(July 7, 2007) --The PDL champion Michigan Bucks team record 19 game unbeaten streak came to an end with a 2-1 loss against the Cleveland Internationals at John Carroll University.  The Bucks lackluster start allowed the motivated International team to jump out to an early lead before the Bucks were reduced to playing two men down for the majority of the second half.  Bucks back up goal keeper Mitch Hildenbrandt (high school senior, Livonia Stevenson) got his first start in a Bucks uniform and was rudely greeted with a second minute rebound goal from Matt Tutich.  While the Bucks continued to sleep walk through the first half, the Internationals scored a second goal off a corner kick just five minutes later.  The 2-0 lead did not faze the Great Lakes Division leaders, as they continued to create chances and should have cut the lead in half before halftime.

The second half has been the signature 45 minutes for the Bucks, as they have scored the majority of their goals after the stroke of half time.  The 2-0 lead was not an issue, as the Bucks came out ready to reclaim the lead in the second half.  That feat would become much more of a challenge when the Bucks had two players sent off with straight red card fouls within nine minutes of play early in the second half.  Bucks coach Dan Fitzgerald was at a loss for words when asked about the unprecedented send offs.  Part of his lack of explanation was due to the Bucks policy of not publicly commenting on controversial referee decisions and part due to absolute astonishment of the decisions.  "I have been playing and coaching for over 30 years and I do not ever remember seeing two straight red card send offs by a referee in any game.  I think our team has a total of 7 yellow cards combined for the first 11 games, and in ten minutes, we lose two players.  If I was allowed to tell you how wrong this is, I would, but let’s not forget that Cleveland scored two goals while we had eleven men.  If we don’t give up the two goals, the two lost players are much less of an issue."

While many first place teams would have just relaxed and not worried about the possible blemish on their record, the Bucks players did what they are known for; playing attacking Bucks soccer.  Although the Bucks played the last 35 minutes two men down, they dominated the play and held possession of the ball and the game for the majority of the time.   It took nine minutes of playing down two men before Kenny Uzoigwe beat three International defenders and scored another one of his signature unassisted goals in the 69th minute.  The Bucks continued to press and create opportunities, but could not get the tying goal.  The loss leaves the Bucks with a record of 8-1-3 with four regular season home games remaining.  While losing their first PDL game in over a year, Bucks owner Dan Duggan was surprisingly optimistic considering the circumstances.  "As much as I hate to lose any game, we know that no PDL team has ever gone undefeated and won the championship.  There are a lot of reasons for that and now we don’t have to deal with any of them.  We are now in the same position we were a year ago-  go undefeated the last four regular season games and 4-0 in the playoffs and we will retain our title.  There are no other outside distractions."  Added the Bucks local strategist, "you can never expect to play nearly half a game against a quality team, being down two men, on the road and get something positive from it.   But I have to tell you, we identified some very important qualities tonight that will help up in critical situations later in the season.  Several of our players dominated a game while playing shorthanded, when it would have been very easy to just coast and get through 90 minutes.  Give credit to Cleveland for taking care of business tonight- but we learned in a losing effort what needs to be done to defend our title.  It won’t be easy, but it can be done."

The Bucks return home on Saturday, July 14 at Lake Orion High School at 7:00 when they take on the third place West Michigan Edge.  Tickets are $10 Adults (over 16) and $5 Youth (under 5 free) and available at the gate.  Tickets for the Bucks doubleheader at Crew Stadium in Columbus on July 22 and for the David Beckham game in Columbus on September 30 are on sale now at the Bucks web site.

 For more information, visit the team web site at buckssoccer.com.