by Article and Photos by Robert Sherman
We all remember the day like it was yesterday. Two years ago in Rochester, the likes of Dave Edwardson, Evan Louro, Cyrus Saydee, and Jeff Adkins squeezed out a victory against the most successful amateur team in the state and etched their names into Detroit City FC folklore for all of time.
Fast forward two years and Nate Steinwascher, Shawn Lawson, Stephen Carroll, and Roddy Green stared into the eyes of the Bucks and created their own legacies in front of 3,416 fans.
This match was different. This time Detroit City FC was the dominant factor. Le Rouge made the Bucks look like fawns in headlights.
On Wednesday night, in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup, City outplayed, outclassed, and defeated the Bucks, 5-4 (1-1) in a penalty kick shootout, in a match that should have been finished in 90 minutes.
“At the end of the day, I think that the proper team advanced,” head coach Ben Pirmann said.
In years past we have been treated to a U.S. Open Cup match controlled almost exclusively by the Bucks, or Pirmann’s strategy of locking down the midfield and settling in for a defensive battle.
When the team sheet was released for Wednesday’s clash, we saw an attacking lineup from Caesar. Rafa Metzingen, Lawson, Danny Deakin, and Brad Centala highlighted the offensive front while Omar Sinclair, Carroll, Jimmy Fiscus and Elliot Bentley were in charge of shutting down the Bucks’ attack.
Unlike in recent years, City wingbacks, Sinclair and Bentley, were able to push forward and join in on the attack, a facet of the offense that the Bucks have never encountered from Pirmann’s squads in this tournament.
The first round meetings between these two teams are always nerve-wracking affairs, and Wednesday’s match was no exception. Midfield commander Saydee started on the bench, rain poured down half an hour before kick off, and a handful of injuries plagued the squad in the days leading up to kickoff.
“I shouldn’t have even played him [Saydee], he’s just too good not to play and even when we went up, there was 15 minutes where we bossed it,” Pirmann said. “It was through him and Danny [Deakin] getting the ball, and finding Rafa [Metzingen].
“Obviously when we went down he had to defend more. It was very tough in the sense that Danny was 80-percent, Cyrus was 70-percent and he’s hurt, but when we put all the best guys out there we ran the game for a good fifteen minutes.”
Everyone was on eggshells. That is, everyone but the coaching staff and players of Detroit City FC, who kept their cool through the full 120 minute match. A prime example, playing on a yellow card received in the second half, Sinclair made several key challenges, including two sliding tackles, to relieve pressure coming down the wings.
Lawson shocked the entire stadium in the second half by wrangling in a shot that rattled the crossbar and absolutely powering the ball past Bucks goalkeeper Jimmy Hague from inside the six-yard box.
