Lansing Ignite FC

Lansing Ignite FC was a professional soccer team based in Lansing, Michigan, United States. The club began play in the newly-formed USL League One in 2019 and ceased operations following their inaugural season.

Lansing Ignite FC
Full nameLansing Ignite Football Club
FoundedOctober 25, 2018 (2018-10-25)
DissolvedOctober 21, 2019 (2019-10-21)
StadiumCooley Law School Stadium
Capacity7,527
OwnerTom Dickson
PresidentNick Grueser
General ManagerJeremy Sampson
CoachNate Miller
LeagueUSL League One
Lansing Ignite
2019 season
OwnerTom Dickson
Head coachNate Miller
StadiumCooley Law School Stadium
USL League One2nd
USL1 PlayoffsSemifinals
U.S. Open Cup2nd Round
Top goalscorerTumi Moshobane (10)
Highest home attendanceLeague/All: 4,818
(June 22 vs. Orlando City B)
Lowest home attendanceLeague: 1,725
(May 11 vs. Greenville Triumph)
All: 100
(May 8 vs. AFC Ann Arbor (USOC))
Average home league attendance2,758
Biggest win5–0
(September 6 at FC Tucson)
Biggest defeat0–3
(June 8 at Toronto FC II)

History

The formation of USL League One (originally announced as USL Division III) was first announced in April 2017, and league officials began touring the country looking for candidate cities for new soccer clubs. The city of Lansing was already home to Lansing United, an amateur soccer team in the National Premier Soccer League. In 2018, United moved from NPSL to the Premier Development League, another amateur league often considered the fourth tier of American soccer. The move was seen as a step towards establishing a professional team, as the PDL is managed by United Soccer Leagues, the same organization that manages League One as well as the second-tier United Soccer League.[1]

In September 2018, the Lansing State Journal reported that the owners of the Lansing Lugnuts, a local minor league baseball team, had presented plans to Lansing City Council for a professional soccer team to play at Cooley Law School Stadium, also home to the Lugnuts.[2] On October 8, the city council unanimously approved the plans, which are expected to cost the city $1 million over the course of a five-year contract. This also signaled the end of the Lansing United men's team, as United owner Jeremy Sampson became the new club's general manager; however, Lansing United Women would continue to operate as planned.[3]

On October 25, 2018, USL League One officially announced Lansing Ignite FC as its ninth founding member team, to begin play in 2019.[4] On November 14, 2018, Lansing Ignite FC announced Nate Miller as the inaugural head coach.[5] On March 19, 2019, Lansing Ignite FC announced an affiliation agreement with Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.[6]

Lansing played their first USL League One match on 30 March 2019, beating Richmond Kickers 3–2 at City Stadium, Richmond.[7] Lansing finished their first season with a 12–6–10 record, good for second place in USL League One.[8] They fell in the playoff semifinal to Greenville Triumph SC, 1–0.[9] On October 14, 2019, midfielder Marshall Hollingsworth posted on Instagram that the Ignite would be folding and that all players had been released from their contracts. Team President Nick Grueser said that the team would not give an update on the team's future until after the conclusion of the League One final.[10]

On October 21, 2019, it was officially announced by USL League One that, despite a successful first season performance-wise, the Ignite would not be returning for the 2020 season.[11]

Sponsorship
Season Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2019 Moneyball LAFCU[12]

