Napa Valley 1839 FC Blanked by Detroit City FC in Home Opener

by Napa Valley 1839 FC

Napa Valley 1839 FC opened its 2019 NPSL Members Cup homestand with a disappointing 4-0
loss to Detroit City FC in front of just under 1,000 spectators at Dodd Stadium in Napa
California.

Napa Valley 1839 FC was seeking to gain their first points of the season after dropping their
inaugural match 2-0 on the road against the Milwaukee Torrent. Unfortunately this wasn’t
meant to be for the wine country side after a shocking 4-0 Detroit City FC advantage just 21
minutes into the first half.

From the opening whistle Detroit pressured and found themselves up in the scoreboard after only
11 minutes of play. Detroit defender Marcello Borges would connect with Cyrus Saydee on a
throw in who went on to feed Yazeed Matthews for his first of two goals of the evening. Just
four minutes later Detroit midfielder Danny Deakin would get a hard whipping shot past Napa
goalkeeper Zachary Price for the second goal of the night. Ryan Peterson was awarded with the
assist.

Peterson gained another assist in the 17th minute, feeding Matthews after a nice counter attack.
Matthews would slot the ball past Price for his second goal in the evening.

In the 20th minute, Price would get a touch on Detroit’s Bakie Goodman’s foot in the box and
the referee was left with no choice but to call the penalty in favor of the visitors. Cyrus Saydee
would get the ball past Price for the fourth goal.

Napa’s first substitutions would come in the 26th minute. Osvaldo Velazquez and Francisco
Mendoza would enter the match to reinforce the midfield.

“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t perform for all the fans that came out tonight. There was no
shape,” Napa Valley 1839 FC General Manager Tom Shutt said. “We will review the tape and
get to work for our upcoming match against Chattanooga FC at home. We may be the most
inexperienced club in the competition but there’s small things we can fix that will help us
improve.”

And indeed Napa was never able to find their shape during the match, struggling to create
opportunities and disrupt Detroit goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher.

Former Academica SC goalkeeper Alonso Lara would make his Napa Valley 1839 FC debut,
replacing Zachary Price at halftime.

For the next 45 minutes a comeback seemed impossible for the home team but Napa’s
performance improved being able to string more passes together. It wasn’t until the 60th minute
when forward Iván Sakou got a shot at Detroit’s goal for it to be saved by Steinwascher.

The second half would remain scoreless with the first dangerous play coming in the 75th minute
after Detroit’s Diego Casielles hit the crossbar on a free kick opportunity.

Detroit remains undefeated and leader of the Members Cup table with six points while Napa
remains at the bottom with zero points. Both clubs will meet again on September 28th at
Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Michigan.

Napa Valley 1839 FC will now turn their focus to prepare for their September 1st showdown
against Chattanooga FC at Dodd Stadium. Detroit City FC will enter a bye week before hosting
Milwaukee Torrent on September 14th at Keyworth Stadium.

Photo Credit: Mario Cendejas