USL W LEAGUE: Detroit City FC topples Kalamazoo FC, gains a little help from some friends to clinch Great Lakes Division championship
- Dan Stickradt
- Jul 1
- 4 min read
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
Sterling defense, six shutouts aids DCFC to second consecutive postseason
KALAMAZZO, Mich. – A known goal scorer, Kayla Addison is the oldest player on Detroit City FC’s roster.
The talented 31-year-old striker scored a hat trick Saturday to help Detroit City FC down host Kalamazoo FC 3-1 in an USL W League Great Lakes Division regular season finale at Riverfront Stadium.
While Addison registered the team’s first hat trick this season, the Le Rouge gained a little bit of help the following day – and from an unlikely source.
Toledo Villa captured just its second win of the season Sunday – and it was quite a big one. Toledo took down USL W League ninth-ranked AFC Ann Arbor 3-2. Ann Arbor had led the table in the Great Lakes Division all season until the final day.
Talk about the right time to queue up Joe Cocker’s ‘With A Little Help From My Friends.’
Needing a win and three points to guarantee the divisional championship – Ann Arbor drove home empty handed Sunday as the Mighty Oak stalled out at 20 points. Meanwhile, Detroit City FC gained the three points on Saturday to jettison up to 22 points and ended up winning the Great Lakes Division title by two points over AFC Ann Arbor.
At one time, Ann Arbor opened the season ranked No. 1 in the USL W League Power Rankings after a fine start. The Mighty Oak finished a respectable 6-2-2 overall but tailed off slightly with a 17-12 scoring edge this season in 10 games.
AFC Ann Arbor actually defeated Detroit City FC twice by identical 2-1 scores with those wins coming on May 17 and again just over one week ago on June 21. The Mighty Oak just couldn’t beat the last-place team in the Great Lakes Division in Toledo Villa (2-7-1, seven points) on the last day of the regular season.
Meanwhile, Detroit City FC improved to 7-2-1 on the season and with those precious 22 points in the standings secured its second straight Great Lakes Division championship.
The Le Rouge were consistent this season, as goalkeepers Charlotte Huggard (Marquette), Allison LaPoint (Central Michigan) and Kerstyn Williams (Lourdes) combined for six shutouts in 10 games and the team held a 19-6 scoring edge in those 10 contests. By the math, that’s a 0.60 goals-against-average as a team.
Addison – a graduate of Detroit Country Day and Grand Valley State University – only had one goal on the season before netting the hat trick on Saturday, scoring in the 30th, 48th and 82nd minutes. Bailey Korhorn scored for Kalamazoo FC (5-4-1, 16 points) in the 44th minute to level the game at 1-1.
Third place Kalamazoo FC finished with a respectable 21-14 scoring edge but along with AFC Ann Arbor are left on the outside looking in when glancing at the USL W League postseason brackets. Only the 15 divisional champions plus one at-large wild card team from the South Conference are invited to the postseason party.
DCFC, which averaged just 1.90 goals-per-game, was led in the regular season by Addison and Hannah Crum (Aquinas College), who finished with four goals and an assist. Kate Childers (two goals), Sophia Romine (two goals, two assists) and Mary Karolak (two goals, one assist) led a blanched offense in terms of points being spread around. The 19 goals is tied for 19th in the USL W League which featured a record 93 teams this season.
Childers (University of Minnesota), Romine (Grand Valley State) and Mary Karolak (Illinois) are currently established college players.
The league’s top offensive team was Utah United – and by a large margin. Utah United (9-1-0) won the Mountain Division title with 27 points and a stellar 61-5 scoring edge with six shutouts this season.
Detroit City’s success has been blessed with steady goalkeeping but more importantly solid and consistent defense in one of the more competitive divisions out there in terms of overall talent. There were 13 teams in the USL W League that allowed single digits goals – Salmon Bay FC allowed just two goals this season and Minnesota Aurora FC conceded four goals. Detroit City FC’s six goals allowed tied for seventh in the league.
Melinda Hathaway (Notre Dame), Mary Karolak (Illinois), Acadia Murphy (Ball State) and Maia Soulis (Michigan State) started on defense against Kalamazoo FC, while Sophia Enwright (Utah Valley State) and Alexandra Karolak (Washington University) also gained minutes defensively in the win. There are 13 different players on the roster who have spent time along the back line this season for DCFC.
Detroit City FC will take on Kings Hammer FC-Cincinnati at 10:30 a.m. July 4 at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh for its Round of 16 playoff game. The Pittsburgh Riveters and Minnesota Aurora will face off in the 1 p.m. game that follows.
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