April 23, 2022
USL Championship League Match
Trinity Health Stadium, Hartford, CT

Victory Insured by the Captain

Introduction

This website as the Unofficial Detroit City FC Digital History has been chronicling the history of Detroit City FC through the matches I have attended with the images and video I have captured along with a commentary on the match.

Detroit City FC has become a 2nd tier professional team, which has made travel to most away matches impossible for me.  Because of this achievement, I will be including match summaries of those I did not personally attend so that the website is more complete, though unofficial, history of the club.  Enjoy.

The Match

Hartford Athletic was founded in 2018 and played its first season in the USL Championship in 2019.  It was a rough beginning, losing 21 of 34 matches, but the next season they placed first in Group F with an 11 win, 2 draw, 3 loss record, only to be eliminated in the first round by Saint Louis FC.  It is the only trip to the post-season for the Connecticut-based team.  Coming into tonight’s match, they have gone winless in their five USL Championship matches (1 draw and 4 losses) and sit in the basement of the division.

HARTFORD ATHLETIC
Starting XI

James Slayton – GK
Ashkanov Apollon – D
Modou Jadama – D
Tom Brewitt – D
Younes Boudadi – D
Danny Barrera – M
Conor McGlynn – M
Andre Lewis – M
Joel Johnson – M
Prince Saydee – F
Rawshawn Dally – F

DETROIT CITY FC
Starting XI

Nate Steinwascher – GK
Matt Lewis – D
Stephen Carroll – D
Devon Amoo-Mensah – D
Rhys Williams – D
Deklan Wynne – D
Maxi Rodriguez – M
Abdoulaye Diop – M
Antoine Hoppenot – F
Connor Rutz – F
Pato Botello-Faz – F

The head referee was Luis Arroyo.  He has been the head referee in 13 previous matches in the USL Championship dating back to 2019.  He’s handed out 54 yellow cards, including 5 in the April 10, 2022 match between Loudoun United and Louisville City FC.  He was also the head referee in the caution-free April 19, 2022 US Open Cup match between Flower City (NISA) and DC United (MLS).  His assistants were Tom Felice and Amilcar Sicaju.

Detroit City FC dominated the first half, but Hartford led on the scoreboard.  City outshot Hartford 11 to 4 and 3 to 1 for shots on target but Hartford only needed that single shot to take a lead as the clock was winding down on the first 45-minutes.  Prince Saydee slotted a pass through to an open Rawshawn Dally alone on goal and Dally gave Hartford a 1-nil lead in the 42nd minute.  City held the possession 54% of the time to Hartford’s 46%.

The match opened up in the second half, with both teams creating chances.  City made a couple of subs in the 65th minute, bringing in Michael Bryant and Francis Atuahene for Rhys Williams and Pato.  It was three minutes later when Maxi Rodriguez found Deklan Wynne open left of goal.  Deklan deflected a shot off the defender’s shin, which lofted high and deep into the upper corner of the goal beyond James Slayton’s reach, leveling the match.

Bosh Tanyi entered the match in the 78th minute for Maxi Rodriguez.  Three minutes later, from a direct free kick Luka Prpa, who replaced Prince Saydee back in the 50th minute, found himself on the end of the chip in, with a bevy of Hartford players, behind the defense in on Nate, and rattled the woodwork off the City crossbar with his shot.  Nate had to come up big with a couple of saves in the 88th and 92nd minute to maintain the level score.

The insurance adjusters in Hartford probably felt safe that a point would be earned in the waning minutes of the match.  But they overlooked the indemnity in our policy.  Captain Steve Carroll.

The Cork, Ireland native has been with City since 2017 and was bestowed the captain’s armband in 2019.  A rock on the defense and a threat in the box for City’s corner kicks, he was awarded the Golden Ball Award as MVP of the 2020 NISA Fall Tournament, and was the 2020-21 NISA Defender of the Year.  And tonight, he was our protection from losing a couple of points to the last place team.

In the 5th minute of added time, City was awarded a corner kick.  Antoine Hoppenot, who created six scoring chances on the night, arced the ball from the corner into the box for Connor Rutz.  Connor went up and headed it into the near goal post.  The ball caromed across the face of the goal where Steve, covered by a defender and falling back to frame, got a foot on it, sending it into the goal for the match winner.

Though the US Open Cup match against Columbus Crew SC was not explicitly factored in, Maxi Rodriguez was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week.  Aside from the two goals against the Crew, he added an assist tonight with two shots and four chances created while connecting 55 of 67 passes on the night.

STATS

Hartford Athletic 1, Detroit City FC 2
Hart:  Rawshawn Dally (Prince Saydee) 42′
DCFC:  Deklan Wynne (Maxi Rodriguez) 68′
DCFC:  Steve Carroll 90+3

ATTENDANCE:  4,939

Possession: Hartford 52.3% ,DCFC 47.7%
Offsides:  Hartford 4, DCFC 2
Corners:  Hartford 2, DCFC 3
Passes:  Hartford 517, DCFC 462
Passing Accuracy: Hartford 82.4%, DCFC 81.4%
Shots:  Hartford 13, DCFC 24
Shots on Target: Hartford 4, DCFC 9
Blocked Shots:  Hartford 4, DCFC 4
Fouls: Hartford 8, DCFC 6
Yellow Cards:  Hartford 1 (Younes Boudadi), DCFC 3 (Deklan Wynne, Devon Amoo-Mensah, Francis Atuahene)
Red Cards:  Hartford 0, DCFC 0

KEEPER KIT RECORD (Both USL Championship and Open Cup)

We remain victorious in yellow.

• Purple Kit:  1 draw
• Yellow Kit: 3 wins, 2 clean sheets
• Blue Kit: 3 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 2 clean sheets

IN OTHER USL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES TODAY:

New York Red Bulls II 1, Tampa Bay Rowdies 1
Charleston Battery 1, Louisville City FC 1
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4, Atlanta United II 0
Rio Grande Valley Toros 2, Sacramento Republic 1
FC Tulsa 0, Colorado Springs Switchbacks 2
New Mexico United 0, San Antonio FC 1
El Paso Locomotive 0, Oakland Roots 0
Las Vegas Lights 1, Los Angeles Galaxy II 1
Phoenix Rising 2, Miami FC 1