Mississippi Brilla FC enjoys stellar season, calling Arrow Field home
By Datti Jinkiri
The 2021 USL League Two season was a unique one for Mississippi Brilla FC. The season
was the team’s first since 2019. The 2020 season had never left the runway, as the COVID-19 pandemic affected it as well as the seasons of so many other sports leagues.
Brilla entered the season with a hunger to succeed, and the team did just that. Head Coach Luke Sanford’s players finished the season with a 9-3-3 record and a Mid South Division title. The division title is the team’s first since the 2015 season.
Key Stretch
Brilla began the season on a six-game unbeaten run (four wins, two ties). In game seven, however, the team lost its first game of the season against Texas United. The disappointing loss came from a goal in the last ten minutes of the match.
However, Brilla recovered to win its next four matches of the season. This was the turning point. The team scored 11 goals and conceded only two during this stretch. The Brilla defense kept two clean sheets, as well. Brilla was also able to defeat Texas United 2-1 at home to avenge the earlier defeat.
The four-game winning streak was punctuated with a 5-0 thrashing of the Brazos Valley Cavalry on the road. All five Brilla goals were scored in an eventful second half of action.
Brilla then sewed up the Mid South Division title in the next game with a 1-1 home tie against the AHFC Royals. A goal from Marco Astorga was the difference for the team, as the team knew that a tie would be enough to clinch the division.
Postseason
For the first time since 2017, Brilla was named a host for the USL League Two Playoffs. In the Central Conference Quarterfinals, the team hosted Kings Hammer FC of Cincinnati. An early goal by Arturo Astorga was canceled out by a tying goal by the visitors in the 46th minute. However, goalkeeper Alejandro Chavarria and Jake Morris set up Jalen James’ go-ahead goal in the 58th minute, and Remi Emeriau tallied an insurance goal in the 90th minute to give Brilla a 3-1 victory.
Brilla moved on to the conference semifinals to play Kalamazoo FC of Michigan. The match would turn out to be a classic. The visitors took the lead in the 56th minute off of a long distance shot, and it looked as if that goal would be the game-winner. However, deep in stoppage time, Orlando Lozano drove home the tying goal and gave Brilla new life.
Neither team could breakthrough in the thirty minutes of extra-time, so the match moved on to penalty kicks. Only David Medeiros scored for Brilla in the shootout, so Kalamazoo FC was able to defeat Brilla and move on to the next round.
Offensive Leaders
The Brilla scoring chart was headed by striker Ciro Damine. The Santa Fe, Argentina native scored seven goals and added an assist. His best single-game output came in a 5-2 win over Houston FC, where he bagged two goals and tallied an assist.
Winger Jalen James added six goals and three assists. The Campbell University product scored the winning goal in Brilla’s opening round playoff win over Kings Hammer FC and added the game-tying assist in the loss to Kalamazoo FC.
Striker James Ndubueze finished with five goals. Each of the Paderborn, Germany, native’s goals were scored after he came off the substitutes bench.
Midfielder/defender Arturo Astorga chipped in with three goals of his own, and midfielder Remi Emeriau added two. Both players scored in the playoffs.
The assists chart was led jointly by James, Jake Morris, and David Medeiros with three apiece. Morris is James’ teammate at Campbell, and he tallied the game-winning assist in the win over Kings Hammer FC.
Medeiros, a midfielder, will be attending Azusa Pacific University with Ndubueze and Brilla defender Orlando Lozano next season. In addition to his three assists, he scored the winning goal against the Little Rock Rangers in a key home win.
Defensive Leaders
Central defender (and team captain) Aurele Chemin played every minute for Brilla this season. The Paris, France, native anchored a defense that tallied five clean sheets. He will be entering his final season at Mississippi College this fall.
Orlando Lozano was Chemin’s partner in the center of the defense for most of the season. The Azusa Pacific defender scored three goals and tallied an assist. His key moment came in the Central Conference Semifinal against Kalamazoo FC, when he buried the tying goal in the 98th minute of the match.
Morris, Jamie DiLuzio, Mateo Alzate, Astorga, and Clinton High School graduate Luke Bryant also saw a large number of minutes in Brilla’s defense. DiLuzio, Alzate, and Bryant were college teammates at Davidson College.
Madrid native Alejandro Chavarria is Chemin’s teammate at Mississippi College. The goalkeeper started 13 matches for Brilla this summer. Chavarria kept four clean sheets and even tallied an assist in the playoff win over Kings Hammer FC.
In Closing…
This summer will go down as one of the most memorable seasons for Mississippi Brilla FC. The players made Arrow Field a fortress, winning six games in front of the home fans. The team also was the top scoring team in the Mid South Division, scoring 30 goals in the process.
Brilla won its fifth USL League Two division title and simultaneously put itself in prime position to qualify for the US Open Cup. The US Open Cup is the top knockout tournament in the country, with professional and amateur teams qualifying for it every year. A potential appearance in the US Open Cup would be Brilla’s fifth in an already storied history.
