MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK: MSN NEWS: www.michigansoccernetwork.com/msnnews
BY DAN STICKRADT
COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST | WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
PH: (248) 884-1051
TW/X: @msn_stickradt @LocalSportsFans @MiSoccerNetwork
KENTWOOD, Mich. – Luke Ruff doesn’t want to be reminded of how Midwest United FC fared in its first USL-League Two season in 2022.
Hint … Midwest United was found at the bottom of most categories during the league’s 28th season. That was to be expected for an expansion franchise in the league, which had a then-record 110 teams hit the playing surface around the United States and Canada.
Midwest United finished sixth in the Great Lakes Division that season with a mere seven points and just 2-11-1 overall. The team scored only seven goals – that’s right, seven goals – and allowed 26 goals with a team goals-against-average of 1.86.
A slow start for sure. But also remember that Rome wasn’t built overnight and neither has any metropolitan area in the history of the world for that matter.
It takes a little bit of time to build a competitive sports franchise as well.
“We weren’t very good that first season. We were very young,” admitted Luke Ruff, Midwest United FC’s head coach at the USL-League Two level and also one of the organization’s top coaches in Midwest United FC’s youth club system. “We were going up against some great team, teams made up of big-time (NCAA Division I) college players and grown men. We were very young.”
The seeds, nevertheless, were planted and Midwest United’s roots began to grow.
Midwest United finished in a fifth-place tie with Kalamazoo FC in the 2023 Great Lakes Division standings in the USL-League Two, which had now expanded to 122 teams. MUFC finished just below the five-hundred mark by going 4-5-3 overall for 15 points. More importantly, the team scored 22 goals and only conceded 18 goals in league play – and became as much of an improved side in the Central Conference or in the USL-League Two in general.
“We were a little better, a little more experienced and a little older,” noted Ruff. “We started to assemble a more experienced roster and we were far more competitive last year as to (2022).”
Previously, during the late summer and early fall of 2020, Midwest United played some friendlies with some USL teams as part of an exhibition schedule without fans during that two-month period of August and September. Midwest United also fielded a team that also played from friendlies against teams from the USL-League Two, UPSL and NISA in 2021 as they prepared for a anticipated invitation to join the USL-League Two ranks in 2023.
Most of those players in 2020, 2021 and 2022 were high school-aged players in MUFC’s MLS Next Academy program or young players just in college. That really began to change in 2023 with a roster more made up of college-aged players and highly-successful players to boot.
Although the team its some lumps in recent years and during their first two official USL-League Two seasons, the tides more than changed this year
FROM PRETENDER TO CONTENDER
The 2024 campaign couldn’t have started any better for Midwest United FC. The squad raced out to a 7-0-1 record through June 5 and that included a 14-4 scoring edge. United didn’t even lose a game until June 8, when they dropped a 2-0 decision to defending Great Lakes Division champ Flint City Bucks.
Midwest United front-loaded its schedule to finish nearly two weeks before the other seven teams within the Great Lakes Division. United remained in the hunt and cemented a postseason berth at the end of June.
Midwest United finished with 31 points and can finish no lower than second place. Only Flint City Bucks can catch Midwest, as the Bucks still have three more games as of July 5.
“We played a lot of games early in the season and did so to attract as many young youth players to come out and watch and hopefully that will inspire some of these younger kids at Midwest and around west Michigan to want to come play for our (USL) team in the future,” said Ruff. “It will also allow us to get some rest at the end of the season in case we made the playoffs. It worked. We gave the players and coaches the (holiday week) off to go spend time with family and friends, relax a little and rest up. We have training next week and a (Scrimmage) to help us stay sharp and then await to see if we finish first or second in the division and who we will play in the (Central Conference) playoffs.”
United has posted a 10-3-1 overall record in league play and outscored the opposition 29-13 overall, good for a plus-15 scoring differential. MUFC has also posted seven clean sheets on the season.
But two of the three losses came against Flint City, so if the two tie with 31 points than Flint City would earn the higher seed out of the division. If the Bucks win at least one of their final three contests, then they will win the division title.
Still, from going from last, to fifth and now finishing either first or second in the Great Lakes Division this season is a credit to the roster assembling and the quality of the players on the field for Midwest United.
ALL ABOUT THE TALENT
In the real world, having experienced, better talent can make the world of difference with the results on the playing surface in sports. Midwest United FC has proven that theory and the proof has been in the overall numbers.
“We have a lot of guys that want to play here now in the summer,” said Ruff. “We have a lot of guys that grew up in our club through our youth teams and some other really talented players that grew up in some other clubs in western Michigan that are on the roster.”
Of the 36 players on Midwest United’s roster this season – only 25 can be designated for a game and only 18 can actually dress for each contest – nearly half (14) grew up in Midwest United’s youth program, playing for the likes of its MLS Next or ECNL levels club teams.
There are 29 players on the roster that currently find themselves on college rosters or reside in western Michigan – and many of those players are at NCAA Division I and NCAA Division II college programs. There have been seven high school upperclassmen from MU’s MLS Next Academy team that have trained or made an appearance in games this season.
The talent is present up and down the field.
Brad Dunwell (M, Wake Forest University alum), Seth Daparoni (M/F) Gabe Villagomez (F, signed with Western Michigan University), Jonathon Stout (M/F, Michigan State University), Vitalis Takawire (F, Davenport University), Ben Adamson (F/D, Saginaw Valley State University alum) and Giuseppe Barone (F, Michigan State alum) are some of the talented offensive players.
Jonathan Kliewer (Missouri State) is the No. 1 goalkeeper and Aiden Smith (Oakland University) is a capable understudy in net. Center back Christian Shannon (Western Michigan) anchors the back line and has been a standout for the team that has posted a 0.93 goals-against-average and the seven shutouts.
Only the Bucks and AFC Ann Arbor have been able to score more than two goals in a game against Midwest’s defense and in 10 of the 14 games United has conceded one or no goals.
“Our defense has been really solid except for maybe two games and in most games, we don’t give up a ton of (scoring) chances,” admitted Ruff.
Overall, the coaching stff at Midwest United has blended a wide array of talent into a cohesive and depth-laden unit to reach the postseason in only its third year in the USL-League Two.
“We’ve come a long ways from our first season until now,” said Ruff. “Now we hope that each year we can compete for a division title and make the playoffs. There are some really good teams in our league this year and it won’t be easy (in the future). But we hope to compete every year now.”
The table has been set.
MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK: MSN NEWS: www.michigansoccernetwork.com/msnnews
(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the Michigan Soccer Network regarding club soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer of teams or players with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com, or call 248-884-1051. Dan Stickradt is a 31-year veteran of the Michigan Media circles and recently joined the staff full time in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/MSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@michigansoccernetwork.com.)
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