Well… this was picked as the Ally “save of the match” as the Detroit City FC men’s side defeated the Maryland Bobcats 1-0 in the NISA spring opener from Keyworth…
Not to take anything away from City keeper Nate Steinwascher whose been phenominal so far in 2021 producing five straight clean sheets while keeping opponents scoreless thoughout the entirety of the NISA Legends Cup Tournament. You can’t help though but appreciate what that Detroit back line, including the Steinwall has been able to collectively do as a whole anchored by team captain Stephen Carroll who’s without a doubt the best ceter back in the league. This all has resulted in Le Rouge keeping a talented Cal United squad scoreless in the Legends Cup opener a few weeks ago, a 2-0 win over an up and coming Stumpdown AC squad, and a dominating 3-0 win over rival Chattanooga FC to clinch the Legends Cup Championship last weekend.
A Chattanooga FC club that led the Legends Cup tournament in goals nonetheless and looked like the class of League heading into the finals.
And fast forward to last night, a calm, cool, and collected Detroit club managed to rely on that shutdown defense which enabled them to wait for their opportunities that finally came in extra time. This is when Anthony Manning put home the winning goal off a beautiful corner from Kevin Venegas that found the far post.
The return of fans and the Northern Guard to Keyworth
The win was great for DCFC but it was the first time in well over 500 days that fans got to take in a home match from Keyworth. This spanned all the way back to October of 2019 in a loss to the Milwaukee Torrent which turned out to be a meaningless game for City since they clinched the Members Cup the match prior against the Michigan Stars on the road.
Since then fans were only able to watch on a stream or on television the men’s side win the Independent Cup, Fall Tournament over the Oakland Roots, and Legends Cup last weekend.
And despite still not being at full strength so-to-speak, the Northern Guard certainly brought it last night.
