NISA: Week 1
Week one in NISA finally happened. After weeks of uncertainty and concern, we got actual soccer between actual NISA sides. 9 goals in two matches is certainly a shocking way to kick the season off, but we’ll definitely take it! NISA+ kicked off as the new league streaming site and, aside from some choppiness in the broadcast, worked as good as any other streaming platform the league has used so far.
Michigan Stars 3 - 2 Savannah Clovers
On our podcast, we predicted 3 goals for Michigan Stars, but we didn’t expect much fight out of Savannah. The Georgia club has been rumored to be in dire financial straights and some had speculated they wouldn’t be playing at all in week one. But the team showed up in Michigan and they SHOWED UP.
Coming off a big win in round two of the USOC, Stars were expected to run away from this, but with the entire 2nd team squad starting, the match was much closer than expected! The first half brought the first goal of the season and the first professional goal for Praise Maduekwe. The Niger-born striker caught everyone off guard on a route-one goal. Third-string Stars keeper Michael Harre kicked the ball deep, which was flicked on by the Stars, and bounced high towards the Savannah goal keeper, Jack Crichton. Maduekwe outhustled Crichton and tapped it over him for the easiest goal he’ll score all season. 1-0 Stars. That scoreline would hold through halftime.
The second half saw Savannah come out firing on all cylinders. Going against a still mostly second-string Stars team, the visiting side was connecting and moving the ball easily. First-string goalkeeper Mkuruva subbed in, but it didn’t stop the Clovers from finding an equalizer in the 57th minute. A corner kick found the head of defender Lester Hayes and he put it into the back of the net, 1-1. Savannah’s second goal came in the 85th minute from another set piece. Jedidiah McCloud, who had assisted on the first goal, put a low cross into the box. The Stars’ defenders looked somewhat surprised and Corey Lundeen pounced on it and scored. It was a bit shocking to see Clovers ahead against Michigan Stars at home, but the lead evaporated quickly.
Stars would find both the equalizer and the winner in extra time. The first would come on a corner kick that went far post, Robert Juncaj headed the ball back in front of the goal and Open Cup Round One hero Niels Lellouch put it home. Just two minutes later, in the last minute of extra time, Elias McCloud would find a bouncing ball on the run and take a long range shot that beat the keeper for the winner.
The win wasn’t pretty for Michigan, but there’s plenty of reasons for that. The team is resting most of its starters for its upcoming Open Cup match against Detroit City and certainly wasn’t focused on a short-staffed Savannah roster. On Savannah’s side, it’s a real gut punch to be up after 90 minutes and give up two goals in extra time. If this team can hold this roster together, they may have more fight in them than we expected.
LA Force 2 - 2 Irvine Zeta FC
Both John Howard-Fusco and myself thought this match would be a good one and it didn’t disappoint. These teams have signed some real talent and both have shined in preseason and Open Cup matches. We were confident that this would be a battle of West coast contenders. Visually, it was a NISA special with LA in black and Izzy in white.
Starting off, Force certainly were on the front foot, nearly scoring multiple times in the first 15 minutes. I was convinced they would score, given their chances, but Zeta settled the match down and got some chances of their own as the half progressed. Regardless of the chances, neither side managed to get a goal into the net in the first half and it ended 0-0.
The second half began the opposite of the first with Izzy FC getting the best of the chances. And after 20 minutes, they finally found the breakthrough when a long cross found a wide-open Greg Stratton in the box. He didn’t mess around and roofed it past the keeper. Minutes later, the visitors would grab another goal to go up by 2. On a set piece, Edson Alvarado put a beautiful cross into the danger zone and another Izzy defender, Alex Culwell would convert with a high header that beat the keeper into the corner of the goal. You might think a two goal lead in the 72nd minute might be enough to get comfortable, but LA Force proved that wrong.
On a bouncing rebound that came well out of the box, substitute Bryan Ortega absolutely drilled it for the first LA goal of the evening. Spectacular shot that the announcers called a “golazo.” With ten minutes to play, LA was back in the hunt. And they’d find the equalizer on one of the wildest plays of the night. Dante Brigida took a masterful run into the box, beating three defenders with a stunning display of skill, only to get knocked the ground, when the ball rolled to the feet of Jose Salvador Montes de Oca. “Chile” blasted it off the bottom of the crossbar for the shocking extra-time equalizer.
Absolute barn-burner of a match that started as a goalless stalemate. Tons to be excited about how this western conference battle will play out. Seems clear that these two teams will be in the hunt at the end.
- Dan Vaughn