By Jinseong Kim
On a beautiful, sunny, Friday evening, AFC Ann Arbor earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory over newly-founded Lansing City Football at Spring Arbor University. Two goals from two Japanese midfielders in the first half gave the Mighty Oak early lead. Despite allowing the opponents to level the game back, the game winner from Luke Benford secured three points.
The first goal came early from the Man of the Match of the season opener Shion Soga. Daisuke Otsuka, starting for the first time in the season, connected a cut back from the left side to a shot in the box. The initial effort was blocked by the defender, but Soga was waiting at the place where the ball would fall down. After a simple touch, Soga comfortably placed it bottom left, secured The Mighty Oak’s 1-0 advantage.
AFCAA continued to apply pressure to Lansing City with a series of set pieces. In the 16th minute, David Garcia went directly for the goal from a free kick in front of the arc but was saved by the goalkeeper. The follow-up shot from Soga hit the wall. AFCAA earned several more set piece opportunities, but failed to draw products out of them, until the 35th minute mark.
Ten minutes before the half time, Yushi Nagao was tripped up during an excellent run and earned a free kick right outside of the box, which was slightly closer to the box than Garcia’s opportunity. Nagao stepped forward to finish up the chance he earned, and converted the free kick, aided by deflection on the way in from a defender. The right-footed banger extended the Mighty Oak’s lead to two. Lansing’s striker Nathan Ntalu grabbed an one-on-one opportunity right before the half, but a properly timed challenge from Jamie Lamb distressed the pressure.
AFCAA had a positive start to the second half, and the goalscorers Shion Soga and Yushi Nagao were at the heart of the attack. Three minutes after the restart, Soga’s corner from the right side was later headed on by Nagao. It resulted in a clear chance for David Garcia, but the defenders got to the ball before the Spanish defender.
In the 52nd minute, Nagao, Otsuka, and Soga attempted a counter after Lansing’s failed free kick. The attackers outnumbered the defense by three to two, but the two consecutive shots from Otsuka and Soga couldn’t find the net.
From the 60th minute mark, things went in favor of Lansing, as the hosts pushed forward to close the deficit. AFCAA suddenly slipped and allowed the opponent to level the game only in a six-minute gap. The comeback took place in the 68th minute. Jack Beck went for a long-range, left-footed effort from about 20 yards away from the goal. Lansing equalized the game in the 74th minute. A third ball in the box off a Lansing corner kick happened to land on Shady Omar’s feet, and he put it into the net with no struggles.
The Mighty Oak tightened their concentration wheels and responded right away. A quick team talk on the pitch after conceding the second has shed a light on how they would overcome the adversity. And overcome they did. This time it was the substitute Luke Benford who became a hero of the night. Only a minute had passed from Lansing equalizing when Benford received a nice through-ball from Tomas Casas, dribbled past two defenders inside the box, and found the bottom right corner.
Benford’s dazzling finish at the 76th minute mark wrapped up the lion’s share of the action for the evening’s match and served as the moment that the Mighty Oak secured a 3-2 win, extending the winning streak to two. Today’s result was not just a victory, but what the team earned as a united team.
The men’s team takes on Oakland County FC next on Saturday, May 21, at Royal Oak High School.
About AFC Ann Arbor
Association Football Club Ann Arbor (AFC Ann Arbor) was founded in 2014 and competes in USL2 (men’s) and USLW (women’s) national amateur leagues. We are a community-based club, focused on equity, justice, and anti-racism. We consider all of our stakeholders, including supporters, players, staff, and ownership to be part of the #AFCAAFamily. Come On You Mighty Oak!