By Ryan Makuch
As the old saying goes, sometimes you create your own luck.
The Mighty Oak did that, and then some, en route to their third consecutive match at home without defeat to start this summer season.
And it’s that scoreline against Detroit City FC again, 1-0, a scoreline that many fans will be familiar with for games like this, and this. But for the first time, it’s the women that have toppled their local rivals, in mid-week action.
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.
Wednesday, June 1, Saline, MI
The start of Pride Month is always an exciting time to support AFC Ann Arbor. For one, it simply means that June is here, and the heart of the schedule is coming just around the corner. But more specifically to the actual spirit of the month, the Main Street Hooligans Prideraiser campaign kicks off.
Alongside plenty of other independent supporter groups, including fellow Anti-Racist Soccer Coalition member Lansing Common, Prideraiser serves as an opportunity to give back while celebrating goals, with a system of pledging money for each goal scored this month.
Yet again, the club’s independent supporters’ group has stepped up to serve our community in crucial ways. Throughout this season, the Main Street Hooligans have also taken to supporting Black-owned businesses, buying wings, pizza, cheesecake, fried plantains, you name it, and generously giving them out to all who ask.
This year’s organization is Ozone House, a non-profit agency based here in Ann Arbor that assists high-risk, runaway, or homeless LGBTQ+ youth, a population that can often be invisible given the sheer difficulties and trauma that many of these young people face.
Olivia Brannon’s loyal fans showed their support during warmups with a handmade sign.
Prideraiser is one of my favorite things about local soccer. It’s a bunch of supporters working together to boost the profile of some great organizations throughout the entire country, and at time of writing, Ozone House will be receiving $106.56 per goal this month, a testament to the generosity of the supporters of this club, and once again, a testament specifically to the organizational ability and good hearts of the Hooligans.
Your club is represented by your fans, and this writer thinks that AFC Ann Arbor are extremely fortunate to have a fanbase that understands and loves the ethos of the club.
One of the great local derbies of Michigan soccer, AFC Ann Arbor and Detroit City FC are no strangers to one another as organizations. Playing on the field since the pair’s men’s teams joined the NPSL in 2016, for the first time since the club’s pause on-field as a result of COVID, the two sides were back on opposing sides of the field.
It was yet another wet day – hadn’t there been enough rain at AFC Ann Arbor games for one season? – but eventually, like after all storms, there was a golden sky to come.
Women’s co-captain and assistant coach Olivia Brannon was the most popular player on this evening, as dozens of youth players that she coaches were there to serve as ‘mascots’ to accompany the team onto the field, and cheer along from the stands throughout the match.
The match kicked off, and it entered rather quickly into a feeling-out process of sorts. Chances came for both sides, but even these early chances took close to 20 minutes to make their way into the game. A compact side, DCFC looked well-drilled early, and they broke forward with some regularity.
Their first question asked of the AFCAA backline was in the 20th minute when off of a set piece. Camila Pescatore, a name who would feature plenty throughout this match, and the eventual Woman of the Match honoree, was tasked with clearing the ball off of the line, sweeping it away from danger.
That seemed to wake The Mighty Oak up. Three minutes later, Pescatore was the provider, sending in an excellent cross into the box, falling perfectly to the boot of Angeline Kieh, in between two defenders. Kieh’s effort went over the net, but it was the first proper shot from the bow of AFCAA.
Throughout the first half, I thought the two sides’ approaches to build-up was interesting. Both teams used long passes over the top to try and create space. However, while DCFC struggled to get enough support for these lofted over-the-top balls to trouble the AFCAA back line, The Mighty Oak had several perfectly-hit balls that caused plenty of trouble.
Tracy Akiror, in her final match in the blue of The Mighty Oak, performed as well as she has all season, making life very difficult for DCFC’s midfielders and back line.
One of my favorites was in the 35th minute. Tracy Akiror, who played another superb game in midfield, sent one driving pass out towards Lina Berrah on the right wing. The pass was long and always a bit ambitious, but Berrah’s pace meant that if it weren’t for the keeper making a toe-poke clearance to give AFCAA a throw in a good area, she would have beaten the left back with her speed, and potentially asked a question or two of the keeper with a shot on target.
At the end of the first half is where the fireworks in the half took place, as Detroit City hit the post not once, but twice. The first time was almost a bit of unluckiness. A weak effort off a corner kick was never likely to trouble Stefane Pereira in net, but it rolled off the post and back to the feet of a DCFC player, who hit the crossbar.
It was up to Brannon and the rest of the defense to calmly clear it out of harm’s way, and it was crisis averted, but it was a dangerous chance and the hard work on the defensive end is what really kept The Mighty Oak level at the half.
