCort 61′
Red Card: DCFC Michael Pimlot 81′

This season, we had to make two trips to that four-letter word state south of Michigan – Ohio. That meant Northern Guard Supporters bringing their scarf containing its controversial message:

Toledo Villa FC was the new kid to the party, and it had been a bumpy ride for them. Going into the match, their record was six losses and a draw, with four goals and twenty-two scored against them, making FC Indiana look good.

But this was also a family affair. Brothers Roddy and Tyler Green could, and did, see time on the pitch, opposing each other.

The drive down on this Father’s Day was rainy. Fortunately for the match, the rain stopped, but the sky remained gray.

Tommy Buono gave City the early lead.

Looks like someone drained the swamp.

Buono’s goal carried the team into the half.

Toledo was getting some looks. But Seb Harris doubled the lead in the 53’rd minute.

Toledo’s Colin McCort was shown a red card in the 61st minute. Sixteen minutes later, Cyrus Saydee scored, giving City a 3-0 lead. And there was much rejoicing.

Then, in the 80th minute, Danny Deakin added a goal to his three assist afternoon. And there was more rejoicing.

In the 81st minute, City’s Michael Pimlot was shown a red card, leveling the playing field to ten men. Three minutes later, Shawn Lawson closed out the scoring.

Six straight wins.
Seven straight games without a loss.
Seven straight shutouts.
Freaking Amazing!

June 14, 2019: Michigan Stars (NPSL Regular Season)

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January 23, 2020

June 14, 2019
NPSL Regular Season
Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI
Detroit City FC 2, Michigan Stars FC 0
Attendance: 6,872

Record 5-2-1 = 17 points, 2nd Place
PrideRaiser goal total: 10

DCFC Max Todd (Jalen Crisler) 59′
DCFC Max Todd (PK) 81′

Detroit City FC has played seven games up to this point, giving up only three goals – all them in the second match of the season. Seven clean sheets in eight matches. 540 consecutive minutes without a single ball entering the net behind our keepers.

Freakin’ amazing.

And tonight, the streak would extend another 90 minutes, as the Stars couldn’t penetrate the City defense.

Stars keeper, Tatenda Mkuruva, seemed to have a leg problem…all night long. This is just one of the three or four times that he went down. Thing is, most of them occurred in the first half, so it was surprising to see him still on the pitch when the teams returned from the locker room for the second half.

It was another dominating half without either conceding or scoring a goal. Detroit Lions wide-receiver Marvin Jones Jr., supported Le Rouge from the suites.

Max Todd subbed in at around the 58′ mark, and his impact was almost immediate.

June 9, 2019: at Grand Rapids FC (NPSL Regular Season)

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January 21, 2020

June 9, 2019
NPSL Regular Season
Houseman Field, Grand Rapids, MI
Grand Rapids FC 0, Detroit City FC 0
Attendance: a few of them, a good number of us

Record 4-2-1 = 14 points
Prideraiser Goal Total = 8

This was eerie. It was like making a hotel reservation only to arrive on a gray and misty day to find an old, empty building in a once bustling location.

Our visits to Grand Rapids FC have been…unique. In 2016, Detroit City FC suffered its worst ever league defeat at a crowded Houseman Field. Then, in 2017, we shut them down while playing in the West Michigan Whitecaps baseball stadium. Last year, it was a wild, 4-4 draw, still before a pretty decent turnout of Grand Rapids fans.

2016

2017

2018

But on this dreary, drizzly, Sunday matinee, there was barely anyone on the home-side of the field.

The other oddity of these trips to Grand Rapids has centered on the keeper. In 2016, Cody Lang played his first City match after flying in from the State of Washington. In 2017, Nate Steinwascher stopped a key PK in the first half, when the match was scoreless. Last year, again we had keeper Damon Favero play his first match for City. In the two matches where we had first-time starters in net, we leaked 9 goals.

