June 11, 2022
USL Championship League Match
Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI
Claiming Space
Today’s fixture is the first Men’s Team match in the Northern Guard Supporters Prideraiser campaign. For the month of June, supporters pledge a dollar amount for every City goal scored at Keyworth in both the Men’s and Women’s matches. The money raised will then be donated to the Ruth Ellis Center, a center providing trauma-informed services for lesbian, gay, bi-attractional, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth, and young adults, with an emphasis on young people of color, experiencing homelessness, involved in the child welfare system, and/or experiencing barriers to health and well-being. The five City matches began with two goals in the DCFC Women’s vs Kings Hammer FC match. The DCFC Women’s vs AFC Ann Arbor on DCFC Men’s vs El Paso Locomotive on DCFC Women’s vs Midwest United on
Since 2017, the annual campaign has contributed nearly $96,000 to Ruth Ellis Center.
Stephanie, claim our space.
Fans claimed their space for today’s match as well. For the first time in Detroit City FC history the match was a pre-game sell out!
In December, 2012, USL Pro announced the Sacramento franchise would begin play in the 2014 season. In their inaugural season, Sacramento won the USL Pro championship, defeating the Harrisburg City Islanders 2-nil. After two more winning seasons, the team made a bid to be an MLS expansion franchise in 2017. It took a couple more years, but in 2019, MLS claimed Sacramento as the 29th franchise in the league, to begin in 2022. It was later pushed to 2023. On February 26, 2021 MLS put the franchise on hiatus as the investors withdrew. In the meantime, Sacramento remained in USL Championship, qualifying for the playoffs every season except 2021.
Though in the Western Conference and not a rival, this is a measuring stick for City. As we rattled the US Soccer landscape by defeating Columbus Crew SC in the US Open Cup before being eliminated by Louisville City FC, Sacramento Republic has advanced to the Quarter Finals after taking down the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS.
SACRAMENTO REPUBLIC FC
Starting XI
Daniel Vitello – Goalkeeper
Dan Casey – Defender
Conor Donovan – Defender
Lee Desmond – Defender
Jack Gurr – Midfielder
Matt Lagrassa – Midfielder
Rodrigo Lopez – Midfielder
Luis Felipe – Midfielder
Damia Flader – Midfielder
Douglas Martinez – Forward
Keko – Forward
DETROIT CITY FC
Starting XI
Front Row, Left to Right
Deklan Wynne – Defender
Pato Botello Faz – Forward
Abdoulaye Diop – Midfielder
Antoine Hoppenot – Forward
Back Row, Left to Right
Michael Bryant – Defender
Maxi Rodriguez – Midfielder
Devon Amoo Mensah – Defender
Connor Rutz – Forward
Karl Ouimette – Defender
Nate Steinwascher – Goalkeeper
Stephen Carroll – Defender/Captain
Austin Saini is tonight’s head referee. We saw him back on May 14th when we hosted Loudoun United. His assistants were Michael Nickerson and Jake Brochu.
City got its wake-up call in the 10th minute when Damia Vlader scored an amazing goal from well outside the box. Vlader struck the ball with his left foot, and it soared like a guided missile into the right corner of the goal. Six minutes later, Rodrigo Lopez tried another launch from outside the box. The same corner of the net waited, but the ball struck the goal post, shaking the frame and the City faithful. Again, in the 29th minute, Keko fired a long distant shot that sailed past the left post. Shooting from the outside was the Sacramento plan of attack.
In the 40th minute, Michael Bryant sent a ball from near the right touch line into the Sacramento zone. Pato ran onto it and fed it back to Antoine Hoppenot. His shot curled in toward goal, but Daniel Vitello was able to push it wide and over the end line for a City corner. Antoine took the corner and curled the ball away from goal toward an unmarked Devon Amoo-Mensah. Devon’s booming header would have gone in under the crossbar had Vitello not pushed it up over the goal.
Despite the improved second half and domination of ball passing and possession, Sacramento made the most of their time with the ball, adding a second after City turned the ball over at the center stripe. Dan Casey started a three-way passing play that ended on a nifty individual effort by Keko to give Sacramento a 2-nil lead in the 56th minute.
No goals added to the Prideraiser campaign, which remains at 2 goals for the month. Even though this match may have shown that we’re not quite there yet, joy was still in the air. As I walked back to my car after the match, a group of people walking behind me were singing the Northern Guard’s “We Will Sing for You City” song.
Tonight’s Player of the Match was Devon Amoo-Mensah with another strong 90-minute performance with 62 passes, putting two shots on goal and creating one chance.
STATS
Detroit City FC 0, Sacramento Republic FC 2
SR Damia Vlader 10′
SR Keko (Rodrigo Lopez) 56′
REFEREE: Austin Saini
ATTENDANCE: 7,011
Possession: DCFC 57.1%, SR 42.9%
Offsides: DCFC 0, SR 1
Corners: DCFC 8, SR 4
Passes: DCFC 456, SR 348
Passing Accuracy: DCFC 70.2%, SR 64.4%
Shots: DCFC 12, SR 10
Shots on Target: DCFC 4, SR 3
Blocked Shots: DCFC 2, SR 5
Fouls: DCFC 11, SR 17
Yellow Cards: DCFC 1 (Karl Ouimette), SR 2 (Douglas Martinez, Rodrigo Lopez)
Red Cards: DCFC 0, SR 0
KEEPER KIT RECORD (Both USL Championship and Open Cup)
It’s always blue when we lose.
- Purple Kit: 3 draws
- Yellow Kit: 4 wins, 2 clean sheets
- Blue Kit: 5 wins, 1 draw, 4 loss, 2 clean sheets
TONIGHT’S PRE-SALE SELLOUT
Tonight’s attendance of 7,011 ranks 9th in match attendance. Our largest crowd was the July 31, 2018 friendly against Frosinone Calcio. DCFC’s All Time Attendance numbers below.
- 7,887 [July 31, 2018 vs Frosinone Calcio friendly]
- 7,533 [August 5, 2017 vs Midland-Odessa NPSL Semi-Final]
- 7,478 [September 7, 2019 vs Club Atlas friendly]
- 7,449 [July 10, 2018 vs Club Necaxa friendly]
- 7,410 [May 20, 2017 vs AFC Ann Arbor NSPL Regular Season match and first match at Keyworth Stadium]
- 7,264 [May 19, 2018 vs FC St. Pauli friendly]
- 7,231 [July 3, 2021 vs LA Force NISA Championship Final]
- 7,097 [July 24, 2018 vs Windsor TFC friendly]
- 7,011 [June 11, 2022 vs Sacramento Republic FC USL Championship regular season match]
IN OTHER USL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES TODAY:
Monterey Bay F.C. 2, San Antonio FC 3
Charleston Battery 3, Pittsburgh Riverhounds 0
The Miami FC 1, Tampa Bay Rowdies 2
Atlanta United II 2, Loudoun United 0
Oakland Roots 2, Rio Grande Valley FC 2
San Diego Loyal 3, Hartford Athletic 0
Los Angeles Galaxy II 1, Colorado Springs Switchbacks 3
Las Vegas Lights FC 3, Orange County SC 0
Phoenix Rising FC 0, El Paso Locomotive 1
GALLERY
Unofficial Detroit City FC Digital History 