Tatiana Mason had a nice chance in first half stoppage time saved well, and shortly after that opportunity the whistle blew on a fascinating first half.
There was work to be done to raise the intensity, but an added jolt came from an off-pitch source.
At the start of the second half, men’s players including Sean Kerrigan, Jonas Bickus, Tomas Casas, and Yushi Nagao made their way down to the Main Street Hooligans to join on the fun.
To this point, the crowds had been dueling, with the Detroit City FC traveling support, located on the opposite side of the field, trying their best to match the enthusiasm of the home support. But with the added boost of those men’s players, the balance of the ‘battle of the bands’ in the stands had swayed for good.
And The Mighty Oak rewarded their home support early and often in the second half. Not even a minute into the half, it was Ricketts who seemed to effortlessly glide not past but through two defenders to get a shot on target. Five minutes later it was Jayde Riviere picking out Lina Berrah with a ball that I can only describe as absurd. Berrah took an extra touch, which allowed the DCFC keeper the opportunity to get out and make a claim on the ball, but it was clear that the energy was on the home team’s side.
Jayde Riviere’s final match with AFC Ann Arbor was a doozy, as she dominated play on the right wing, both in attack and defense.
Things began to really pick up here. The AFCAA attack began to come in more frequent waves, with increasing doses of creativity. Jayde Riviere made an excellent inverted run with the ball, allowing Ricketts to make an overlap run that was so good that it didn’t even lead to anything and yet I still think it’s worth addressing.
There is a level of footballing IQ that this team, as a collective, has, and it’s bits of quality like that which really showcase it.
AFCAA continued to dominate possession and the biggest of chances, and in the 80th minute, they were finally rewarded for their play.
Pescatore had some sparkling passes this match, but the one she gets credited with an assist for is a short pass to her roommate this summer, Berrah. Berrah took one, two, three, three-and-a-half, dribbles, and cut inside on her right foot. Her effort, which was set to be on target, struck a DCFC defender about five yards away from her, and the deflection nestled it into the net.
It was a lucky break that these women had created for themselves, but they had indeed created it.
Pescatore’s assist-providing pass wasn’t one of the most challenging ones she had to dish out that evening, but her part in the build-up also included a 35-yard run starting deep in AFCAA defensive ground, and ending about 30 yards away from the DCFC net, improving The Mighty Oak’s positioning greatly. Likewise, it was a lucky deflection that gave Berrah the goal, but her cut inside was excellent, freezing the two right-sided defenders.
The celebrations were muted on the field, Berrah and her teammates strolled over to the sidelines to pose for photos as if they were at the mall posing for a family photo, but not in the crowd.
The job was not yet done, but it might as well have been. With AFCAA pushing forward, DCFC had been sapped of attacking energy. The final ten minutes were seen out without much disturbance, and then the party could begin.
The post-match celebrations commenced at Pizza House, where the stars of the show were Tracy Akiror and Jayde Riviere, the two women set to leave AFCAA prematurely due to national team commitments (re: they’re just too good). Both women gave moving speeches, and it only feels right to commemorate them here.
Just a fraction of the 2022 AFCAA Family.
Riviere, the other co-captain, alongside Brannon, is set to prepare for World Cup qualifiers with the Canadian National Team. If you watched Riviere play at all this season, you simply know how good she is. Whether it’s delivering a cross or long pass on a dime to an attacker, or if she is needed to slide over and cut out a counter attack, or if it’s simply beating another player with her speed to a loose ball, Riviere is a joy to watch. Humble (Riviere thanked the club for letting her join the side) and supremely calm on and off the pitch, Riviere is a special player and it’s with joy that we send her to our neighbors up north for her national team duties.
Akiror will finish her time with AFCAA as the second-leading minutes-getter in the side, and having logged a goal off a penalty kick to give The Mighty Oak a 2-0 lead over Indy Eleven. Settling brilliantly into the midfield, especially over these past three games, Akiror provided a creative outlet from the midfield while also playing a valuable role in the press. Akiror will return to her home nation of Uganda, whom she serves as team captain for, ahead of the 2022 African Cup of Nations.
In her speech, Akiror said something so important that it strikes at the heart of how we should treat people as a whole. Paraphrasing her words, Akiror noted how that in the United States, people like her that come from oceans away, or that are Black or Brown or of a different race or creed, can be boxed into that specific ‘in-group’ and addressed only through that lens.
Akiror’s emphasis that this was the furthest thing from the case here is a testament to the community that has been fostered within and around this club–where everyone is welcome and everyone’s voice is valued.
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