by Head Coach: Ben Pirmann
Captain: Dave Edwardson
NPSL Great Lakes Conference: 2nd
NPSL Midwest Regional Playoffs: Winner (1st Time)
NPSL National Playoffs: Semifinal
Top Goalscorer (Competitive Matches): Shawn Lawson (9)
Black Arrow Award (Team MVP): Tyrone Mondi
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Friendlies
Regular Season
Final Standings
Playoffs
– – – – –
Predictions Revisited
In which I look back at my preseason predictions and see how I did. 2016’s score: a lackluster 1.5/5.
2016 Great Lakes West
At least I’m getting better at this part. I nailed the top three, #5, and #8. The only real surprises to me were Milwaukee underachieving and Lansing doing a bit better than I expected.
5 Wild Guesses
(1) City will score at least 28 goals in the regular season and allow fewer than 14
Verdict: Correct on Goals For (29), Incorrect on Goals Against (19).
(2) City will not lose a league match at Keyworth Stadium.
Verdict: Incorrect. In my heart of hearts I believe that if the final regular season match between Ann Arbor and City would’ve been played on the Friday for which it was scheduled, rather than on the following Tuesday because of the rainout, City would’ve won. The crowd that Friday was as electric as I’ve ever heard it (at Cass or Keyworth), plus City was riding an eight-match league winning streak. With the rainout, they were forced to play on Tuesday with just two days rest after a Sunday match at Lansing, while Ann Arbor was able to sit and wait since they had no other obligations that weekend. Nonetheless, this one went down as a loss, and it also torpedoed my Prediction #2.
(3) A new home attendance record will be set, and it will be greater than 8000. The regular season average will be a healthy 6000+.
Verdict: Incorrect. While a new record attendance was set on August 5th against Midland-Odessa, it was only 7533. The regular season average also fell short of my projected number, coming in at (officially) 5366.
(4) Three players will score at least 5 goals in competitive matches
Verdict: Incorrect. I came close with this one. Shawn Lawson led the way with 9 goals and Tyrone Mondi came in second with 6. After that there were four players with three apiece – Cyrus Saydee, Roddy Green, Seb Harris, and Elijah Rice.
(5) Shawn Lawson will lead the team in goals, and Cyrus Saydee will lead in assists.
Verdict: Correct on Lawson, Incorrect on Saydee. As mentioned above, Shawn Lawson led the team with 9 goals. And although Cyrus Saydee had maybe his best season ever, Tyrone Mondi had double the number of assists (10 to 5).
Final Score for 2017: I guess I actually made eight predictions total. While that gives me a final number of just 2/8, it’s still better than FC Indiana’s 2017 winning percentage.
Goals of the Year
Let’s just get this out of the way. This is the hands-down goal of the year, and it will likely go down as City’s goal of the decade and possibly century.
Now that we’ve taken care of that, here are some of the goals that would’ve challenged for the award in the absence of a club-defining moment.
Nonchalant Cyrus:
This will never get old, @CyrusSaydee. #TBT pic.twitter.com/LwDUVbnO5d
— Detroit City FC (@DetroitCityFC) January 25, 2018
Omar Sinclair, dead ball specialist:
Spencer Glass Exocet:
Happy birthday to @Spencer_Glass21! #DCTID pic.twitter.com/KIxi4ekfgq
— Detroit City FC (@DetroitCityFC) January 23, 2018
Honorable Mention goes to Cyrus Saydee’s sick upper corner curler against Dayton. Unfortunately, there’s no good video of it since it was a preseason friendly. If you were there you know the one I’m talking about, though 😉
BIR Player Awards
MVP: Tyrone Mondi (Wing/Attacking Mid) A virtual unknown heading into the season, Mondi exploded onto the scene and almost immediately became City’s most dangerous attacking player. Despite missing the first several matches and the final playoff match, he led the team in assists and was second in goals. He also had that Will Mellors-Blair-esque quality where each time he touched the ball you expected something fun and exciting to ensue. And it usually did, as evidenced by the goal of the year against Ann Arbor.
Breakout Player: Spencer Glass (Left Back) Mondi has to be the breakout player of the year too, but in the spirit of spreading the love, I’ll give this one to Spencer Glass. Although he was a well-regarded high school recruit, he joined City after his freshman year at Indiana where he redshirted and didn’t see any game action. He ended up making 10 appearances and 8 starts and was the #1 option at left back before an injury cut his season short. His goal shown above came in his final match and was the exclamation point on a promising rookie year.
Unsung Hero: Stephen Carroll (Centerback) City’s defending needed an overhaul following a 2016 season in which they surrendered 21 goals in 12 league matches. Carroll was second on the team in total number of minutes played, and, along with Zach Bock, formed the center of City’s revamped and much improved back line.
Dave Edwardson also deserves a mention here. He began the season as a starter, but was passed by Aaron Franco and Louis Dargent early on. He then embraced his role as a sub by providing energy and enthusiasm whenever he was inserted into matches. At the end, he regained his starting spot and got to lift a trophy.
