May 18, 2022
USL Championship League Match
Riccardo Silva Stadium, Miami, FL

Fortunes Reversed

Introduction

This website has been the Unofficial Detroit City FC Digital History, 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.  This achievement by the club merits that I include the match summaries of those I did not personally attend so that the website is a more complete, though unofficial, history of the club.  Enjoy.

The Match

The Miami FC began its existence in the NASL in 2016, where they spent two years.  In 2017, they won both the Spring and Fall seasons, but were eliminated in the semi-final round by the New York Cosmos by virtue of penalty kicks [0-0, 6-5 PKs].  With the cancellation of the 2018 NASL season, Miami FC 2 was created and played in the NPSL.  They played in the Sunshine Conference in 2018 and 2019, and were crowned league champions in both seasons with a 3-1 victory over FC Motown in 2018; and a 3-1 victory over New York Cosmos B in 2019.  Midway through the 2019 season, the club announced its move to NISA for the 2019-20 season.  They played in the 2019 Fall Season Showcase and won the East Coast Championship with a 3-0 win over Stumptown Athletic.  The Cal United Strikers FC won the West Coast Championship, 2-2 (5-3 PKs) over the Los Angeles Force.  Both Miami FC and Cal United would earn a berth in the Spring 2020 championship.  However, in December, 2019, the Ottawa Fury sold their USL Championship franchise rights to Miami FC, and they joined the 2nd tier league in the 2020 season.

A different look on the backline for City tonight as Matt Lewis was out with a lower body injury and Stephen Carroll was away on honeymoon after his wedding ceremony.  Nate Steinwascher donned the captain’s armband for the mid-week match.

Riccardo Silva Stadium is on the campus of Florida International University where one of City’s supporters is an assistant professor.  There would be noise from the visiting supporters section.

The Miami FC
Starting XI

Connor Sparrow – GK
Adean Stanley – D
Benjamin Ofeimu – D
Junior Palacios – D
Othello Bah – M
Devon Williams – M
Florian Valot – M
Mark Segbers – M
Pierre Da Silava – F
Kyle Murphy – F
Josh Perez – F

DETROIT CITY FC
Starting XI

Nate Steinwascher – GK
Karl Ouimette – D
Michael Bryant – D
Devon Amoo-Mensah – D
Rhys Williams – D
Deklan Wynne – D
Maxi Rodriguez – M
Abdoulaye Diop – M
Pato Botello Faz – F
Connor Rutz – F
Antoine Hoppenot – F

The head referee was Alejo Calume.  Tonight would be his professional league debut.  He had been the head official in the US Open Cup match eight days ago in the US Open Cup match between Inter Miami CF and Tormenta FC where he handed out three yellow cards and showed Robbie Robinson of Inter Miami a straight red card in the 65th minute.  His assistants were Sean-Michael Kemp and Albert Escovar.

City scored in the 22nd minute on the patented channel progression.  Beginning with Nate Steinwascher’s long boot from the goal toward the left sideline where Connor Rutz stood just behind the center stripe.  Connor headed the ball further along the channel to Antoine Hoppenot who dribbled it forward to the top corner of the 18-yard box.  He tapped it in to Pato, who distributed it back.  Antoine had time to line up and fire a shot far post, past Connor Sparrow and into the goal.

Miami was forced to pick up their game, but remained down a goal at half time.  They came out with a purpose in the second half, but City was able to match up.  Othello Bah almost equalized in the 50th minute, but his shot rattled the crossbar.  Pato and Antoine connected again in the 58th minute.  Pato attacking the box from the right side sent a nice pass into Antoine who buried it into the net.  Unfortunately he was offside, to which he disagreed, giving a thumbs-down gesture to the assistant referee unwilling to change his mind.

The gaffer made three changes down the stretch.  In the 78th minute, Makey Diop subbed in for Pato, and a minute later it was Francis Atuahene in for Antoine Hoppenot.  In the 86th minute, Bosh Tanyi stepped in for Deklan Wynne.

The 90th minute came and the fourth official held up the board revealing 5 minutes of added time.  In the dying seconds of the added time, Romeo Parkes dribbled into the City box and pushed the ball through to Adonija Reid.  He paused as a City defender slid by, then fired a shot.  The ball struck Nate, but instead of deflecting away from goal, it hit the turf then bounced into the corner of the goal.

Fortunes can be found in the last seconds of play in a match. They can earn you points, like gaining 2 points by turning a draw into a win in Hartford, or can be reversed like tonight where the 3-point victory became a 1-point draw.  The team would return home to host Atlanta United II on Saturday.

STATS

The Miami FC 1, Detroit City FC 1
DCFC: Antoine Hoppenot (Pato Botello Faz) 22′
Miami: Adonija Reid (Romeo Parkes) 90+5′

ATTENDANCE:  853

Possession: Miami 52.5%, DCFC 47.5%
Offsides:  Miami 1, DCFC 1
Corners:  Miami 2, DCFC 6
Passes:  Miami 467, DCFC 424
Passing Accuracy: Miami 83.3%, DCFC 79.7%
Shots:  Miami 17, DCFC 11
Shots on Target: Miami 6, DCFC 2
Blocked Shots:  Miami 2, DCFC 4
Fouls: Miami 18, DCFC 12
Yellow Cards:  Miami 4 (Adean Stanley, Connor Sparrow, Adonija Reid, Sean McFarlane), DCFC 2 (Rhys Williams, Maxi Rodriguez)
Red Cards:  Miami 0, DCFC 0

KEEPER KIT RECORD (Both USL Championship and Open Cup)

Drawing in purple

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

IN OTHER USL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES TODAY:

El Paso Locomotive 1, Sacramento Republic 0
Birmingham Legion 0, Las Vegas Lights 0
Memphis 901 FC 5, Los Angeles Galaxy II 0