2019

First team roster
As of match played March 30, 2019[13]
No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age) Signed in Previous club
Goalkeepers
1Mike KirkGK (1994-02-12) February 12, 19942019 Pittsburgh Riverhounds
13Kyle Ihn GK (1994-12-10) December 10, 19942019 Reno 1868
Defenders
2Rhys Williams DF (1995-08-09) August 9, 19952019 Real Monarchs
4Grant Stoneman DF (1995-11-27) November 27, 19952019 Loyola Ramblers
5 Brandon Fricke DF (1992-03-27) March 27, 1992 2019 Des Moines Menace
17 Kevin Coiffic DF (1994-09-18) September 18, 1994 2019 Young Harris Mountain Lions
25 Marshall Hollingsworth DF (1993-08-06) August 6, 1993 2019 Columbus Crew
Midfielders
6Ricardo Perez MF (1995-05-30) May 30, 19952019 Colorado Rapids
7 Rafael Mentzingen MF (1996-05-02) May 2, 1996 2019 Valparaiso Crusaders
8 Kyle Carr MF (1995-01-21) January 21, 1995 2019 Lansing United
10 Xavier Gomez MF (1994-11-21) November 21, 1994 2019 Chicago FC United
12 Christian Silva MF (1989-08-02) August 2, 1989 2019 Jacksonville Armada
16 Lewis Jones MF (1994-12-25) December 25, 1994 2019 Lansing United
21 Ivo Cerda MF (1995-10-31) October 31, 1995 2019 Michigan Wolverines
23 Tumi Moshobane MF (1994-09-07) September 7, 1994 2019 Lansing United
24 Elma N'For MF 2019 Asheville City
27Nathan Lewis MF (1990-07-20) July 20, 19902019 Indy Eleven
— Omar Castro MF (1996-02-07) February 7, 1996 2019 TSC Vahdet
Forwards
9Ricky Lopez-Espin FW (1995-12-02) December 2, 19952019 Real Salt Lake
11Steeve Saint-Duc FW (2000-01-08) January 8, 20002019 Los Angeles FC
14 Nick Moon FW (1996-05-31) May 31, 1996 2019 Lane United
19 Pato Botello Faz FW (1996-09-08) September 8, 1996 2019 St. Mary's Rattlers
20 Alex Bruce FW (1998-10-28) October 28, 1998 2019 San Antonio FC (loan)

Coaching staff
Position Name
Head coach Nate Miller
Assistant coach Tim Daniels
Assistant coach Joel DeLass
Goalkeeping coach Wael Zenga

Non-competitive

Preseason friendlies
February 27 Indy Eleven 1–2 Lansing Ignite Westfield, Indiana
2:00 PM EST
Report
Stadium: Grand Park Indoor Arena
Attendance: 300
March 3 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2–0 Lansing Ignite Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
12:00 PM EST
Report Stadium: Highmark Stadium
Attendance: Closed door
March 8 Lansing Ignite 7–0 Davenport Panthers Brighton, Michigan
1:00 PM EST
Report Stadium: Legacy Center
Attendance: 200
March 15 Lansing Ignite 3–0 Western Michigan Broncos Brighton, Michigan
1:00 PM EST
Report Stadium: Legacy Center
Attendance: 418

Midseason friendlies
April 16 Capital Cup Lansing Ignite 4–0 Michigan State Spartans Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EST Botello Faz  28'
Saint-Duc  50'
N'For  62'
Bruce  88'		 Report Stanley  54'
Pimlott  66'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 3,338
September 24 Lansing Ignite v Chicago Fire SC Reserves Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
September 28 Lansing Ignite v Livonia City FC Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Note: Originally scheduled to play Grand Rapids FC. Change announced on September 4.[14]

Competitive

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 North Texas SC (X, C) 28 17 5 6 53 31 +22 56 Playoffs
2 Lansing Ignite FC 28 12 10 6 49 37 +12 46
3 Greenville Triumph SC 28 12 7 9 32 22 +10 43
4 Forward Madison FC 28 12 7 9 33 26 +7 43
5 Chattanooga Red Wolves SC 28 10 10 8 35 37 −2 40
Source: 2019 USL League One standings
Rules for classification: 1) total wins; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 5) disciplinary points; 6) coin toss or drawing of lots
(C) Champion; (X) Regular Season League Champion.

Results summary
OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
28 12 10 6 49 37  +12 46 8 4 2 28 16  +12 4 6 4 21 21  0

