This is the second year of the Michigan Milk Cup's existence, and despite the format change, the Mighty Oak will continue on to become the only winners of the cup in its young history. Over two legs AFC trumped Oakland County FC with an aggregate score of 4-1 despite resting some of their key starters. Surely the hope is that this win can help propel momentum in the team forward to Friday's meeting with Grand Rapids FC.
What Happened:
Action kicked off in the match almost immediately with a shot in the second minute from OCFC's Mario Morana hitting the post. This was followed quickly up by a vital save by AFC's keeper for the evening Tito Ramirez on a shot from Dylan Borczak in the fourth. This was a bright start for OCFC, but AFC were able to quickly respond with a shot of their own from AZ Liadi. This hot start in the first ten minutes on a hot day set the tone for the action. AFC would get the better of the chances: an Alec Lasinski shot going just wide, a low cross from Stephen Turnbull unable to find anyone in the box, but finally in the 34th minute, Liadi was chopped out on his run in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. A short water break followed, but after that Kyle Breitmeyer converted in the 37th to give the Mighty Oak the 1-0 lead on the match as he chipped the keeper. The 1-0 scoreline would hold as we entered halftime.
The second half started with a similarly crisp pace to it as AFC had, one more than one occasion, control of mad scrambles in the box where they just couldn't seem to get the luck of the roll. Lasinski, in particular, was hard done by getting no goal on the evening, but not for lack of trying. His lovely soft touch on a ball in the box seemed like it could skirt past the keeper, but Cary Wilson, the Oakland County keeper, was able to save it out for a corner. Just a couple minutes later, Lasinski was given a nice through ball and was free to score and found the net, but it was ruled out for offside. Eventually, Lasinski played his part in finding the net as Breitmeyer delivered a lovely ball sending him through, Lasinski took a good, hard first touch to send him to the line, and delivered a cross in to set up the easy goal for Liadi.
A little under ten minutes later, Moco Watson would give up a penalty in what was could have been seen as a bit of a harsh call as he and the attacker were indeed shoulder-to-shoulder. Kaveon Dux, the solid winger, would convert with Oakland County got at least one goal back. However this was ultimately too little, too late and AFC continued to get the better of the chances. Baba Valdmanis came on as a sub and made a massive impact, including putting a shot on goal, having it deflect off an Oakland County defender's shoulder, resulting in the shot hitting the inside of the post and going out. Again, in the 85th, we saw an offside goal as Valdmanis tapped in a pass from Marlon Freitas, who did wonderfully to set him up on a platter, but the linesman ruled this to be offside as well. AFC well and truly got the better of Oakland County FC yet again and, as a result, will be advancing to take on one of Lansing United, Kalamazoo FC, or Grand Rapids FC.
How Did This Happen:
AFC weathered the storms when that was necessary to do, but for the majority of the match they were the team on the front foot and dictating the game's pace. Even without multiple starters (Yuri Farkas, Marc Ybarra, JP Rylah, Mike Novotny, both first-choice center-backs, among others) the 2-1 scoreline seemed like it could easily have been 4-1 or 5-1. This is in no small part to those who earned their moment.
Alec Lasinski has played a part in the majority of the Mighty Oak's matches, but as a starter today he truly shined. On the pitch, he put himself consistently in dangerous positions and had so many opportunities to score, it seemed unbelievable that not one found the net (in a legal manner). His assist was the result of fantastic team build-up before he even touched the ball, but his heavy first touch was brilliant and got him in perfect position to deliver the cross to AZ Liadi. Liadi is another player who really shone on this warm Memorial Day and his goal was earned. With those two and Kyle Breitmeyer leading the front line, it was a statement as to what sort of depth Ann Arbor have this season, which is important in times like this when you have a key league match Friday and have to finish a job that was already close to its conclusion.
Not to be outlooked, however, was a man who I felt was absolutely outstanding: Jack Cawley. The center-back was a rock in the defense and despite a back-line who had not seen much action all together, and his partner Watson having seen more time at full-back, he helped keep the side organized and tidy. He had a vital intervention on an OCFC long-ball over the top where, if it had dropped, would have left the OCFC man all alone with the keeper. He also had a big clearance on a second ball off a corner in front of the mouth of goal. There is a very good argument for Cawley's being man of the match this afternoon, but I must give my vote to Lasinski. That said, this was a very professional team outing. The entire eleven, as well as all of the substitutes, knew what to do, how to seal the game off, but (perhaps just as impressively) how to maintain pressure and provides attacking waves against their opposition.