Coming into the match, City was riding a four-game undefeated streak, and four straight clean sheets with University of Michigan keeper Owen Finnerty in goal. I’ll confess. Due to our history here, I was concerned about Michigan State University keeper Hunter Morse making his City debut.

In the 29th minute, Hunter Morse came up with a huge PK save.

This was a tight affair, with Morse’s PK save the highlight. Despite being a competitive team, the empty feeling of the field this afternoon gave me a wee bit of sadness for the absence of foes in the stands.

June 7, 2019: FC Indiana (NPSL Regular Season)

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January 20, 2020

June 7, 2019
NPSL Regular Season
Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI
Detroit City FC 5, FC Indiana 0
Attendance: 6,910
PrideRaiser goal total: 8
Pledged amount: over $700 per goal.

DCFC Bakie Goodman (Cyrus Saydee) 6′
DCFC Shawn Lawson (Max Todd) 48′
DCFC Max Todd 56′
DCFC Cyrus Saydee (Shawn Lawson) 65′
DCFC Santiago Agudelo (Max Todd) 67′

Another beautiful evening, yet I didn’t take advantage of it. I seemed to be off my game, catching only the final goal.

It was Polish Heritage Night at Keyworth, and at halftime we had a few groups of dancers performing on the pitch.

Besides the scoreline, there was similarity in this match to our trip to Lafayette a couple weeks prior. We scored an early goal, this time in the 6th minute by Bakie Goodman, and while dominating the play, we went into the locker room at halftime with a 1-0 lead. In Indiana, we scored three goals in an 8 minute span, and tallied one in stoppage time. Tonight, we put four past Indiana’s keeper within 19 minutes, three of them within 11 minutes of each other.

The undefeated streak extended to four games (a draw and three consecutive wins), and finish the match without having conceded a goal in 360 consecutive minutes. University of Michigan keeper Owen Finnerty has kept the scoresheet clean in four-straight.

June 2, 2019: FC Columbus (NPSL Regular Season)

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January 19, 2020

June 2, 2019
NPSL Regular Season
Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI
Detroit City FC 3, FC Columbus 0
Attendance: 5,746

DCFC: Shawn Lawson (Kervin Kenton) 56′
DCFC: Moussa Gueye (Max Todd) 72′
DCFC: Cyrus Saydee (Danny Deakin) 81′

3-1-1 = 10 points, 3rd Place.

Prideraiser Goals: 3

It’s June! That means it’s Prideraiser Month!

Prideraiser is a coalition of independent soccer supporters that raise money for LGBTQ causes. Supporters pledge a dollar amount per goal their team scores in the month of June, which will then be donated to local LGBTQ causes. At the beginning of this game, NGS had accumulated pledges amounting to $580 per goal.

It was a beautiful and colorful afternoon at Keyworth.

In the 37th minute, City’s Oscar Gonzalez and a Columbus defender knocked heads, causing both players to leave the match.

City dominated the play, however a stingy defense kept the match scoreless going into the half.

The deadlock was broken at the 56’th minute with this goal by Shawn Lawson after receiving a great feed from Kervin Kenton.

Then, at the 72nd minute, Moussa Gueye heads in City’s second goal.

Finally, Cyrus Saydee taps in a beautiful pass from Danny Deakin in the 81st minute.

This was City’s third straight match without a loss, and third straight match without conceding a goal.

The amazing tifo that was displayed at the previous home match against AFC Ann Arbor, honoring past and present legends, were displayed around Keyworth stadium for all to see.

Prologue: Detroit City FC Women’s Team & Inaugural Tryouts, January 4, 2020

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January 5, 2020

History was made on September 28, 2019. During halftime of the Detroit City FC/Napa Valley 1839 FC match, Sean Mann announced Detroit City FC’s commitment to women’s soccer by establishing a team that would play in United Women’s Soccer in 2020.

By December 12, 2019, Detroit City FC named Salvatore Piraine as the women’s team’s head coach.

