A 31st minute header by Alex Depperschmidt (Mansfield, OH/Univ. of Mount Union), and a second half full of timely and heroic defending saw Ambassadors FC Ohio defeat the #1 ranked team in the NPSL Erie Commodores 1-0 at Mercyhurst University in front of a large and partial crowd as both teams finish their regular seasons as the top two sides in the Great Lakes Conference.
Both teams will host a conference semifinal this Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. Ambassadors will host northeast Ohio rival Cleveland SC and Commodores will host Flower City Union for the right to advance to a conference championship match.
The pre-match ceremonies featured a World War II-era B-17 bomber flyover Saxon Stadium as a salute to the America 250 celebration this weekend.
Depperschmidt’s finish only surpassed the sublime service from the left flank that was delivered by winger Brenden French (Wooster, OH/Univ. of Indianapolis) that created the only goal of the match. Yet, AFC Ohio had multiple chances to put the match to bed quite early on near misses created by the running and work rate of Diego Pinto (Akron, OH/Lakeland CC) and Saiheed Jah (Moline, IL/Drake Univ.). Pinto finished the regular season one goal shy of sharing the NPSL “Golden Boot” for 2026.
“We were so happy with the way we organized our pressing and presented problems for Erie early on today,” said Head Coach & Technical Director Ryan Dean. “They are so talented and technically sound and when they broke the press, we reacted so well. The goal was outstanding and the chances we created were top shelf. It just set us up to come out of the halftime break with a steely focus.”
A back four of captain Omar Najjar (Akron, OH/Univ. of Mount Union), Max Brown (Aurora, OH/Cedarville Univ.), Depperschmidt, and Jordan Akins (Akron, OH/Univ. of Mount Union) that was supplemented in the 62nd by Ben McCauley (Tallmadge, OH/Baldwin Wallace Univ.) who came on for Brown was so organized, courageous and brave throughout the second half as Erie was given much of the ball as AFC Ohio sat back and absorbed pressure for much of the 45 minutes.
Goalkeeper Nick Bertolini (Doylestown, OH/Walsh University) was called on more than once to be in the right place at the right time. And his distribution, especially in the second stanza was also spot on allowing AFC Ohio to relieve pressure and initiate quality counterattacks.
“Commodores adjusted in the second half to try to open us up a bit,” said Dean. “To their credit, it worked but we were committed to suffer as much as we needed to and for as long as necessary without the ball. I was impressed by the way each turnover earned fed our energy and just exemplified our commitment to our process. We took care of the ball when we needed to and I just can’t speak highly enough of the fellas and their willingness to sacrifice for one another. That is the best sign coming out of the match.”
Commodores best chance in the match occurred in the 93rd minute when center back Kaj Schroder put a point-blank header over the bar. Bertolini was positioned to cover it but the pace was too much for Schroder to redirect.
“We put so much emphasis on the value of suffering through moments and sacrificing for one another as a part of our process,” concluded Dean. “This is a great result over a great opponent. But the reality is that we just need to stay focused on the process and turn the page to the next thing. Just looking forward to next week”
Ambassadors return home to host northeast Ohio rivals Cleveland SC on Wednesday, July 8 at 7:00 p.m. in the Great Lakes Conference semifinal at Dr. David & Winnie King Field on the campus of Malone University in Canton, Ohio.