Source: USL

Results by round
Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
StadiumAAHHAAHHAAAAHHAAHHAAHHAHAHHH
ResultWLWLLDDDDWLDWWLDWDDDWWWWWWDL
Position4544989784775466456653222222
Source: USL
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results
March 30 1 Richmond Kickers 2–3 Lansing Ignite Richmond, Virginia
5:00 PM EDT
Report
Stadium: City Stadium
Attendance: 5,936
Referee: Danielle Chesky
April 6 2 Greenville Triumph SC 2–1 Lansing Ignite FC Greenville, South Carolina
7:00 PM EDT
Report
Stadium: Legacy Early College
Attendance: 4,014
Referee: Jasmine Peralta
April 13 3 Lansing Ignite 3–1 Richmond Kickers Lansing, Michigan
5:00 PM EDT Report Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 3,369
Referee: Danielle Chesky
April 26 4 Lansing Ignite 0–2 Toronto FC II Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Stoneman  45+1'
Moshobane  80'		 Report Petrasso  11'
Mohammed  24'
Campbell  39'
Okello  53'
Ovalle  85' (pen.)		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 1,895
Referee: Nickrod Fateh
April 30 5 FC Tucson 2–0 Lansing Ignite Tucson, Arizona
9:00 PM Jambga  27'
Somersall  38'
Spencer  49'
Vega  57'  62'		 Report Fricke  49' Stadium: Kino North Stadium
Attendance: 702
Referee: Karen Abt
May 4 6 Richmond Kickers 2–2 Lansing Ignite Richmond, Virginia
7:00 PM EDT Chin  32'
Shanosky  75'
Jackson  90'		 Report Cerda  24'
Stoneman  27'
Lopez-Espin  58'
Fricke  70'		 Stadium: City Stadium
Attendance: 2,947
Referee: Matt Franz
May 11 7 Lansing Ignite 1–1 Greenville Triumph SC Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Lopez-Espin  76' Report Boland  36'
Polak  58'
Ward  68'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 1,725
Referee: Adam Kilpatrick
May 18 8 Lansing Ignite 2–2 North Texas SC Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Mentzigen  54',  56'
Bruce  65',  90+5'
Saint-Duc  72'
Stoneman  89'		 Report Tessmann  35'
Jatta  51'
Pepi  83'
A. Rodríguez  87',  90+2'
Almaguer  89'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 2,149
Referee: Calin Radosav
May 25 9 Tormenta FC 0–0 Lansing Ignite Statesboro, Georgia
7:00 PM EDT Miccaletto  42'
Knutson  59'		 Report Cleveland  73' Stadium: Eagle Field
Attendance: 1,697
Referee: Joshua Encarnacion
June 1 10 Forward Madison FC 0–1 Lansing Ignite Madison, Wisconsin
8:00 PM EDT Banks  39'
Núñez  90+7'		 Report Moon  47'
Stoneman  51'
Cerda  80'		 Stadium: Breese Stevens Field
Attendance: 4,271
Referee: Brad Jensen
June 8 11 Toronto FC II 3–0 Lansing Ignite Toronto, Ontario
4:00 PM EDT Hundal  29'
Ovalle  48'
Dorsey  66'
Bunk-Andersen  80'
Perruzza  90+1'		 Report Stadium: BMO Training Ground
Referee: Myriam Marcotte
June 15 12 Greenville Triumph SC 1–1 Lansing Ignite Greenville, South Carolina
7:00 PM EDT Seiler  66' Report Moon  30'
Saint-Duc  90+3'		 Stadium: Legacy Early College Field
Attendance: 2,715
Referee: Matthew Corrigan
June 19 13 Lansing Ignite 1–0 Toronto FC II Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Saint-Duc  28',  61'
Bruce  87'		 Report Mingo  27'
Srbely  89'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 2,287
Referee: Becky Pagan
June 22 14 Lansing Ignite 2–0 Orlando City B Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Moshobane  28'
Moon  51'
Bruce  59'
Coiffic  68'		 Report Bagrou  30' Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 4,818
Referee: Chris Ruska
June 29 15 North Texas SC 3–1 Lansing Ignite Frisco, Texas
7:00 PM EDT Tessmann  43'
Montgomery  57'
Damus  59',  73'
Rodriguez  71'		 Report Moon  59'
Cleveland  74'
