By Andrew Johnson
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – While the Muskegon Risers women’s team had to be feeling good after their first ever victory last week, the Risers were reminded harshly that the program is in its inaugural season with a 10-0 loss to Detroit City FC on Saturday night.

“It’s a good reminder,” said Risers associate head coach Debbie Pekel about the level her squad needs to play at to compete in the United Women’s Soccer League. “This is the standard and I think we’re just a few players away from hitting that standard. Overall, it’s a reminder we’re in our first year and these are some of the growing pains but we’re in a league that’s going to be competitive through and through.”

Muskegon’s Rylee Vruggink controls a bouncing bouncing pass. Photo/Jason Goorman

Things started out rough from the opening whistle for Muskegon as they conceded the first goal of the night just 4:04 into the game off a Detroit City FC corner kick.

That was just the beginning as Detroit City FC scored six more unanswered goals in the first half to go into halftime with a 7-0 lead.

Between the 18:40 and 25:03 mark of the first half, the Risers allowed three goals in the time span of 6:23.

In the second half, the Risers were outmatched once again, being outscored 3-0 in the final 45 minutes to hand the Risers a double digit 10-0 loss.

“l think it was a lot of different variables,” said Pekel about the performance after Muskegon had previously lost at Detroit City FC 2-1 on May 15. “That was the second week of the league and neither team had their full roster. Tonight, they had different players who came in and made an impact. We didn’t have some of our starters and it was partially a depth issue. They executed their game plan and scored early.”

The Risers in total failed to get a shot on goal and were outshot 17-0 on the night.

Melanie Forbest of Detroit FC led the match with five goals including three in the second half of play.

With the loss, Muskegon falls to 1-4 overall on the season and will next host Lansing United on Saturday, June 12 at 7 p.m.

“It’s a reminder that sometimes it’s easy to be complacent,” said Pekel about what the Risers will take from the performance going forward. “This is a reminder that no matter what happened last week, you have to be prepared and play at a high level every week.”