An In-Depth Look at FC Motown vs. Columbus United FC with NPSL.com’s Michael Lewis
FC Motown is not quite finished yet, thanks to the team’s exquisite finishing and solid defense on Saturday night.
The New Jersey side scored early and late in the opening half and held on to secure a 2-0 triumph over Columbus United FC in the NPSL National Semifinals at Ranger Stadium on the campus of Drew University.
FC Motown will host El Farolito, which registered a 3-0 victory over Duluth FC in the other Saturday night semifinal, at Drew University on Saturday, August 3 at 7:00 pm.
For the third time in seven years, FC Motown reached familiar territory with the win – the NPSL National Championship. The New Jersey club hosted the 2018 final but lost to Miami FC, 3-1. It came back two years later in 2022 to best Crossfire Redmond, 4-3, on its home turf.
But before FC Motown will concern itself with the California team and Saturday’s final, it wanted to enjoy another high moment in the club’s history.
“It’s always fun to win,” said Nico Nee, who scored the first goal in the fifth minute. “Playing with a team as good as they make it easy. Everything clicks together. Everyone’s fighting as much as they can.”
On both sides of the ball.
“I thought we were pretty solid, especially defensively,” team captain and Daniel Cordeiro said. “I felt as though we stuck to the game plan. I think we could have scored more goals, and maybe that’s the only flaw I would say we had but we were pretty solid. Maybe in the second half, we suffered maybe two big opportunities, and we probably could have limited them in that aspect. That could have probably improved.”
El Mahdi Youssoufi, a former member of New York City FC II (MLS NEXT Pro), set up Nee’s goal and scored one himself in the 45th minute.
Nee, who will enter his senior season at Princeton University, played in only his second game while starting his first match with the NPSL side.
“I mean, I just wanted to make an impact,” he said. “Both times I came on a chance to prove myself and play and just honestly just have fun out there. Scoring goals is fun.”
Nee discovered he was starting from another teammate.
“One of the players was the one who told me because it was on the board,” he said. “When I saw that I was just like I was excited and a little nervous, obviously. But I just wanted to take my chance.”
Which he did quite well.
Nee, who tallied twice as a late-match substitute in last week’s 5-0 win over the New York Shockers, did his damage early in this encounter. He volleyed home a long right-wing cross from Youssoufi past goalkeeper Matheus Campos at the far-left post.
“I saw the ball and there was like everyone was getting sucked into the to the ball into the near post and I was like, alright, in case the ball gets flicked over, I’m going to run to the back post,” Nee said. “And sure enough, the ball came over, just staring at the ball, like it’s going directly into my run. I anticipated it as it comes down and just put my head down and get it across the goal.”
Then Youssoufi went from playmaker to a goal-scorer, finishing a nifty passing combination that featured pin-point short passing by Maudwindo “Mo” Germain and Christopher Bermudez in the 45th minute.
Scoring early and late can boost the scoring side’s confidence and blunt the opposing team.
“I was really impressed with them was how they react in a key moment,” Columbus United head coach Brett Teach said. “They had a couple of chances they scored. They’re a great team. There’s a reason they’re in a final.”
It’s always easy to laud an attack and highlight goals, but one of FC Motown’s strengths has been its solid backline, while keeper Joshua Schaffer recorded the clean sheet.
Columbus United came close to slicing the lead in half when Rafael Kawata’s 35-yard blast bounced off the right post in the 40th minute.
“I thought they were dangerous offensively, especially on my side that winger, a left winger he was found good moments to find little pockets of space and cut in,” Cordeiro said. “I think, and one of the sequences that’s what happened and they hit the [woodwork] but I think we did a good job of limiting them.”
Nee was impressed with Columbus United’s performance, especially after the bused in from Georgia, instead of taking a plane. The team had issues with airlines returning home from the South Region final in Midland, Texas, and didn’t want to duplicate what transpired last week.
“They did well,” Nee said. “They had to take the bus up here. So, they came in at a severe disadvantage with all of that…. In the first place, traveling is super hard. To go through what they did super mentally I think that they put up a great performance despite all that gave us like a great run. If I don’t score that goal in the first five minutes it’s a completely different game.”
Columbus United completed a remarkable freshman season in the league, winning nine of its final 12 matches (9-2-1). That included five playoff wins, and four on the road en route to the South Region crown. Not a mean feat at all.
“I thought player for player, man for man, we can do fine,” Teach said. “And we did. It’s where they are a little more experienced in these moments.”
FC Motown deployed an older team, which included college players. Columbus United’s roster had college players.
“That’s just a learning experience for us, and I’m super proud of these guys,” Teach said. “This group will remember this forever.”
Photo Credit: Vinny Carchietta/NPSL.com