Faz  83'		 Stadium: Toyota Stadium
Attendance: 632
Referee: Marco Vega
July 6 16 Chattanooga Red Wolves 1–1 Lansing Ignite Chattanooga, Tennessee
7:00 PM EDT Cisse  12'
Walls  55'		 Report N'For  25'
Fricke  30'
Coiffic  45'
Moon  57'		 Stadium: David Stanton Field
Attendance: 1,766
Referee: Michael Smith
July 9 17 Lansing Ignite 3–2 Forward Madison FC Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT N'For  17'
Mentzigen  90+2',  90+3'
Bruce  90+5'		 Report Smart  32',  50'
Bennett  63'
Banks  90+4'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 1,871
Referee: Kevin Fikar
July 13 18 Lansing Ignite 2–2 FC Tucson Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Moshobane  26' (pen.),  49'
Williams  50'		 Report Howell  34'
Jones  52' (pen.)
Hauswirth  73'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 4,348
Referee: Gabriele Giusti
July 19 19 Toronto FC II 3–3 Lansing Ignite Toronto, Ontario
4:00 PM EDT Perruzza  35'
Dorsey  38'
Bunk-Andersen  78'
Romeo  81',  84'		 Report Faz  41' (pen.)
Fricke  51'
Gomez  54'		 Stadium: BMO Training Ground
Referee: Giancarlo Pavone
July 27 20 Tormenta FC 1–1 Lansing Ignite Statesboro, Georgia
8:00 PM EDT Knutson  16'
Saint-Vil  21'
Kadono  88'
Micaletto  90'
Morrell  90+3'		 Report Mentzingen  12',  45+3'
Coiffic  35'
Stoneman  60'
Carr  90+3'		 Stadium: Eagle Field
Attendance: 1,785
Referee: Nickrod Fateh
July 31 21 Lansing Ignite 2–0 Chattanooga Red Wolves Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Moshobane  32'
Mentzigen  50'
Faz  84'		 Report Kendall-Moullin  10'
Pineda  45+1'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 2,215
Referee: José Lara
August 3 22 Lansing Ignite 3–0 Orlando City B Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Moshobane  8'
N'For  14'
Mentzingen  84'		 Report Tablante  37'
Thiago  50'
Amer  87'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 3,285
Referee: Carter Brochu
August 16 23 Orlando City B 1–2 Lansing Ignite Montverde, Florida
7:30 PM EDT Forbes  13'
Tablante  42'
Bagrou  71'		 Report Gomez  22',  82'
Coiffic  28'
Mentzingen  54'		 Stadium: Montverde Academy
Referee: Joshua Encarnación
August 22 24 Lansing Ignite 4–1 North Texas SC Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Faz  8',  69'
Moon  31'
N'For  50'
Moshobane  71'		 Report Rayo  65'
Rodriguez  76'
Romero  86' (pen.)		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 2,757
Referee: Luis Arroyo
September 6 25 FC Tucson 0–5 Lansing Ignite Tucson, Arizona
10:30 PM EDT Wheeler-Omiunu  28'
Venter  62'
Batista  76'		 Report Moon  12'
Faz  16',  26'
Moshobane  33',  90+3'
Williams  60'		 Stadium: Kino North Stadium
Attendance: 708
Referee: Omeed Azadpour
September 14 26 Lansing Ignite 4–3 Chattanooga Red Wolves Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Mentzingen  8'
Moshobane  18',  90'
Moon  30',  79'
Gomez  60'
Carr  77'		 Report Zguro  3',  60'
Hurst  17',  54'
Amponsah  35'
Beattie  43'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 2,994
Referee: Calin Radosav
September 21 27 Lansing Ignite 1–1 Tormenta FC Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT Moon  45+1' Report Dennis  19'
Arslan  34'
Rowe  67'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 2,489
Referee: Joshua Encarnación
October 5 28 Lansing Ignite 0–1 Forward Madison FC Lansing, Michigan
7:00 PM EDT N'For  20'
Fricke  59'
Moshobane  73'
Williams  87'		 Report Omsberg  31'
Banks  43'
Núñez  66'
Paulo Jr.  68'
Díaz  81'
Leonard  90+4'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 2,412
Referee: José Lara

