Med City FC Remains Undefeated after 1-1 Draw with Minneapolis City SC

By Med City FC

Med City FC and Minneapolis City SC reached the midway point of the NPSL North Conference
season on Saturday night, as the Crows came down to Rochester for a battle of the teams holding
down the top two spots in the conference. And, in what proved to be a gritty, hard-fought game,
the two teams ended in a 1-1 draw.

Both teams had their chances in the first half. The first one fell the way of the Crows, as a fine
shot from Minneapolis City forced Med City FC goalkeeper AJ Jarvis into a sprawling save to
his right. The Mayhem would quickly return fire, as a Minneapolis City turnover in their
defensive third created a chance for Med City FC midfielder Tristan Jumeau, who fired a rocket
shot against the post. Each team had a few more chances in the half, but neither could convert
and the teams went into the locker rooms tied at 0-0 at halftime.

Med City FC would draw first blood in the 58 th minute of the second half. Halftime substitute
Emmanuel Lopez was judged to have been pushed over by a defender in the Minneapolis City
SC box, and the referee awarded the Mayhem with a penalty kick. Med City’s leading scorer,
Francisco Neto, stepped up and dispatched the penalty past Crows keeper Matt Elder to give
Med City a 1-0 lead. It was Neto’s seventh goal of the season.

The Mayhem would hold that lead all the way until the 90 th minute, when some good work by the
Crows created a chance for substitute Tim Wills to send the ball past the Med City keeper and
into the back of the net to tie the score at 1-1. Med City FC would push in injury time to grab a
late winner but none was to come and the game ended in a tie, with Med City FC retaining the
top spot in the conference and Minneapolis City SC remaining in second place, one point behind.

“We did a decent job in the first half of the game and really should have taken better advantage
of our chances,” said Med City FC head coach Neil Cassidy after the match. “But, overall, it
certainly wasn’t our best game. We weren’t as dangerous on the attack as we have been in our
other games this season, and we’ll be spending time focusing on our transition into the attack as
we prepare for the weekend. It was a rough way to drop points, giving up a goal like that so
late.”

It was, indeed, a tough end to what had been an even tougher 24 hours for Med City FC coach
Neil Cassidy. Strong storms had rolled into Rochester the night before the match and Cassidy’s
neighborhood bore the brunt of the storm, with his house sustaining extensive damage as well as
a loss of water and electricity to the home. Cassidy and his family will be picking up the pieces
from the damaging storm for the next several weeks.

Med City FC will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, as they travel to La Crosse,
Wisconsin to take on LC Aris FC.

Photo Credit: Med City FC