LANSING, Mich – Lansing Common suffered their first defeat of the season Sunday, falling 2-1 to Victory Soccer in a friendly match.
Victory Soccer wasted little time making an impact, opening the scoring in the ninth minute to take an early lead. Lansing Common struggled to find an equalizer before halftime and entered the break trailing 1-0.
“I think our main focus was energy, coming out of halftime,” assistant coach Josh Rosendale said while stepping in as head coach for today’s match. “Our goal was really just taking it to them and not letting them get the front foot was one of the big keys.”
The adjustment paid off in the 54th minute when reserve player Liam Antcliff found the back of the net, leveling the match 1-1.
Sunday’s friendly also provided an opportunity for several reserve players to showcase their ability against a quality opponent.
“Some of those guys haven’t received minutes in the first team yet and are still trying to break into it,” Rosendale said. “I think in a game like this, against a team like that, they showed a lot of good things getting done.”
Victory Soccer regained the lead in the 81st minute when Ali Sabbagh netted his second goal of the match, putting the visitors ahead 2-1. Lansing Common was unable to respond late and Victory Soccer secured the win.
The Robins now face their busiest stretch of the season, beginning with a road matchup against 1927 SC on Wednesday in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The two sides met earlier this season in the match that ended as a 1-1 draw after a late equalizer from Spencer Powe on the final kick of the game.
“We do have some film on them [1927 SC] so we are going to review that. See what we did and didn’t do so well in that game and train for that this week in practice,” said Rosendale in preparation for this week’s game.
The Robins will return home on Saturday, June 6, at 6:00 p.m. to face off against Tulip City United SC on Pride Night. Tickets are just $5 online or $7 at the gate.
