Lansing Common FC was held to a 1-1 draw in a friendly against the Grand Haven Admirals on a steamy Sunday afternoon at Eastern Stadium. A late second-half free-kick goal from the Admirals canceled out veteran midfielder Esteban Russell’s fantastic first-half strike that was the game’s only goal to that point.
“We’re very disappointed with the final result, but you have to go look at games and judge it as the one big picture,” head coach Josh Oakley said. “We have to take some positive things out of this game.”
The Robins introduced defender Josh Adam to the starting lineup to pair with center back Aidan O’Connor, who returned from an injury. Adam, the future Michigan State Spartan, played nearly 60 minutes in Sunday’s friendly and looked comfortable in his Lansing Common debut.
“Josh (Adam) is a quality player,” Oakley said. “He makes the right decisions and is a good communicator.”
In the opening minutes of the game, possession of the ball was key for the Robins. Passes between the defenders and midfielders made it difficult for the Admirals to take the ball away and create chances.
At the 10-minute mark, forward Ty Usiak chased a threatening ball from Russell into the Admirals’ box. It rebounded off the goalkeeper, landed at the feet of Russell, and hit the back of the net when the former Western Michigan Bronco chipped the ball in from outside the box.
Russell put Lansing ahead 1-0 in the first 10 minutes, and it was an ideal start for Oakley.
“I tried to toe-poke it past the goalie, but it bounced out to Stebby (Russell), and he had a nice finish into the far corner,” said Usiak.
In the 26th minute of the first half, a hydration break gave Oakley an opportunity to make a pair of substitutions that included forwards Seth Russ and Joshua Rosendale.
Russ scored the opening goal against Kalamazoo FC on May 30 and the Mason native was given a chance to make a similar impact against the Admirals.
Grand Haven forward Ben Bush nearly scored the equalizer in the 36th minute when his curling effort ricocheted off the far post and almost rolled into goalkeeper Patrick Restum’s goal.
It was a troubling moment for the Robins near the end of the half, and both teams would regroup and prepare for the final 45 minutes.
“We wanted to keep the lead and keep the pressure against them,” said Usiak coming out of halftime.
Defender Ben Derby and midfielder Lirim Shefkiu were subbed on at the beginning of the second half as Oakley rotated the squad.
The Robins had another opportunity in the 66th minute when Lirim Shefkiu’s powerful volley struck the crossbar.
“It’s a friendly game, and I wanted to see if the players were up to the task,” said Oakley.
Midfielder Trevor Towghi also made an appearance for Lansing, and Oakley praised his performance off the bench. At Trine University, Towghi has scored seven goals and recorded four assists in 32 games.
“He did everything right and created great scoring chances,” Oakley said. “It was one of the positives from tonight.”
Defender Travis Hamers’ misplayed a pass in the 81st minute that led to a free-kick for the Admirals at the top of the Robins’ box. Grand Haven midfielder Jonathan Stout’s shot found the lower-right corner of Restum’s goal to finish the scoring at 1-1.
Forwards Shady Omar and Usiak made their way back onto the field for the final nine minutes of the game in search of a winning goal, but they couldn’t secure the victory.
“I think there were moments when we were in complete control of the game, and there were others where you would think we were lucky to be in this game,” said Oakley.
With the match settled at 1-1, the Robins concluded their last friendly of the month. Their next, and final friendly will be against USL League 2 side Fort Wayne FC on July 1.
Some positive takeaways from Sunday included important minutes for role players, a fast start, and a good goalkeeping performance from Restum, according to Oakley.
The Robins’ (1-0-1) next two games in the Midwest Premier League East Division will begin at home with a reverse fixture against Inter Detroit on June 13 followed by a trip to Michigan Stars U23 on June 18. Tickets to Sunday’s matchup against Inter Detroit are available on the Lansing Common FC website.
