3 observations from Lansing Ignite's 1-0 win over Toronto FC II

Phil Friend
Lansing State Journal
Lansing Ignite forward Steeve Saint-Duc scored the goal in Lansing Ignite's 1-0 win over Toronto FC II on Tuesday.

After a month on the road, Lansing Ignite Football Club returned home Wednesday night and came away with a 1-0 win over Toronto FC II at Cooley Law School Stadium, earning a vital three points that saw the team move into the top four in the USL League One standings.

Here are three observations from the victory: 

Man of the match

Steeve Saint-Duc just turned 19 years old in January. And after a promising preseason where he scored multiple goals and played a lion's share of the minutes, the Haitian seemed destined for a breakout season. 

But the former LAFC player saw his playing time diminish as the season progressed, and Tuesday was Saint-Duc's first start since May 18 vs. North Texas.

But the man they call Selso made coach Nate Miller's decision to insert him back into the starting XI look good, scoring the game's lone goal in the 61st minute. 

It was also Saint-Duc's first goal of the season. 

"The coach stuck with me a lot, and he was telling me before the game, this is my chance, I have to take it," Saint-Duc said. "And before the game, too, I was talking to my dad and my uncle, they said the same things and God helped me on the field to do it."

The match winner came on a Lansing counterattack. Center back Brandon Fricke started the build-up with a one-touch pass from the backline, upfield to Alex Bruce. Bruce held the ball up, turned and then chipped to Saint-Duc sprinting down the left side. Saint-Duc had a defender nowhere near him for 30 yards, then slotted a shot near post past the Toronto keeper for a 1-0 lead. 

"We had to do something to exploit it," Saint-Duc said. 

It was an interesting 78 minutes for Saint-Duc. He sprinted past the Toronto right back time and time again in the first half, but once inside the final third, either would get muscled off the ball or miss the mark with a final shot or pass. 

But the 5-foot-9, 140-pounder led Lansing (4-4-5) with three chances created. 

"Selso is a young 19-year-old who's a top talent," Miller said. "He's learning a lot. You have to understand there's a lot of change and a lot going on. Sometimes when you dip in form, you want a player to fight back into the team and that's what he did.

"I give Selso so much credit. He's a mature young man and his performance was a match winner and that's why he's here in Lansing."

Lansing finally conquers Toronto 

The first two times Lansing and Toronto squared off this season, it went poorly for the Ignite, with Toronto winning on the road 2-0, and then earning a 3-0 home win earlier this month. 

Heading into the match, Miller stressed that Lansing needed to take three points from each home match for the remainder of the season in order to make the playoffs.

And it started with beating Toronto on Wednesday. 

"We really wanted to make a statement," Fricke said. "I think that starts defensively. We wanted to be clean as a team and give up as few chances as possible.

"The team knows that we've put on some good performances at home. We know with how we've done on the road that we need to take care of business at home and we're capable of it. And the mindset for the rest of the season has to be three points." 

Familiarity helped immensely for Lansing. Besides having Saint-Duc attack on the right sidek, Miller also made adjustments in other avenues. 

For example, this was the second straight start together for center backs Fricke, Grant Stoneman and Kevin Coiffic. Nick Moon, who usually has a more advanced role offensively, played more defensive-minded to hold off Toronto's favored attacking position on the left side. 

And with Tumi Moshobane fully back in the starting XI, Xavier Gomez continues to progress playing as a box-to-box-midfielder instead of an attacking one, as he did at the beginning of the campaign. 

"It was a bit of a tactical game," Miller said. "There was a lot going on because we play each other a lot. So a lot of back and forth. Players did a marvelous job handling certain moments and certain adjustments."

Into the top four

There are still 15 matches left to be played in the 28-game season, but Wednesday's win moved Lansing into the top four in the standings. 

North Texas SC (23 points), South Georgia Tormenta FC (22), Toronto (21) and Lansing (17) round out the top four to reach the playoffs, but Lansing is one of only two teams to have played 13 matches. North Texas, for example, has only played 10 matches thus far. 

Another victory on Saturday vs. Orlando City B would certainly help Lansing's cause, with third through sixth place separated by just five points.

"There's still a lot of growth. We've been slowly getting it," Miller said. "We're doing good things, but at the same time we don't think we're anywhere where we need to be or can be.

"It's an important time of the season to get more momentum." 

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. Orlando City B

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Cooley Law School Stadium, Lansing