DECOSEMO GOAL HELPS LANSING UNITED EARN POINT AGAINST GRAND RAPIDS

After an extended goal drought, Lansing United was looking for any kind of idea to put the ball in the back of the net. They turned to a midfielder starting his first game at forward in his three years at the club.

James DeCosemo delivered his second career goal for the Hoops just 26 seconds into the second half to earn a point in a 1-1 draw against Grand Rapids FC.

“It’s where I played for college all season (at Northwood) so I know what I’m doing,” DeCosemo said. “It’s not my favorite position but anywhere I can get on the field, I am happy to play.”

Dewey Lewis sent a perfectly weighted pass in behind a defender where DeCosemo ran on to it and slipped it under the keeper’s hands for the fastest goal to start a half in United’s history.

“We wanted to come out fast,” DeCosemo added. “I noticed the guy stepping forward, so I went in behind and Dewey played a great ball.”

The adrenaline from DeCosemo’s goal gave the Hoops a spark. Goal scorer DeCosemo and midfielder Tim Daniels had two very strong shots on goal in the 50th minute, forcing a double save by GRFC keeper Noah Fazekas.

Grand Rapids had taken the lead in the 13th minute when Scott Doney picked up a bobbling ball that Johannes Sterobo couldn’t handle. But the visitors did not put a shot on goal after the 30th minute in the match and Lansing carried the play for the last 60 minutes.

“We chose to be positive even when we weren’t scoring for a couple of games,” Lansing head coach Nate Miller concluded. “Maybe it looked like from the outside that these guys were scrambling, these guys didn’t get too low and there are more goals there for us. The style of play that I have here, it takes some time to get a feeling for it. I hope the fans were entertained because these guys really put in a full shift.”

The Hoops will continue their homestand when they take on AFC Ann Arbor on June 10th at the East Lansing Soccer Complex.