EAST LANSING, Mich —Despite falling behind early, Lansing United managed to fight their way back into the match to secure a draw against the West Virginia Chaos.
“We battled really hard. It was an interesting game, it was a difficult one,” said United head coach Nate Miller. “We played really well, we moved them all over the place, created a ton of chances. There were just some difficult circumstances.
The Chaos opened their scoring early when Marcelo Hernandez glided a ball past United goalkeeper Joe White. Lansing nearly struck back soon after, when midfielder and team captain Dejuan Jones managed to launch a promising shot at West Virginia’s goalkeeper Alexander Ashton. However it was ultimately turned away and the Hoops entered the locker room trailing 1-0.
As the sun broke through the clouds, United managed to break through and pull back even with a 59th minute goal from Danny Wright.
“I was happy to get the first goal, but unfortunately we couldn’t get another,” said Wright. “We should have won.”
The Chaos broke the deadlock shortly afterwards, when Rian Marques scored in the 68th minute to make it 2-1 for West Virginia. Following the goal, the grounds fell silent as defender Alex Sokalski remained down after the play. He was tended to by trainers and escorted to the locker room.
As the second half entered its later phases, United was awarded a penalty kick after a Chaos defender swept the legs of Jones as he entered the box. Kosti Moni walked up to the spot and beat Ashton to level the game.
“I was ready to take it, but Kosti said ‘Dejuan I got it’ and he looked confident so I gave it to him,” said Jones. “I was glad to see him finish it.”
“The other team was chirping in my ear, telling me I was going to miss it, but I just blasted it down the middle,” said Moni.
In the final minutes Lansing began to bombard Ashton with quality chances, and West Virginia nearly snuck in a goal in stoppage time. However, both goalkeepers proved steadfast and kept the game in a deadlock.
United’s next game will be on the road, when the Hoops travel to Cincinnati to face the Dutch Lions on June 29th.
