Men’s First Team Finishes the Regular Season Undefeated After a 1-0 Win over Lorain County
By Zander Plizga
Lorain County, OH – The Men’s First Team finished its regular season campaign with a 1-0 victory over Lorain County late Saturday evening. This victory capped off Steel City’s undefeated regular season, pushing them to a (9-0-3) record backed by another masterful defensive performance.
Photo Cred: Rocco Donnelly
Match Flow
Steel City got off to an early lead when Nathan Prex (Lebanon Valley ’26) earned a penalty in the 22nd minute. Prex found the ball off a pass from Nick Niebauer (Bellarmine ’30), cutting in, a Leviathan defender knocked it into the air, handballing it out of Prex’s path. Prex stepped up and smashed the penalty into the bottom-left corner past the diving Nagy, who went the right way, but had no chance of making the save.
After the goal, SCFC stayed in control of the game for large parts of the remaining half but absorbed pressure and defended as a team when needed. Steel City’s ability to slow the rhythm of matches, both with the ball and without the ball, helped throw off the Leviathan.
Academy Impact
Steel City FC had a season-high of 8 academy products featured in this match against Lorain County. Five of the eight academy products rostered started the match. Niebauer and Luke Kost (Geneva ’29) headlined Steel City’s attack. Their dynamic play and adaptability on the wing helped bolster the SCFC attack throughout the game. Alongside their impact offensively, their work rate on the defensive end, to track back and double down, really showed the importance of defense and how the academy prepares players to make meaningful impacts in games.
Clean Sheet Machine
The Steel City defense yet again produced another clean sheet, anchored by goalkeeper Sam Coss (Duquesne ’26). Coss made a variety of saves throughout the second half, alongside several punches wide coming from dangerous Leviathan services. The flexibility and work rate from frontline players helped keep Lorain scoreless in this game. Captain Ryan Kopay (FDU ’27) showed this flexibility when he moved from central midfield to outside back for the second half of the match. This clean sheet marked Steel City’s 9th of the season in 12 games.
Photo Cred: Rocco Donnelly
Up Next
Steel City FC returns to action later this week in the first round of the USL 2 playoffs. Keep an eye out on the Steel City FC First Teams page as well as on the Steel City social media platforms for more information on all the USL 2 playoff action.