For Lansing Common FC, a painful title-game loss, but 'surreal' finish to a year of growth for the second-year club

LANSING – At some point in Lansing Common FC’s journey as a club, Saturday will likely feel like an important night.

It was just hard to fully appreciate it in the wake of a 3-2 loss — a game they led 2-1 in the 85th minute — to Inter Detroit with the Midwest Premier League’s Eastern Conference championship on the line. A win and it was theirs. A draw and the Robins would have to wait. Instead, the title goes to Inter Detroit, which moved a point ahead of Lansing Common atop the standings (21-20). The Robins finish their second season in existence 6-2-2 in league play and knowing they were playing for a trophy on the final night of their season.

“I was yelling at the boys, ‘Discipline, discipline. Compose!’ ” said Guershom Sylvain, a Holt graduate headed for college soccer at Detroit Mercy, who put Lansing Common ahead with a goal in the 45th minute. “Games like this, anything can happen.”

Perhaps teams aren’t supposed to win titles before experiencing a little heartbreak. This was that for Lansing Common on the field.

Not long after a pair of red cards left each team a man down in the 80th minute with the game tied 1-1, Lansing Common’s Mark Wischmeyer delivered a sensational free kick from just outside the 18-yard box that froze Detroit’s keeper on its way to the upper left corner of the goal.

“I saw that the keeper cheating to the right side. So I knew if I hit it, it was a going in,” said Wischmeyer, a junior at Otterbein University in Ohio.

“It was just unreal feeling with all the fans cheering and everyone running the corner.”

The celebration turned premature when Detroit scored in the 87th and 90th minutes, two defensive breakdowns after an otherwise stellar defensive game.

Besides the final few minutes and final result, this was a banner night for Lansing Common, capping a memorable second season.

They were playing for something and playing in front of a team-record crowd of 787 fans at Lansing Eastern High School. For a community-owned club that began as a response to Lansing losing two soccer teams in consecutive years because of the business decisions of their owners, Saturday night was, well, a heckuva response. This was a legit atmosphere. An invested crowd, many of whom were likely among the more than 250 memberships sold for the 2022 seasons. Memberships for next season just went on sale at LansingCommonFC.com.

“There’s no question, we’re sustainable year over year,” club treasurer Josh Pugh said.

FROM 2021:  Couch: Lansing Common FC turns out to be the ideal club – and response – for soccer in Lansing

This season, Lansing Common drew around 450 to 500 fans for previous home games, easily leading the league. The goal for next year is exponential growth in all facets — on the field, in the stands and in the community, with its partnerships and philanthropy.

Saturday’s environment, though, felt pretty good, even if not satisfactory.

“It's surreal. It's like nothing we could have expected in our wildest dreams in February 2020,” Pugh said.

Players have already taken notice.

“I played for Michigan Stars last summer in the same league and played in Lansing,” Wischmeyer said. “And I saw what the fans were and how awesome this club was, so I wanted to join this year and it's been so fun.”

It was not a year or season without challenges for the Robins, including losing the only head coach the club has ever known, when, in late June, Josh Oakley was hired to be the head coach at Division-I Eastern Illinois University. Assistant Brent Sorg took over for the rest of the season.

“The group has belief and buy-in and resiliency that is just special,” Sorg said. “You look at the support from the community ... that also is credit to the organization, the guys behind (the scenes), those guys have done a tremendous job of marketing and just everything that they've done. The platform has been tremendous.”

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: For Lansing Common FC, a painful loss, but 'surreal' finish to year of growth