Jesse Muskwe looks to win the ball against Kalamazoo FC's Ade Adeniyi

It was a very happy Mother’s Day for The Mighty Oak fans and players as AFC Ann Arbor defeated Kalamazoo FC 2-0 at Hollway, improving to 2-0-0 in the Great Lakes Conference.

It was a lively opening 10 minutes for AFC. Chances came quickly, first through Jesse Muskwe in the 3rd minute and then again through Dario Suarez just 3 minutes later.

The pace of the match slowed somewhat for the rest of the first half, but Audi of Ann Arbor Man of the Match Kyle Breitmeyer had other ideas. In the 40th minute, he chased down a long clearance on the sideline.

The KZFC defender seemed to be looking to let the ball run out of play. KB saw this, pressed hard and kept a level head, smartly finishing under the Kalamazoo keeper to make it 1-0 for AFC. It remained 1-0 as the half-time whistle sounded.

The second half started brightly for The Mighty Oak. Dario Suarez played Alec Lasinski in behind the Kalamazoo FC back line, but his effort slid just wide of the far post.

In the 55th minute, #SuperDario made certain the result would hold. From a freekick at the top of the box, he curled the ball over the wall and into the top corner to make it 2-0 for the Mighty Oak.

With around 35 minutes to go Kalamazoo pressed hard to find a way back into the match but The Mighty Oak stayed compact in defense and limited their opportunities at every turn. AFC Ann Arbor closed out an important 2-0 home victory.

Coach Rudland was happy with the 2-0 win, though he will be looking to make some adjustments for Friday’s road match in Kalamazoo.

“We’ll have to see if we can fine tune a few things that we didn’t do well enough in the first half today and see if we can take that into the game next Friday. “ he said. “We’ll also have to check in with players and see where they’re at physically and look at what players might need to rotate into the team for next Friday and I’m sure Kalamazoo will be doing the same thing.”

The Mighty Oak will be looking to continue their fine league form as they head west to again take on Kalamazoo FC Friday night in their third NPSL match of the season before returning home Sunday, May 21st to host Detroit City FC at 1pm. Get your tickets for May 21st here.