DETROIT (7/14/2021) -- Nathan Steinwascher has been a part of numerous successes in his tenure as a Detroit City FC goalkeeper, but his 2020-21 performance, along with DCFC's maybe the best yet.
Steinwascher, the former Detroit Mercy standout goalkeeper from 2011-15, helped the squad to a National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) championship in early July, Detroit City FC's first professional championship in club history. The squad has won numerous titles and trophies in the 2020-21 season, all with Steinwascher in net.
The former Horizon League Goalkeeper & Defensive Player of the Year in 2014, who shares the Titan men's soccer record with 19 career shutouts, Steinwascher was a key player in the club earning the championship, helping lead the defense to 10 clean sheets in 13 matches en route to the title. He started all 13 matches in net for Le Rouge.
The Sterling Heights, Michigan, native who went to high school at nearby Stevenson, Steinwascher received the NISA's Golden Glove award for the 2020-21 season.
"We went into the spring table and conceded three goals in eight games in the table and then we didn't concede any goals in the (Legends) Cup in four games. Three goals in a total of 13 games, including the final, it's kind of surreal to say that, to barely get scored on, but it feels great," Steinwascher said. "It goes back to the chemistry, we have this chemistry with the players and me with the backline and Steve Carroll kind of running it in the back. All of that combined and me doing the one job I have to do when I'm called upon, all of that together is what has made us so successful.
"(DCFC head coach) Trevor James, whenever we are in the locker room before a game, the biggest thing he says is keeping a clean sheet. If we keep a clean sheet, we at least get a point and most likely are going to win because we are going to score goals."
Detroit City FC, which was founded as a club in 2012 and has continued to climb the professional ranks, scored plenty this season, going 6-0-2 during the spring and out-scoring its foes, 14-3, to sit atop the table. The club then won 1-0 over the Los Angeles Force in the title game on July 3, from Keyworth Stadium nearby in Hamtramck, with more than 7,000 raucous fans in attendance.
Steinwascher and Le Rouge started their run in 2021 inside a bubble in Chattanooga for the Legends Cup, winning all four matches and securing a spot in the semifinals of the NISA championship game before the spring table had even begun.
"We beat Chattanooga 3-0 on their home field in front of 3,000-4,000 fans," Steinwascher said. "That's when the Covid protocols were starting to open up. So what a great way to start the season, winning the cup. We had a mini celebration back in May. And then we just kind of kept it rolling."
He contributes the chemistry and the relationships built between the players during his career as a factor in their success over the years and especially in 2020-21.
"There's definitely an on-field and off-field chemistry when you get to know these guys personally," Steinwascher said. "You see them just as much as you see the guys back in college at Detroit Mercy. They become part of your extended family, you're on road trips together, you're doing everything as a team together.
"When you've had the core that we've had -- Steve Carroll, George Chomakov, Cyrus Saydee, Roddy Green -- when you get a core of these type of guys together, you're kind of setting yourself up for success. As much as it is about talent when you're bringing guys in, it's also about are they going to fit into the team."
Steinwascher, who graduated with his Master's degree in Business Administration from the University, moved from Plante Moran to a small accounting firm, Lotito and Lazzara, in Macomb at the beginning of 2020 and it has allowed him to train more often with Detroit City FC.
"I'm just so grateful that I'm still able to play and do it because I know there are so many people out there that it doesn't work out and they are done playing," Steinwascher said. "It's been a great experience. To be with a group of guys and the team, the chemistry that I have, even though I'm not there 100-percent of the time, it's been great. It's kind of like a dream come true, really."
For Steinwascher, who first trained with the club in 2012 when he was a freshman at Detroit Mercy, and has been playing on and off with the squad since the 2016 season, it has been special to be part of the title run in 2020-21, especially in a place where he grew up and for a club that he's known so long.
"I ended up training with them back in 2012 and then came back in 2016, played in the home opener at Keyworth Stadium, it was unbelievable what it was like in 2012 and then what they brought to Keyworth, it was when I realized that I could be a part of something that's really, really big and it's in my hometown," Steinwascher said. "It's really a dream come true. It's what you dream about. I've always wanted to play professional soccer. Did I think that my journey was going to be as crazy as it has been over the past 3-4 years? No, I guess that's the beauty of it.
"It feels great, I love being able to play in my hometown, I love to have my family and friends come to watch me for all of our home games. It feels great and to see what the club was, even from the home opener at Keyworth to our last game on July 3, to see what came of that, you looked around and there wasn't one empty seat in that stadium.
"I've been part of the growth, I keep saying it's surreal, but it really is. I don't know what other way to describe it. It's pretty special."
