After going down by two goals in the first 19 minutes of play, Lansing Common FC rattled off four unanswered goals to defeat Cedars FC by a final score of 4-2 on Saturday night at Eastern Stadium.
Forward Jack Voight led Lansing to its comeback victory with his first career Midwest Premier League hat-trick. Guershom Sylvain added a hat trick of assists and a tap-in goal during stoppage time to seal the win.
Saturday’s win was the Robins’ third straight victory, witnessed by over 430 fans during the club’s celebration of Pride Night. Lansing Common now sits in second place in the Midwest Premier League’s Eastern Conference, five points behind first-place Inter Detroit with a game in hand.
“Team spirit in this team and this club in general,” head coach Josh Oakley said, crediting his club’s resolve. “It’s been that way since day one. This week has been no different. Two games coming from behind.”
Cedars wasted no time opening the scoring on Saturday night, as Mohamed Hammoud netted the match’s first goal in the fourth minute. Jack Lockerbie was then issued a yellow card just three minutes later. Another Cedars goal in the 18th minute, this time by Papa Massar, gave the visiting team a 2-0 lead and silenced the crowd at Eastern Stadium. Nothing seemed to be clicking for the Robins.
“Very slow start, things didn’t work out in midfield the way it should have,” Oakley said. “We wanted to press with sometimes six and it just did not look good. Credit to them, they played through us.”
Oakley, searching for answers to overcome an early deficit, substituted Julian Birge on during the 24th minute, hoping his veteran leadership would stabilize the young Robins side.
“Things changed from there,” Oakley said.
Birge and the Robins immediately found a rhythm, generating multiple quality chances as Cedars began to lose form. Voight would then break the ice for Lansing, scoring the Robins first goal on an assist from Sylvain in the 34th minute.
Sylvain would then find Voight again, booting a left-footed pass ahead to his wide-open teammate. Voight handled the ball on the run and slid it past Cedars goalkeeper Evan Mazurek to tie the match at two during the 43rd minute.
“We’re both very selfless people,” Sylvain said of himself and Voight. “Each of us is able to give up this to let the other one shine. That really helps our chemistry on the field. We trust each other.”
The 2-2 score would hold until halftime despite more quality chances for the Robins in the closing moments of the first half. The momentum had entirely flipped thanks to Voight’s two first-half goals, topped off with his signature front flip celebration.
Cedars began the final 45 minutes of play with four substitutions in the half’s opening moments, helping their club regain its early-game poise and halting the Robins momentum. The half remained a stalemate until the 85th minute, when Sylvain occupied multiple defenders before passing the ball to a wide-open Voight, who cut to the goal and scored to complete his hat-trick.
“It was a really emotional game,” Voight said. “We went down two goals and there were a lot of emotions when we went down. It was just relentless from the boys, we all came together.”
Lansing would carry its 3-2 lead into stoppage time. It expanded to 4-2 when Sylvain scored on an empty goal after the keeper Mazurek couldn’t secure the ball over 20 yards in front of his box. The aggressive Mazurek deflected the ball to Sylvain, who walked it in and scored all alone.
“There’s a good bond on the field,” Sylvain said. “I think that was one of the key things to our success in coming back.”
Robins players on the bench ran to the opposite side of the pitch to celebrate with Sylvain, enjoying the final moments of a decisive comeback victory. Lansing supporters at Eastern Stadium were loud all evening, fueling the club’s most entertaining win of the season.
“No one buries this team,” Oakley said. “This team is going to answer every single thing.”
Lansing Common will look to extend its three-game win streak on Tuesday against Metro Louisville FC. The match is Lansing’s first contest in the NISA Independent Cup. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Eastern Stadium. Tickets are available online or at the gate.
Making History
Voight’s hat-trick is the third all-time in Lansing Common history. Before Saturday, the most recent Robins hat-trick occurred last Wednesday, June 15, when Ramzi Shaheen netted three goals against Detroit Union FC. The first hat-trick in the history of the club was scored by Shady Omar on June 13, 2021 against Inter Detroit.
After Saturday’s hat-trick, first-year forward Voight now has a team-leading five goals this season. Voight’s five career goals are the third-highest total in club history behind Birge (7 goals) and Omar (9 goals).
Sylvain’s three-assist performance on Saturday tied Ty Usiak’s club record for assists in a single game. Usiak’s three-assist game occurred last Wednesday against Detroit Union.
Goalkeeper Ethan Brandt recorded seven saves on Saturday against Cedars FC, tying his own club record for saves in a single game. His previous seven-save performance happened last Wednesday against Detroit Union.
Brandt needs just seven more saves to become the club’s all-time leading shot-stopper. For his Lansing Common career, Brandt has 28 saves. Zac Kelly’s 34 saves in the 2021 season are currently the most in club history.