USL League One Playoffs
Main article: 2019 USL League One Playoffs
October 12 Semifinals Lansing Ignite FC 0–1 Greenville Triumph SC Lansing, Michigan
7:00pm (EDT) Coiffic  70'
Cerda  74'
Cleveland  87'		 Report Clowes  37'
Mohamed  45+2'
Polak  46'
Bermudez  59'
Gómez  79'		 Stadium: Cooley Law School Stadium
Attendance: 2,340
Referee: Matthew Thompson

U.S. Open Cup
Main article: 2019 U.S. Open Cup
May 8 1st Round Lansing Ignite FC 2–1 AFC Ann Arbor Lansing, Michigan
7:00 pm EDT N'For  29',  72' Report Alexis  40',  66' Stadium: Lansing Catholic High School
Attendance: 100
Referee: Nicole Green
Note: Kickoff time and venue changed from 7:00pm at Cooley Law School Stadium due to inclement field conditions.
May 15 2nd Round Indy Eleven 1–0 Lansing Ignite FC Indianapolis, Indiana
7:00 PM EDT Newton  21'
Enevoldsen  51',  57'
Watson  62'
Walker  88'
Kelly  90+2'		 Report Stoneman  62' Stadium: Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl
Attendance: 853
Referee: Adam Behrens

Final roster

Final team roster

As of January 10, 2019.[15]

No. Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Mike Kirk  United States
2 Defender Rhys Williams  United States
4 Defender Grant Stoneman  United States
5 Defender Brandon Fricke  United States
6 Midfielder Ricardo Pérez  Mexico
7 Midfielder Rafael Mentzingen  Brazil
8 Midfielder Kyle Carr  United States
10 Midfielder Xavier Gomez  United States
11 Forward Steeve Saint-Duc  Haiti
12 Midfielder Christian Silva  United States
13 Goalkeeper Kyle Ihn  United States
14 Defender Nick Moon  United States
16 Midfielder Lewis Jones  British Virgin Islands
17 Defender Kevin Coiffic  France
19 Forward Pato Botello Faz  Mexico
21 Midfielder Ivo Cerda  Chile
23 Midfielder Tumi Moshobane  South Africa
24 Forward Elma N'For  Cameroon
25 Defender Marshall Hollingsworth  United States
27 Midfielder Nathan Lewis  Trinidad and Tobago

Year-by-year
Lansing Ignite FC
Season USL League One Play-offs U.S. Open Cup Top Scorer 1 Head Coach
P W L D GF GA Pts Pos Player Goals
2019 28 12 6 10 49 37 46 2nd National Semifinals 2R Tumi Moshobane 10 Nate Miller

^ 1. Top Scorer includes statistics from league matches only.

Head coaches
  • Includes USL Regular Season, USL Playoffs, U.S. Open Cup. Excludes friendlies.
CoachNationalityStartEndGamesWinLossDrawWin %
Nate Miller  Israel November 14, 2018 Present 31 13 8 10 041.94

Average attendance
YearReg. SeasonPlayoffs
2019 2,758 2,340

References
  1. Couch, Graham (May 1, 2018). "Lansing United's move to PDL comes with new rivalries, USL dreams". Lansing State Journal. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  2. Couch, Graham (September 24, 2018). "Lansing Ignite USL pro soccer team likely to begin in downtown Lansing". Lansing State Journal. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  3. Couch, Graham (October 8, 2018). "Lansing Ignite, new USL soccer club, gets go-ahead to play downtown". Lansing State Journal. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  4. "Lansing Ignite FC Unveiled as USL League One Founding Member". USLLeagueOne.com (Press release). USL League One. October 25, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  5. Friend, Phil (November 14, 2018). "Lansing Ignite Soccer's First Coach, Nate Miller, Ready to Bring Championships to the City". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  6. Friend, Phil (March 19, 2019). "Lansing Ignite forms alliance with Chicago Fire, will host MLS team at Cooley Stadium". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  7. Friend, Phil (March 30, 2019). "Lansing Ignite wins inaugural match, 3–2, over Richmond Kickers in USL League One". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  8. "Lansing Ignite FC". uslleagueone.com. USL League One. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019.
  9. Friend, Phil (October 12, 2019). "Lansing Ignite falls to Greenville Triumph, 1–0, in USL League One semifinals". Lansing State Journal. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  10. Friend, Phil (October 14, 2019). "Lansing Ignite president: 'No further updates' about club's future until next week". Lansing State Journal. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  11. "Lansing Ignite FC Ceases Operations". USLLeagueOne.com (Press release). October 21, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  12. "LAFCU Named Official Kit Sponsor of Lansing Ignite". Lansing Ignite. February 12, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  13. "Richmond Kickers roster". RichmondKickers.com. Richmond Kickers. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  14. "LIFC to Host Livonia City FC in Final 2019 Exhibition Match". LansingIgnite.com. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  15. "Club News". Lansing Ignite FC. lansingignite.com. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
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