On January 4, 2020, sixty women registered to attend the inaugural tryouts for the women’s team. Friends, family, and the Northern Guard Supporters attended the two hours of scrimmaging on both fields at the Detroit City Fieldhouse, as Coach Piraine and his assistants took note of potential Detroit City FC players.

May 27, 2019: at FC Indiana (NPSL Regular Season)

dohaeng

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January 4, 2020

May 27, 2019
NPSL Regular Season
Legacy Sports Club, Lafayette IN
FC Indiana 0, Detroit City FC 5
Attendance: More of us than them.

DCFC Moussa Gueye (Danny Deakin) 7′
DCFC Danny Deakin (Moussa Gueye) 66′
DCFC Will Perkins (Danny Deakin) 70′
DCFC Shawn Lawson (Max Todd) 74′
DCFC Daniel Wright (Max Todd) 90+

FC Indiana Anthony Dinz – Red Card 24′

Record: 2-1-1 = 7 points; 2nd Place

City road trips are usually a blast. It’s hard to answer the question, “which road trips are the best?” One that is definitely high on my list is Lafayette, IN to play FC Indiana.

I wouldn’t have said that after the first visit in 2017. Though it was one our more hilarious afternoons we’ve had as a group, I had decided to drive the 10-hour, 600-mile round trip in a single day. Since then, both in 2018 and this season, I drove in the day before and settled into a hotel room for the night, but not before visiting Von’s Books and having dinner at Khana Khazana Indian Grill. This makes the match in the cornfield all that more enjoyable.

In addition, we won both previous matches, outscoring FC Indiana 14-1. I enjoy this destination.

It didn’t take long to get on the scoresheet as Moussa Gueye headed home City’s first goal of the match.

City’s Abdoulaye Diop seemed to get under the skin of every FC Indiana player. By the 24th minute, it resulted in Anthony Dinz and another Indiana player taking Diop down, getting in a punch or two in the process. When the dust settled, Diop was shown a yellow card and Dinz left the match on a red card.

Despite the extra man, the sides went into halftime with City leading 1-0. But standing on the risers, you just knew that a flood gate would open.

Danny Deakin scored in the 66th minute.

Four minutes later, during the Northern Guard’s second half Tetris, Will Perkins scored.

Another four minutes later, Shawn Lawson put City up 4-0.

As the match went into added time, Daniel Wright escorted the ball into the back of FC Indiana’s net with City’s fifth goal.

Another blistering hot afternoon at the Legacy Sports Club. Another three-points for City to take home.

May 24, 2019: AFC Ann Arbor (NPSL Regular Season)

dohaeng

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December 27, 2019

May 24, 2019
NPSL Regular Season Match
Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI
Detroit City FC 0, AFC Ann Arbor 0
Attendance: 5,908

Record: 1-1-1 = 4 pts 4th Place.

Another wacky weather day, as rain fell a couple hours before game time, but ended just before the march, giving me time to apply sunscreen.

Holding off the tifo from last week to this seemed especially appropriate. Coming into this match, AFC Ann Arbor has had our number with a 4-1-1 record in NPSL regular season matches. Of course, we won the important Midwest Regional Final against them in 2017. Today, despite their on-field superiority, they faced something that, as a club, they will never have.

The Northern Guard Supporters reflected on Detroit City FC’s past, and honored the many players who wore the rouge-and-gold kit over the past seven seasons, as the club makes its transition from NPSL club to the professional ranks of American soccer. And the overwhelmingly awesome display was something AFC Ann Arbor was forced to view.

I am very honored that NGS used some of my photos to create that beautiful display.

Excuse me, sir. He’s continuously standing on the field of play. A card, please?

At halftime, it was our annual Special Olympics of Michigan match. Always a fantastic event.

This was a tough battle, as usual. Player for player, our talent matched or exceeded AFC Ann Arbor. A missed PK by City might have given us a lead, and a Jalen Crisler clearance on our goal line negated their best opportunity. A game of inches that evened out over the ninety minutes.