# 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.

## 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.
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. 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.
On October 25, 2018, USL League One officially announced Lansing Ignite FC as its ninth founding member team, to begin play in 2019. On November 14, 2018, Lansing Ignite FC announced Nate Miller as the inaugural head coach. On March 19, 2019, Lansing Ignite FC announced an affiliation agreement with Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.
Lansing played their first USL League One match on 30 March 2019, beating Richmond Kickers 3–2 at City Stadium, Richmond. Lansing finished their first season with a 12–6–10 record, good for second place in USL League One. They fell in the playoff semifinal to Greenville Triumph SC, 1–0. 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.
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.
In 2020, Lansing Common FC, was formed as a supporter-owned team. They began play in 2021 as part of the Midwest Premier League.

## Sponsorship

| Season | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| 2019 | Moneyball | LAFCU |

## Players
### First team roster

    As of match played March 30, 2019
| No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (age) | Signed in | Previous club |
| Goalkeepers |||||||
| 1 | Mike Kirk | GK | (1994-02-12) February 12, 1994 (age 30) | 2019 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds |
| 13 | Kyle Ihn | GK | (1994-12-10) December 10, 1994 (age 30) | 2019 | Reno 1868 |
| Defenders |||||||
| 2 | Rhys Williams | DF | (1995-08-09) August 9, 1995 (age 29) | 2019 | Real Monarchs |
| 4 | Grant Stoneman | DF | (1995-11-27) November 27, 1995 (age 29) | 2019 | Loyola Ramblers |
| 5 | Brandon Fricke | DF | (1992-03-27) March 27, 1992 (age 32) | 2019 | Des Moines Menace |
| 17 | Kevin Coiffic | DF | (1994-09-18) September 18, 1994 (age 30) | 2019 | Young Harris Mountain Lions |
| 25 | Marshall Hollingsworth | DF | (1993-08-06) August 6, 1993 (age 31) | 2019 | Columbus Crew |
| Midfielders |||||||
| 6 | Ricardo Perez | MF | (1995-05-30) May 30, 1995 (age 29) | 2019 | Colorado Rapids |
| 7 | Rafael Mentzingen | MF | (1996-05-02) May 2, 1996 (age 28) | 2019 | Valparaiso Crusaders |
| 8 | Kyle Carr | MF | (1995-01-21) January 21, 1995 (age 29) | 2019 | Lansing United |
| 10 | Xavier Gomez | MF | (1994-11-21) November 21, 1994 (age 30) | 2019 | Chicago FC United |
| 12 | Christian Silva | MF | (1989-08-02) August 2, 1989 (age 35) | 2019 | Jacksonville Armada |
| 16 | Lewis Jones | MF | (1994-12-25) December 25, 1994 (age 29) | 2019 | Lansing United |
| 21 | Ivo Cerda | MF | (1995-10-31) October 31, 1995 (age 29) | 2019 | Michigan Wolverines |
| 23 | Tumi Moshobane | MF | (1994-09-07) September 7, 1994 (age 30) | 2019 | Lansing United |
| 24 | Elma N'For | MF | | 2019 | Asheville City |
| 27 | Nathan Lewis | MF | (1990-07-20) July 20, 1990 (age 34) | 2019 | Indy Eleven |
| — | Omar Castro | MF | (1996-02-07) February 7, 1996 (age 28) | 2019 | TSC Vahdet |
| Forwards |||||||
| 9 | Ricky Lopez-Espin | FW | (1995-12-02) December 2, 1995 (age 29) | 2019 | Real Salt Lake |
| 11 | Steeve Saint-Duc | FW | (2000-01-08) January 8, 2000 (age 24) | 2019 | Los Angeles FC |
| 14 | Nick Moon | FW | (1996-05-31) May 31, 1996 (age 28) | 2019 | Lane United |
| 19 | Pato Botello Faz | FW | (1996-09-08) September 8, 1996 (age 28) | 2019 | St. Mary's Rattlers |
| 20 | Alex Bruce | FW | (1998-10-28) October 28, 1998 (age 26) | 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 |

## 2019 season
### USL League One
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | North Texas SC | 28 | 17 | 5 | 6 | 53 | 31 | +22 | 56 | Playoffs |
| 2 | Lansing Ignite FC | 28 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 49 | 37 | +12 | 46 | Playoffs |
| 3 | Greenville Triumph SC | 28 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 32 | 22 | +10 | 43 | Playoffs |
| 4 | Forward Madison FC | 28 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 33 | 26 | +7 | 43 | Playoffs |
| 5 | Chattanooga Red Wolves SC | 28 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 35 | 37 | −2 | 40 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: USL

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Stadium | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | H |
| Result | W | L | W | L | L | D | D | D | D | W | L | D | W | W | L | D | W | D | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | L |
| Position | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### USL League One Playoffs
### U.S. Open Cup
## Final roster
### Final team roster

As of January 10, 2019.
| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
| 1 | GK | Mike Kirk | United States |
| 2 | DF | Rhys Williams | United States |
| 4 | DF | Grant Stoneman | United States |
| 5 | DF | Brandon Fricke | United States |
| 6 | MF | Ricardo Pérez | Mexico |
| 7 | MF | Rafael Mentzingen | Brazil |
| 8 | MF | Kyle Carr | United States |
| 10 | MF | Xavier Gomez | United States |
| 11 | FW | Steeve Saint-Duc | Haiti |
| 12 | MF | Christian Silva | United States |
| 13 | GK | Kyle Ihn | United States |
| 14 | DF | Nick Moon | United States |
| 16 | MF | Lewis Jones | British Virgin Islands |
| 17 | DF | Kevin Coiffic | France |
| 19 | FW | Pato Botello Faz | Mexico |
| 21 | MF | Ivo Cerda | Chile |
| 23 | MF | Tumi Moshobane | South Africa |
| 24 | FW | Elma N'For | Cameroon |
| 25 | DF | Marshall Hollingsworth | United States |
| 27 | MF | Nathan Lewis | Trinidad and Tobago |

## Year-by-year

Lansing Ignite FC :
| Season | USL League One | USL League One | USL League One | USL League One | USL League One | USL League One | USL League One | USL League One | Play-offs | U.S. Open Cup | Top Scorer | Top Scorer | Head coach |
| Season | P | W | L | D | GF | GA | Pts | Pos | Play-offs | U.S. Open Cup | Player | Goals | Head coach |
| 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.
| Coach | Nationality | Start | End | Games | Win | Loss | Draw | Win % |
| Nate Miller | Israel | November 14, 2018 | Present | 31 | 13 | 8 | 10 | 041.94 |

### Average attendance

| Year | Reg. Season | Playoffs |
| 2019 | 2,758 | 2,340 |