By Ryan Makuch
Two matches, one weekend, one conclusion: AFC Ann Arbor sure seems ready to try this ‘USL’ thing out. Both sides, men and women, fought hard and, win or lose, put on performances to be exceedingly proud of, doubly so given the 1,000+ days in-between games for both teams.
This is the Matchday Diary, where we talk about the games as they were, after they happened, to learn more about the game, our club, and our community.
Saturday, May 8: Flint, MI
“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start!”
The Sound of Music was on full display this entire weekend, but hearing the first call-and-response of the trademark ‘COYMO’ made it abundantly clear, that no matter where AFCAA would be, many places would feel like home to them, even on the road.
Atwood Stadium, home of Mark Ingram II (he went to Flint Southwestern for high school), Heisman Trophy winner of 2009, as you are told on not one, but two scoreboards is also now the home of Flint City AFC. This is our first “home away from home”, a beautiful old, 10,000-seat stadium set smack in the heart of downtown Flint. For a first away day, you could not have asked for a nicer evening, sunny and clear, though a chill due to come when the sun descends from its perch overhead.
The Main Street Hooligans came down in full force, with attendees doing everything from making the drive up US-23 North, to flying from California to celebrate the opening weekend. New chants were bellowed in support of Boyzzz Khumalo, who made his AFCAA head coaching debut on Saturday, and Chloe Ricketts, the 14-year-old starlet who seemed primed to change the game with every touch of the ball.
Chloe Ricketts delivering a cross. The 14-year-old winger had an early goal-of-the-season candidate and looked generally untouchable on the left.
Saturday night’s headlines were dominated, naturally, by the AFCAA wunderkind, Ricketts. Her stunning finish for The Mighty Oak’s first goal of the season remains the talk of the town, even after a comprehensively eventful weekend. The goal sets an absurd bar for the ‘Youngest Goal Scorer in USL W League History’ record, and she topples teammate Emily Eitzman for the prize of ‘Youngest Goal Scorer in AFCAA History’ as well.
However, it wasn’t just the goal and spectacular finish that impressed in regards to Ricketts’s performance. Her ability, willingness, and desire to do absolutely everything on a soccer pitch set her apart as not just a skillful young player, but a skillful young player with an already-excellent, and still developing, mind for the game.
Ricketts battled for a full match, all 90 minutes, simultaneously out of necessity for the short-handed Oaks as well as want by the coaching staff, given how she had Flint City defenders on a string for most of the match. The arsenal of tricks Ricketts pulled out while gliding past defenders down the wing is one that would have some of the finest European professional players shaking their heads. It was her high-speed stepovers and quick cut inside that opened her up to strike the ball for her first goal. It was her stunning run and quick-fire cross with her weaker left foot that earned the corner for Brooklyn Whitehead’s lethal finish on The Mighty Oak’s second of the night. It was also her goal that gave AFCAA fans their first truly special moment of the season.
The inaugural USL W League match for The Mighty Oak was not just a showcase of Ricketts, though, but rather an entirely new-feel women’s AFCAA. High-energy pressing, playing out from the back, and a team that is already seeming to understand how to structure itself in game one, new Women’s Head Coach Boyzzz Khumalo already has his women playing some fantastic soccer.
Brooklyn Whitehead’s second goal was a well-deserved reward for her hard work leading the line as a striker. Likewise, Tatiana Mason’s smooth pass down the wing to exactly where Ricketts wanted it rewarded her strong performance with her first assist on the season.
Credit is also due to a backline that has never played with each other, including Olivia Brannon, the player-coach helping to provide valuable leadership, especially to some of the younger players alongside her on the back-line, but also who played with supreme confidence and coolness. An excellent passer, and with some cute and clever passes to avoid pressure, Brannon looked sharp anchoring the defense.
A short-handed side meant all players mentioned to this point needed to play a full 90 minutes. Rostering just 14 due to clearance issues, The Mighty Oak had to rely on their two newest arrivals to provide a spark of the bench.
“Coming in cold” is usually metaphorical. A figure of speech. Not on Saturday evening in Flint. Angeline Kieh and Lina Berrah arrived in Michigan on Friday. Not yet in the state for 24 hours, both were tasked with making an impact immediately. And in chillier evening conditions, as the sun began to set and the temperature at Atwood Stadium dropped to the low-50s.
Kieh was bundled up in Club Founder Jamey Amrine’s puffy AFCAA coat at the start of the second half. By the 63rd minute, she was on the field, with her first touch coming in a dangerous position that was quite truly too good to be true. However, as she warmed up to the game (and the weather), it became clear that The Mighty Oak had found another excellent international player to add to their history.
