Lansing Common FC earned its second victory in the Midwest Premier League East Division as they cruised past a depleted Inter Detroit in a 4-0 victory at Eastern Stadium. Forward Shady Omar scored the first-ever hat trick in the club’s young history, and midfielder Julian Birge bagged his second goal of the season.
Lansing were victors in a challenging 2-1 match at Evolution Sportsplex back on May 28, but this time, they put on a scoring clinic in front of their home crowd.
“The entire team was on top of everything and worked hard,” Omar said. “It made it easy for us to get these goals.”
Lansing started the game with their first-choice goalkeeper, Zac Kelly, who helped secure a clean sheet, another first for the Robins this season.
Defenders Josh Adam and Aidan O’Connor started their second consecutive game together at center-back and looked comfortable against Inter forwards Jose Aguilar and Gabriel Baylon.
The opening goal came in the 14th minute when a free kick taken by defender Kyle Scott found forward Ty Usiak on the right-wing near Inter’s box. Usiak flew past the Inter defender on the dribble and crossed the ball to Omar, who tapped it in with his left foot inside the six-yard box.
It was the quick start to the game that head coach Josh Oakley was looking for.
“I knew that if I scored that, it was going to string some more goals (together),” Omar said.
Inter Detroit players continued to press forward and force turnovers, but they were unable to capitalize going forward.
At the 35-minute mark, Usiak had a nearly-identical run that saw him go past the right side of the Inter defense, but before he had the opportunity to shoot, he was fouled.
The foul resulted in a penalty kick for Lansing, and Omar stepped up to take it. The current Eastern Illinois Panther shot the ball past Inter goalkeeper Chris Sayles to make it 2-0.
Before the second goal, Lansing subbed on midfielders Trevor Towghi and Noah Canlas for Munir Sherali and Esteban Russell. Towghi was crucial in retaining possession and moving the ball quickly up the field.
Lansing finished the first half with a two-goal lead and was sparked by the solid partnership of Omar and Usiak.
Coming out of the halftime break, Oakley emphasized the importance of closing the game with a clean sheet, he said.
“This (game) sparked a lot of confidence not just for our team but for our offensive unit, which did really well today, especially in the first 30 minutes,” said Omar.
Inter made two important substitutions when they brought defender Luis Borjas and forward Bruce Turner into the game.
Usiak once again displayed his ability to create chances down the right-wing when he crossed a ball to Towghi, but Towghi’s powerful shot was denied by Sayles.
Shortly after Towghi’s effort, Canlas delivered a corner kick that sailed past Inter defenders in the box and found Birge at the far post, who confidently tapped it past Sayles.
Birge made it 3-0 at the 55th minute and claimed his second goal of the MWPL season against the same Inter side he scored against three weeks ago.
Lansing defender Dante Morrissette almost scored his first goal for the club after his header from a corner kick was saved off the goal line by Sayles.
With no signs of slowing down after 70 minutes, Lansing continued defending well and pushed for another goal.
At the 77th minute, Morrissette made an exceptional pass to forward Joshua Rosendale on the left-wing, and Rosendale was immediately fouled by Inter while on his way to goal. Lansing coaches and players believed it to be a clear scoring opportunity and appealed for a red card, but Inter defender Shane Renshaw was only shown a yellow.
Omar lined up the free kick from 25 yards out, and his curling shot found the top-right corner of Sayles’ goal. Omar’s third goal of the night secured the 4-0 win for Lansing.
His splendid third goal capped off an electric night for Lansing, and they gained three crucial points in style.
“I think this (win) was important for the team, and personally, it’s a huge confidence booster,” said Omar.
Lansing will prepare for two away trips this week when they travel to face the Michigan Stars U23 side on Friday, June 18 at 7 p.m. and Livonia City FC on Sunday, June 20 at 8 p.m. Both matches will be live-streamed on the away club’s MyCujoo page.
Lansing Common’s next home game is June 26 against BiH Grand Rapids. Tickets are available online.
