ROMEO, Mich. – Flower City Union dropped a 2-0 decision to the Michigan Stars in a National Independent Soccer Association match at Romeo Stadium on Sunday night.
Leon Maric converted a pair of penalty kicks for the Stars (7-3-5, 26 points), one in each half.
Ten-man Flower City (5-9-1, 16), which had its unbeaten run across all competitions snapped at six games (4-0-2), played the final 40 minutes of the game a man down due to a red card.
Eight minutes into the match, Michigan grabbed a 1-0 lead on Maric’s first penalty kick, a minute after Flower City goalkeeper Michael Mejia tripped Dominique Dean at the top left of the penalty area. On the ensuing spot kick, Maric drilled a shot into the lower left corner, for his seventh goal of the campaign.
Scoring chances were few and far between for the visitors. Matt Bolduc had the best opportunity when his shot from inside the box sailed over the crossbar on the final kick of the first half, in the second minute of stoppage time. Bolduc had another shot wide of the target midway through the second half.
A 50th-minute handball by a Flower City player led to another penalty kick for Michigan. Flower City’s Angelo Calpo was assessed his second yellow card of the match and left the game. Maric then converted his second PK, to the left of Mejia in the 52nd minute, to increase the hosts’ advantage to two goals.
Mejia came up big for visitors in the 58th minute, when he took the ball off the foot of an onrushing Hunter Olson for a save.
Flower City Union returns home to host the LA Force at the Rochester Community Sports Complex on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at 6 p.m.
