Tola Showunmi casually knocks a pass back to Serrano for the recycle before scoring the winning goal for Lou City.
LL Cool J said not to call it a comeback, so we’re just calming acknowledging that we - Lou City - we been here for years. To be more precise, we been in the USL, eastern division since 2015. The last time that we been in the division final match was 2023. So we ready to be back. (We ready.) And yes, we - Lou City - did come back from an 0-2 score at half to win the match 3-2, so that was pretty fun. We lost in the first round of the playoffs last year, so we not ready then.
But to be fair, in 2025, we - Lou City - won the Players Shield. Some (like my editor/ husband) would call that more impressive than a playoff run to win the championship, but he’s not writing this article, is he? It might be more impressive in the way that if I show you my Math Counts trophy from 8th grade, you would be impressed (it’s shaped like a right triangle), but because you didn’t see me taking all those math tests or competing in live action math problem solving, it’s not very exciting. Playoff wins are exciting. You have to be “on” for a steady amount of time, and if you lose, you go home. You cry into your jersey and hope your girlfriend/ wife/ children don’t see you. (It’s okay if your mama sees you, she’s crying with you.) So the playoff wins, and eventually a championship game win, is just so much better than a shield that you play frisbee with on the pitch with your teammates. It’s no math written exam, but it’s okay.
Also okay, some pictures from last night’s match. I have watched the three Lou City goals seventy-five times but I’m still unclear on who did what/ when/ how. It all happened so fast. Through in-depth analysis of pictures, I’m confident that we can figure it out. So just like Muhammad Ali, they call him Cassius, watch us bash this, Miami FC like a skull.
I think that’s legally all that I can quote that song before somebody comes to knock me out.
The night started out with a gorgeous sunset. Josh Jones was warming up the pitch (!!!) and while the keepers were warming up and most of the crowd was still shopping for hot dogs, Danny Faundez played catch with a couple of lucky tiny soccer fans in their seats. Days made. Joe Vala filled the stadium with his amazing rendition of the national anthem. Sting proceeded to drag the Lou City flag across the pitch before waving it into a wrap around the pole. Nonstop entertainment. Enjoy a mishmash of a gallery.
Before the players take the pitch, Coach Simon Bird asks Assistant Coach Paolo DelPiccolo if he has any Grey Poupon.
Captain Kyle Adams is surprised to learn that Jack Harlow, after announcing a new album this week, was promoting the Lou City match and may actually be in the stadium. Yes, Kyle, this stadium! Tonight!
Amadou Dia appears to have something on his mind. Is it Georgia? Is it Texas, or maybe Boston? I do my best to stay up with the latest country music because of the brilliance of the lyrics. (What happens when you play country music backwards? You get your girl back, you get your truck back…) Anyway, I play country music in my house on every day of the week except the days that end in Y.
Here we have Jansen Wilson and Taylor serving up an appetizer of a free kick before we gorge ourselves on corner kicks in the second half.
There are not many moments from the first half that we want to recognize but Chris Donovan’s header here is one of them.
Not only was that a brilliant vertical but it gave me some insight to a long-standing question of mine - does holding the end of your sleeve over your hand prevent you from earning a handball? Is that why college girls forgo their coats and settle for hoodies with long sleeves? It’s not because they’re cold, but they want to be ready in case they literally run into a soccer player and ball.
There were a lot of questionable calls when it came to possession. It was no wonder that teams wanted to argue with the referee. It was also an excellent time waster, and as soon as Miami had the lead, they suddenly had a lot more questions for the referee, a lot of shoes that came untied, and at one point I think their keeper was hosting a zoom call rather than kick the ball into play. Here, Ray Serrano had had enough, and he snatched the ball from Miami’s #9 like a mom taking a toy from two fighting toddlers.
The first half featured a couple almost goals - one that just looked like it had the making of a goal, courtesy of Aiden McFadden leaning like a Smooth Criminal, and the other that was a goal but was called back because somebody was offside.
