Ft. Wayne, IN (July 17, 2007) -- The Michigan Bucks continued their stellar play in the 2007 regular season with a 4-1 win over the Ft. Wayne Fever to claim their eighth Great Lakes Division title in twelve years.  The Bucks (10-1-3, 33 points) have wrapped up the division with two games to play, a far cry from last year when they had to go undefeated the final four games just to make the playoffs.  Like last year, the Bucks are steam rolling into the extra session in defense of their 2006 North American PDL Championship.   The highest scoring team in the PDL came out firing in Ft. Wayne and went into halftime with a 3-0 lead.  To no surprise to Bucks fans, leading the way in scoring were the triple threat of leading scorers, Kenny Uzoigwe (14 goals/ 4 assists), Khelli Dube (10 goals/ 6 assists) and Nate Jafta (6 goals / 9 assists). 

Kenny followed up Saturday night’s 7-1 win against West Michigan (where he had 3 goals and 2 assists in 56 minutes of playing time) with another two goal and one assist night in the first half.   All three first half goals were scored between the 27th and 42nd minute when the Bucks were dominating the Fever defense.  Following the halftime substitutions of Uzoigwe, Jafta and others, the Bucks continued to pound the Ft. Wayne defense, but could not put another goal past goalkeeper Zach Gibbons until Xavier Balc curled in a free kick from 34 yards out late in the game.  Gibbons faced 26 Bucks shots during the course of the match and came up with some huge saves to keep the Fever in the game until Balc’s late strike.  Clinching the title gives Bucks head coach Dan Fitzgerald several options for the last two regular season games, beginning this Friday night against Toronto at Rochester High School (7:00 kick off) and finishing with a rematch with the Ft. Wayne at Columbus Crew Stadium this Sunday (1:00 kick off) as part of an MLS double header with the Crew and Toronto FC (5:00 kick off).  “It is a tremendous advantage to have this clinched with two games to go,” said an elated Fitzgerald.  “Last year we did this the hard way and we learned from our mistakes.  This year we have the luxury to play all of our players the next two games and allow all of our injuries to heal.  Make no mistake, the goal is the same as last year- to finish the final four games of the regular season undefeated to go into the playoffs on a roll.”

 Although the Bucks have put in a bid to host the Central Conference playoffs the weekend of July 27-28 in the Detroit area, it could be that this Friday’s game is the last home game of the season for Bucks fans.  Tickets for Friday’s match at Rochester High School against the Toronto Lynx are $10 Adults and $5 Youth (under 5 free) and are available at the gate.    For further information, please visit the Bucks web site at www.buckssoccer.com. 

FOUR BUCKS TRAINING WITH THE COLUMBUS CREW THIS WEEK

Following the Bucks 4-1 win against the Ft. Wayne Fever, several of the Bucks players were called into training camp with Major League Soccer’s  Columbus Crew for the week.  Heading down to train with their Major League Soccer affiliate are Mike Holody (Clarkston/ Junior U-M), Steve Clark (Mason/ Junior Oakland), Nate Jafta (Jr. Lindsey Wilson College) and Eric Brunner (Senior Ohio State).  The four Bucks standouts will train for the week with the Crew and will be on stand by for Friday’s game against the Toronto Lynx.  All four starters will be available for the Bucks game against the Ft. Wayne Fever on Sunday at Crew Stadium.  Said Bucks owner Dan Duggan, “this is a great opportunity for these young men to get to train in the professional environment that only MLS can provide in this country.  We appreciate all that the Crew has done to help give these very talented players the exposure they deserve at the next level.  Hopefully, it will help all parties involved when it c!
 omes time for them to move on from the college ranks.  All four of these young players have what it takes to compete at the next level.”

Michigan Bucks vs. Ft. Wayne Fever
Hefner Stadium
July 17, 2007

Lineups:

Michigan: 25-Steve Clark, 4-Kyle Russell (19-Stephen Brust ’86), 3-Mike Holody (5-Adam Brent ’86), 22-Ian Daniel, 23-Eric Brunner, 20-Mauro Fuzzeti, (2-Gabe Hernandez ’80) 8-Nate Jafta (16-Nik Djokic ’61), 14-Alex Morisset (6-Xavier Balc ’61), 17-Piotr Nowak, 21-Khelli Dube, 10-Kenny Uzoigwe (18-Doug DeMartin ’61)
Head Coach: Dan Fitzgerald

Ft. Wayne: 0-Zac Gibbens, 2-Misko Bonivenger, 21 Jared Gillespie, 18-Trevor Peaslee, 5-Josh Sommers (8-Aaron Tulloch ’46), 23-Jamie Bowman (20-Justin Darvich ’46), 7-Jacob Capito, 11, Cameron Jordan, 9-David Bauer, 4-Joseph Held, 17 Philip Wilson
Head Coach: Bobby Poursanidis

Misconduct Summary:
MICH -- Ian Daniel '54 (caution)
FW -- Jared Gillespie '79 (caution)

Shots: Michigan 26, Ft. Wayne 7
Saves: Michigan 3, Ft. Wayne 8
Fouls: Michigan 7, Ft. Wayne 7
Offsides: Michigan 3, Ft. Wayne 2
Corners: Michigan 7, Ft. Wayne 5