Final Thoughts:
While this didn't earn three points towards the NPSL Great Lakes Division race, it is always nice to progress forward in a cup and take yourself one step closer to raising a trophy on the Fourth of July. The semi-finals, with three very good teams still remaining, will provide two legs of excitement and the draw will be eagerly anticipated as AFC fans will get one more home game on the schedule. The Mighty Oak play Grand Rapids FC on June 1st back at Eastern Michigan University in a meeting of the first and second placed teams in the division. From there, AFC will head down to Ohio to take on FC Columbus, who are fresh off a 3-1 victory over Kalamazoo FC. This is a very important stretch of the season, Ann Arbor have two key games on the horizon, and hope to take six points away from them.
Follow me on Twitter @RMABTweets for live coverage of AFC Ann Arbor games, Liverpool FC news and updates, as well as Michigan basketball news and updates.
The second half started with a similarly crisp pace to it as AFC had, one more than one occasion, control of mad scrambles in the box where they just couldn't seem to get the luck of the roll. Lasinski, in particular, was hard done by getting no goal on the evening, but not for lack of trying. His lovely soft touch on a ball in the box seemed like it could skirt past the keeper, but Cary Wilson, the Oakland County keeper, was able to save it out for a corner. Just a couple minutes later, Lasinski was given a nice through ball and was free to score and found the net, but it was ruled out for offside. Eventually, Lasinski played his part in finding the net as Breitmeyer delivered a lovely ball sending him through, Lasinski took a good, hard first touch to send him to the line, and delivered a cross in to set up the easy goal for Liadi.
A little under ten minutes later, Moco Watson would give up a penalty in what was could have been seen as a bit of a harsh call as he and the attacker were indeed shoulder-to-shoulder. Kaveon Dux, the solid winger, would convert with Oakland County got at least one goal back. However this was ultimately too little, too late and AFC continued to get the better of the chances. Baba Valdmanis came on as a sub and made a massive impact, including putting a shot on goal, having it deflect off an Oakland County defender's shoulder, resulting in the shot hitting the inside of the post and going out. Again, in the 85th, we saw an offside goal as Valdmanis tapped in a pass from Marlon Freitas, who did wonderfully to set him up on a platter, but the linesman ruled this to be offside as well. AFC well and truly got the better of Oakland County FC yet again and, as a result, will be advancing to take on one of Lansing United, Kalamazoo FC, or Grand Rapids FC.
How Did This Happen:
AFC weathered the storms when that was necessary to do, but for the majority of the match they were the team on the front foot and dictating the game's pace. Even without multiple starters (Yuri Farkas, Marc Ybarra, JP Rylah, Mike Novotny, both first-choice center-backs, among others) the 2-1 scoreline seemed like it could easily have been 4-1 or 5-1. This is in no small part to those who earned their moment.
Alec Lasinski has played a part in the majority of the Mighty Oak's matches, but as a starter today he truly shined. On the pitch, he put himself consistently in dangerous positions and had so many opportunities to score, it seemed unbelievable that not one found the net (in a legal manner). His assist was the result of fantastic team build-up before he even touched the ball, but his heavy first touch was brilliant and got him in perfect position to deliver the cross to AZ Liadi. Liadi is another player who really shone on this warm Memorial Day and his goal was earned. With those two and Kyle Breitmeyer leading the front line, it was a statement as to what sort of depth Ann Arbor have this season, which is important in times like this when you have a key league match Friday and have to finish a job that was already close to its conclusion.
Not to be outlooked, however, was a man who I felt was absolutely outstanding: Jack Cawley. The center-back was a rock in the defense and despite a back-line who had not seen much action all together, and his partner Watson having seen more time at full-back, he helped keep the side organized and tidy. He had a vital intervention on an OCFC long-ball over the top where, if it had dropped, would have left the OCFC man all alone with the keeper. He also had a big clearance on a second ball off a corner in front of the mouth of goal. There is a very good argument for Cawley's being man of the match this afternoon, but I must give my vote to Lasinski. That said, this was a very professional team outing. The entire eleven, as well as all of the substitutes, knew what to do, how to seal the game off, but (perhaps just as impressively) how to maintain pressure and provides attacking waves against their opposition.
Final Thoughts:
While this didn't earn three points towards the NPSL Great Lakes Division race, it is always nice to progress forward in a cup and take yourself one step closer to raising a trophy on the Fourth of July. The semi-finals, with three very good teams still remaining, will provide two legs of excitement and the draw will be eagerly anticipated as AFC fans will get one more home game on the schedule. The Mighty Oak play Grand Rapids FC on June 1st back at Eastern Michigan University in a meeting of the first and second placed teams in the division. From there, AFC will head down to Ohio to take on FC Columbus, who are fresh off a 3-1 victory over Kalamazoo FC. This is a very important stretch of the season, Ann Arbor have two key games on the horizon, and hope to take six points away from them.
Follow me on Twitter @RMABTweets for live coverage of AFC Ann Arbor games, Liverpool FC news and updates, as well as Michigan basketball news and updates.
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