May 14, 2022
USL Championship League Match
Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI

Bounce Back

After the road loss last week in Tulsa and elimination from the US Open Cup on Tuesday, a visit by DC United’s affiliate was just what the doctor ordered.

Loudoun United FC entered the league in 2019. They have never qualified for the playoffs, though that seems to be the role of the MLS affiliates. They came into the match having played nine on the season, recording two wins and seven losses. A juicy -14 goal differential looked like it was going to be a good night for our offense.

The bear in the Northern Guard Section was censored again, this time by the United States Soccer Federation at the US Open Cup match against Louisville City FC.

LOUDOUN UNITED FC
Starting XI

Luis Zamudio – Goalkeeper
Rio Hope-Gund – Defender
Hayden Sargis – Defender
Grant Lillard – Defender
Jacob Greene – Defender
Sami Guediri – Defender
Houssou Landry – Midfielder
Nicky Downs – Midfielder
Theodore Ku-Dipietro – Forward
Skage Simonsen – Forward
Michael Gamble – Forward

DETROIT CITY FC
Starting XI

Front Row, Left to Right
Deklan Wynne – Defender
Pato Botello Faz – Forward
Abdoulaye Diop – Midfielder
Antoine Hoppenot – Forward
Rhys Williams – Defender

Back Row, Left to Right
Maxi Rodriguez – Midfielder
Michael Bryant – Midfielder
Devon Amoo-Mensah – Defender
Karl Ouimet – Defender
Nate Steinwascher – Goalkeeper
Stephen Carroll – Defender/Captain

The task was not so easy. Loudoun United controlled a lot of the play and in the 30th minute they would have taken the lead but for Nate Steinwascher. Skage Simonesen sent a ball between City defenders in the box to Grant Lillard who, in alone on Nate, tried to poke a shot through his legs. But the heel of Nate’s right foot caught it and deflected it wide of goal.

Lillard would be successful at finding goal in the 35th minute. Deklan Wynne at the top of the Loudoun box sent the ball out wide to Antoine Hoppenot. Antoine fired the ball across goal and in an attempt to clear, Grant Lillard guided the ball past his own goalkeeper and into the goal to give City the one-goal lead.

It was the spark they needed.

Two minutes later, it was the patented left side attack when Steve Carroll dished to Devon Amoo-Mensah. Devon sent it forward down the left channel to Antoine Hoppenot. Antoine one-touched it toward the sideline to Deklan Wynne, then took off down the wing. Deklan rolled it parallel along the touchline, beyond the Loudoun defenders and into the path of Antoine’s sprint. Antoine carried another five yards and lofted it to Pato who was open in the box. Pato took the pass with one touch then fired a shot past Luis Zamudio to quickly double the City lead.

With two minutes of added time in the half, City added a third as a perfectly delivered corner kick by Antoine Hoppenot found Michael Bryant and a perfectly placed redirection found the back of the net.

As demonstrated by this first half and the prior matches, Antoine Hoppenot is the kind of experienced player that Detroit needed to step into the line up and prepare us for this promotion. Drafted 51st overall in the MLS Supplemental Draft by the Philadelphia Union, Antoine played in 68 matches in four seasons with the Union while splitting time with the Union affiliate Harrisburg City Islanders in USL Pro. In 2016, he signed with FC Cincinnati in the USL Championship, then with Reno 1868 in 2017 for two seasons. In 2019, he began the year with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, but midway through the season he transferred to Louisville City FC where he played until signing for us prior to the year. In total, coming to Detroit, Antoine brought 167 USL Championship matches with 31 goals and 34 assists. With a 3-nil lead in this one, Antoine assisted on all three goals, but the first one that Lillard put in for us does not count in his statistics.

In the 53rd minute, with City controlling the ball on the right side of the attacking zone, Antoine Hoppenot fed the ball toward the end line, where Rhys Williams ran onto it. Rhys nutmeged Nicky Downs then feed the ball out front to Maxi Rodriguez, who guided it into the right corner as Zamudio dove to Maxi’s left.

Perhaps the four goal lead created a little lackadaisical play in the final 37 minutes, as Loudoun chipped back two goals by Skage Simonsen (68′) and Grant Lillard completing his balanced brace (1 goal for us, 1 goal for them) in added time, but it was getting back to winning ways that mattered.

Player of the Match: Antoine Hoppenot

Maxi Rodriguez was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week for his performance tonight. In 90 minutes, Maxi scored a goal, had two shots on target, and completed 75.6% of his 45 passes. How they missed Antoine’s performance is a mystery.

STATS

Detroit City FC 4, Loudoun United FC
DCFC: Own Goal (Grant Lillard) 35′
DCFC: Pato Botello Faz (Antoine Hoppenot) 39′
DCFC: Michael Bryant (Antoine Hoppenot) 45+2′
DCFC: Maxi Rodriguez (Rhys Williams) 53′
LUFC: Skage Lehland (Jacob Greene) 68′
LUFC: Grant Lillard (Theodor Ku-Dipietro) 90+2

ATTENDANCE: 5,256

Possession: DCFC 39.3%, Loudoun United 60.7%
Offsides: DCFC 3, Loudoun United 3
Corners: DCFC 6, Loudoun United 4
Passes: DCFC 350, Loudoun United 549
Passing Accuracy: DCFC 72.3%, Loudoun United 82.5%
Shots: DCFC 13, Loudoun United 19
Shots on Target: DCFC 5, Loudoun United 8
Blocked Shots: DCFC 3, Loudoun United 3
Fouls: DCFC 12, Loudoun United 10
Yellow Cards: DCFC 2 (Deklan Wynne, Devon Amoo-Mensah), Loudoun United 1 (Rio Hope-Gund)
Red Cards: DCFC 0, Loudoun United 0

KEEPER KIT RECORD (Both USL Championship and Open Cup)

Blue comes through.

Purple Kit: 1 draw
Yellow Kit: 3 wins, 2 clean sheets
Blue Kit: 5 wins, 1 draw, 3 loss, 2 clean sheets

IN OTHER USL-CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES TODAY:

Charleston Battery 0, New Mexico United 2
Hartford Athletic 3, NY Red Bulls II 2
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1, El Paso Locomotive 0
The Miami FC 0, San Antonio FC 2
Memphis 901 FC 2, Indy Eleven 1
Las Vegas Lights 1, Oakland Roots 1
Monterey Bay F.C. 1, Rio Grande Valley FC 2