Joe DeLass shoots Dayton Dutch Lions FC to victory over Bucks
ROCHESTER, MI – A penalty kick in overtime led the Dayton Dutch Lions FC to a 2-1 win against the Michigan Bucks Tuesday night at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. to advance to the quarterfinal of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The Lions will meet Sporting Kansas City, who defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-0, at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. on Tuesday June 26 at 7:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. EDT.
“Fantastic! It was a very hard fought victory. I told my guys it’s not soccer anymore. It’s a war,” said Coach Ivar Van Dinteren. “We have to win it and the team that wants it the most will win the game. I’m very happy we’re with the best eight of the US Open Cup in America.”
The Lions started strong with being dangerous twice by putting the ball behind the Bucks' defense using Eli Garner's speed. This resulted in a goal in the 11th minute by Garner, assisted a through ball of Gibson Bardsley. Garner outran his opponent and chipped the ball over the Bucks goalie to put the Lions up 1-0 over the Bucks. Although the Lions tried to play through the midfield it was difficult due to the 3-5-2 formation the Bucks played making the midfield crowded and little space to play in. The Bucks slowly gained more and more possession but did not create any real danger in the first half. The best chance was for Lions midfielder Brett Jones who had an open shot from 7 yards out after Eli Garner went deep on the right side crossing the ball into the box where Jones was wide open but the goalie saved it.
In the second half the Bucks came out stronger and had a dangerous header that was saved greatly by Lions goalkeeper Matt Williams. However, in the 55th minute Bucks forward Anthony Grant tied the game after Brett Jones lost the ball at the top of the box. Both teams had another great scoring opportunity to put the game away. First Garner had a shot that went just wide off the post with Bartels close by but not being able to put his toe against it, then the Bucks had a similar situation where the ball was crossed in the small box but two players from the Bucks missed it. The score remained tied 1-1 and resulted in two 15 minute overtime periods.
In the first half of overtime the Lions took momentum again and put more pressure on the Buck defense. This resulted in the game winning goal in the 97th minute, when a foul on Gerrit-Jan Bartels resulted in a penalty kick taken by Joel DeLass. Joel let Bucks goalie no chance with a hard shot in the lower left corner for what turned out to be the game winning goal of the night.
“This is not only good for our team, it’s good for our entire organization,” said Business Manager Koen Driessen. “It is rewarding after putting so much effort in putting Dayton on the map.”
Dayton will host their next doubleheader at Careflight Field at Springboro High School with the women taking on the Virginia Beach Piranhas at 5:30 p.m. and the men follow at 8 p.m. playing the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. For season and individual game tickets, go to www.dutchlionsfc.com.