Speaking of internationals, those who followed AFCAA over the past few months may have noticed a handful of women that are here in Ann Arbor but were not suited up to play. A handful of players remain in need of clearance, though the process seems to not be phasing them. The affected women, including Jayde Riviere and Ellie Ferguson, shrugged it off. “Que sera, sera …”
At halftime, Luana Grabias and Vitoria Sia, two more of those women, stood in the bleachers throwing frisbees given out to fans by Flint City back and forth to one another.
“She is so terrible!” Grabias laughed, as Sia sent a frisbee sailing over her head and wide left.
Grabias would then promptly shank her throw so badly that the frisbee had barely left her hands before she responded in horror gasping, holding her mouth, unsure where her errant throw would take the plastic disk. It fell harmlessly on a bleacher, about 15 feet from the intended target. Sia had a rebuttal.
“But I’m the terrible one!”
Grabias had to concede: “We are terrible.”
The pair laughed and continued to toss the frisbee as the traveling support buzzed happily, simply thrilled to be back watching the team they love.
Welcome home! The calm before the storm on Mother’s Day.
Sunday, May 9 (Mother’s Day): Saline High School
If the women’s season opener on the road was the appetizer, then the main course was yet to come. A delightful celebration of community was set for the home opener, and it was a day that felt like ‘the greatest hits’ were being played by an entire organization.
AFC Ann Arbor’s staff and players must really love their mothers. We already know Men’s Head Coach Rod Asllani does, as he sent love via a PA announcement pre-match to his mother, Razije, and his wife, Marisa. But there’s something special about a home match on Mother’s Day that seems to get AFCAA in the mood to deliver.
And boy did they ever, to the tune of a 5-0 thumping against a strong Oakland County FC side full of talented local players, many of whom played for the side in the past, as recently as last season.
Combining the raw excitement of the 1-0 victory over Detroit City FC on Mother’s Day 2018 along with the burst of goals that occurred on June 15, 2018, when The Mighty Oak put four past Kalamazoo in 15 minutes, Asllani’s AFCAA took their chances neatly.
Off-the-field, on the day, was a slew of activities for attendees. Women’s players participated in storytime before the match, reading to children and other attendees of the match before the first whistle sounded. Blake Corum was honored at halftime with the Bank of Ann Arbor Community Award. Khalipha’s Mobile Kitchen made her debut at the match, serving up halal soul food for attendees. Even the weather also decided to fully cooperate – sunny and in the high-60s all afternoon, Mother Earth seemed to be providing a gift of her own.
What AFCAA does best is bring people together, and the home opener, a perfect storm of good, did that.
What AFCAA does second-best is put together a pre-professional team that can beat anyone by any score on any day. They did that too.
AFCAA executed to near-perfection during the home opener. Not even counting the five goals, The Mighty Oak also had a penalty kick saved and two long-range strikes smack against the woodwork. The defense held a clean sheet, and all goalkeeper Jared Mazzola was troubled by in regards to shots was one tame late-game effort.
On the flip side, a silky smooth midfield and an electric attack on the wings and through the center meant that the chances could not help but freely flow. Want to go through the middle? Let Hideyuki Ochi find the right ball. Want to attack with effect on the wing? Take your pick between Sean Kerrigan, who gave Oakland County fits all night, drawing a penalty and scoring his own excellent goal in open play, and Moshaba Al-Hasnawi, whose speed and quality of ball on the wing made him extremely dangerous.
Shion Soga holds up a heart after his scintillating strike. The midfielder notched a pair of goals on the day, along with an assist.
Even a moment looking away from this team felt like it would be a moment too many. In the 78th minute, this writer turned his head for, quite literally, two seconds, and subsequently missed Soga’s second goal, a stunning individual effort well-deserved after Soga got his first goal at the end of a beautifully worked team move. Soga is the only man to record more than one goal contribution, with six other men’s players logging either a goal or assist.
The quality of the day makes it impossible to choose a favorite aspect of the day’s festivities. How can you possibly choose between Khalipha’s Mobile Kitchen’s mac and cheese bites or Shion Soga’s brace as the best part of the day? Or the opportunity to get autographs from the stars of the men’s team versus storytime with the stars of the women’s?
The excitement throughout the day felt like a steady hum, and it was a venue in equally good spirits post-match as it was pre-game. Soga recounted the day’s events with AFCAA Assistant Media Director Jinseong Kim. Zipties holding the flags of each player and coach’s nationalities, and some others, including a Progress Pride and a ‘Free Palestine’ flag, were snipped, those flags getting subsequently folded and kept safe for the next game where they can be hung with pride yet again.
It was still sunny and stunning as the crowd dispersed. The type of weather you could play another game in, despite the time fast approaching 7 PM. As fans and staff alike dispersed, it seemed like the collective had just one thought: AFCAA may never have left our community, but it sure finally feels like we are well and truly back.