That’s literally all that happened in the first half. Hard to believe that took 45 minutes but it sure did. Media asked Coach Bird about the halftime discussion in the locker room (did he promise to take everyone for hot chocolate if they came out strong in the 2nd half?) but he said it was business as usual, and he encouraged everyone to continue to believe that they were going to win. Down 0-2 at halftime could be discouraging to some, but not Lou City. They came out and set up in front of Miami’s goal and put on a clinic.
Donovan subbed in for Zach Duncan this week for the Flat Dunco series. Hmm, not quite the same. Not to say that Zach didn’t get a little shove to the ground in the second half, but since it was part of a kerfuffle, he popped back and set the Miami player straight.
Setting up for a free kick, Aiden McFadden confesses to Taylor Davila that he can’t tell Taylor and Evan apart.
Until that 89th minute, we were all Lenny Garcia.
In the category of Disappointing Goals Because We Really Had a Good Opportunity but the Poles are Too Close Together, may I present Babacar’s 7-10 split of Miami players for a nice view of the net. Sadly, he did not pick up the spare.
“Put me in, Coach.” Upright Zach Duncan.
Thankfully, Coach read Zach’s mind and also put Tola Showunmi in. Dayes and Morris also subbed in. New look at the action near the net.
See that last little shot from Tola, Donovan got on the end of it and found the back of the net. To say the stadium went wild is like calling Muhammad Ali a good boxer. The collective sigh of relief and renewed spark of hope came at the 79th minute of the match. While fans were high fiving, Donovan high-tailed it (ball in tow) to midfield to keep things moving. 2-1 was nice but still a loss if the match ends now.
Quick notes from coach and kudos from colleagues before play starts again.
Did I mention how the Boys in Purple camped out in front of Miami’s goal? Miami didn’t love this and kept kicking the ball out of bounds. Sometimes, that won them possession, but most times it gave Lou City a corner kick. Even after 75 corner kicks, the players were still surprised when the ball appeared out of the corner. Maybe it should be called a “ball coming your way” kick?
Quick look in at corner kicks 1, 2, 3, 17, 25, 41, and 73.
Ryan Troutman kicked off the Miami keeper taunting in style. He twisted and bounced his way to hearing distance and I’d give my autographed Lou City ball to know what he said. (JK, that sucker is on my mantle.) A fast learner, Cooper Conley extended his warm-up space to get just close enough to also provide some words of encouragement. With all the time wasting the keeper was doing, they had time to read him The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.
Meanwhile, Ryan Schewe had so much free time and space at his end of the pitch, he started a book club. He and few nearby fans read A Tell-Tale Heart, also by Poe.
While fans were speculating on the amount of stoppage time we’d have to get that 2nd goal, Ray Serrano was running towards the ball so that he could one-touch that boy into the net to tie it up. If he’d dribbled a bit, I might have had a chance to get him in focus, but then we might not have gotten that goal. I’ll take the blurry photo, please and thank you.
Finally, the boys can celebrate, no matter how long it takes. Lou City 2-Miami 2
During the celebration, Coach told the team that he had a vision of a 3rd goal and a Lou City win. Never doubt Coach in a jacket.
Coach is confident a third goal is coming. Fans wait with bated breath for the winning goal, wondering who would step up. Chris Donovan has entered the chat. Unfortunately his rocket hit the crossbar and knocked one of my fillings loose in the process.
Tola has already delivered an assist but would like one of his own someday. I mean, today. Like, in the next 5 minutes would be great. He stops by to show me his ponytails (my photog mentee, Nora, astutely noticed the new look). He clearly has a plan here.
Check out this pass to Serrano. It has a return to sender stamp on it.
Ray gets ready to recycle the ball to Tola.
Annnnnnd, your driver Tola is arriving with your order.
Your package has been delivered. It was left next to the Miami keeper’s soul.
The celebration was interrupted by a rush of testosterone and little shove to Zach Duncan. Though he usually likes for me to photograph his flatness, this time Zach was set on addressing his assailant. I don’t photograph injuries, but I do love a good healthy discussion about whether or not Miami’s time wasting throughout the match was coming back to bite them in the testosterone.
And now, 312 pictures of celebrations because there was a lot of celebrating to be celebrated.
