Buzz builds for home opener as Lansing Ignite aims to make Cooley Stadium a 'fortress'

Phil Friend
Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING -- In the first two weeks of the USL League One season, Lansing Ignite Football Club has logged more than 3,000 miles in the air, traveling to Richmond, Virginia, and Greenville, South Carolina.

But this week, Lansing will finally get to play a match in its home confines of Cooley Law School Stadium.

Professional soccer will debut in Lansing roughly 48 hours after the Lansing Lugnuts will have played a baseball game there. The grounds crew will have spent more than eight hours turning over the field from baseball to soccer as the Richmond Kickers come to town for a 7 p.m. start Saturday night. 

"This day's been building. It's a great privilege for us to do this, professional soccer in Michigan for the first time in a long, long time," said Lansing Ignite coach Nate Miller. "It's a huge responsibility that our team carries and we're ready for the challenge.

"Being able to draw the energy from our supporters and being in a comfortable environment, we're working hard to make sure Cooley Law School Stadium is like a fortress for us. It's an amazing night for our city and the team, too."

The trek to LIFC's first home game has been a relatively short whirlwind, from the club being approved by city council in late September, to the official announcement on Oct. 25, to Miller's hiring on Nov. 14, to the first practice in late February and then the first match on March 30

"There's so much excitement around being able to play at home," said vice president/general manager Jeremy Sampson. "Being on the road for the first two weeks has been an eye-opening experience. ... Being able to show the people in Lansing what professional soccer looks like, the level of play, what we plan on doing in giving the fans a match day experience, we're anxious and excited for Saturday to get here."

The dimensions for the Ignite pitch are smaller than most of the USL League One stadiums, something that comes with playing inside a baseball stadium. Captain Brandon Fricke said some of the players have played on that type of surface before, but that it would take about 5-10 minutes to get used to before treating it like another soccer game. 

"There's definitely more confidence, more energy in the stadium that you can build off," Fricke said. "Having that environment is going to push us forward. It's new for everyone, but the supporters have been out at some preseason games so we've already built a relationship with them. They're going to show well. 

"I know the (grounds) crew is doing a great job. To have that relationship with the Lugnuts, we can build off what they've done in the community and add to that. It builds a better atmosphere with the community."

Roster news

Two new players will be available for Lansing this week.

Nathan Lewis (right), shown here playing for Trinidad and Tobago in an international friendly vs. Wales on March 20, signed with Lansing Ignite in January and reported to the team last week after his work permit issues prevented him from joining team at the beginning of preseason camp.

Nathan Lewis, a 28-year-old midfielder, is finally with the club after his signing was announced back on Jan. 5. The Trinidad & Tobago international arrival -- he recently played for his home country in a friendly vs. Wales on March 20 and could be called in for the Gold Cup this summer -- was held up due to work permit issues and he joined the squad last week. He'll be available for selection on Saturday.

As will be midfielder Marshall Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth, 25, hasn't played in a competitive match since the 2017 season with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in USL Championship after suffering a knee injury in August of that year. But Hollingsworth was training with the team this week and could be an option at wingback or wide midfielder, the same with Lewis. 

With three starters from last week's Greenville match unavailable -- midfielder Ricardo Perez and wingback Tumi Moshobane (red cards) and striker Ricky Lopez-Espin (foul and abusive language) -- Miller now has more options to fill that void.

"That's been a good shot in the arm for the club," Miller said. "(Hollingsworth) has been coming back from a long-term (injury), but he's a freakishly fit young man. He's also been a really good leader for us, too, and guys really look up to him."

Preparing for Richmond

For the first 60-plus minutes in the first match vs. Richmond on March 30, Lansing did everything it wanted in building a 3-0 lead through 49 minutes. Then Richmond scored twice before Lansing held on to win.

Unfortunately for Lansing, those last 20 minutes carried over into last weekend's match with Greenville, a contest in which the Triumph was on the front foot the entire match, even before Lansing went down to nine men after a pair of red cards. 

Three examples: 1) Lansing made 403 passes with 73% accuracy vs. Richmond; vs. Greenville, 258 and 62%, respectively. 2) The Ignite had to make 21 clearances against Greenville vs. 7 against Richmond. 3) Lansing only had 38% possession vs. Greenville.

"Decision-making from our players was not good," Miller said. "It was a very bad performance and we're not going to hide from that. ... Our approach is, we weren't this amazing, unbeatable team against Richmond and we're not nearly as bad as we looked against Greenville.

"It's not like the sky is falling at all, but at the same time, we felt like that performance was a 1 out of 10 compared to what we're capable of."

Contact digital sports reporter Phil Friend at 517-377-1220 or pfriend@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Phil_Friend.

IF YOU GO

Who: Lansing Ignite vs. Richmond Kickers

What: Club's inaugural home match

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Cooley Law School Stadium 

Stream: ESPN+ ($4.99/month standalone subscription)