Bloomfield Hills, MI  (June 1, 2007)-   The Michigan Bucks (3-0-2) and the West Michigan Edge (2-3-2) played a hard fought battle tonight in front of a diehard Bloomfield Force home crowd tonight at Andover High School.   The Bucks dominated the second half, after a lack luster first half performance that produced several quality opportunities, but no results.  The Bucks finished with a 14-3 corner kick advantage, but were not able to convert on their normally reliable set piece plays.    The Bucks came into tonight’s match knowing they had to survive this game and a road game at Toronto on Sunday to complete the stretch of matches early in the season that would help define this year’s team.  With US Open Cup qualifying in the books and the first round date set in Richmond, VA on Tuesday, June 12, the first place Bucks know they must continue to concentrate on each league game while they focus on the national tournament.  Steve Clark (Oakland) registered his fourth shutout of the season in five league games, retaining his league leading pace of clean sheets.  Kenny Uzoigwe, who was selected to the Premier Development League (PDL) team of the week, came on in the second half to create several chances for the potent Bucks offense, but his efforts were not enough to finish the goal needed to separate the two teams on the scoreboard.

Following the Bucks game on Sunday in Toronto, the boys will then enjoy the week off in Rochester before heading to Cleveland for a rematch of the Bucks opening night game with the Internationals.  The Bucks eliminated Cleveland from the US Open Cup on May 18, with a 2-0 win at home on May 18.  The Friday night match up (June 8) will  be the Bucks last game before they begin play in the 2007 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, when they travel to Richmond, VA to take on the USL-2 defending champion Richmond Kickers at UR Stadium on Tuesday, June 12 at 7:00 PM.   The Bucks next home game is Friday, June 15 at Saline High School (south of Ann Arbor), as they continue to tour all six metropolitan counties and give their long time fans the opportunity to see their high scoring machine up close and personal before the end of the summer.

West Michigan Edge vs. Michigan Bucks
Bloomfield Hills Andover High School
June 1, 2007

Scoring Summary:
none

Lineups:

Michigan: 25-Steve Clark, 3-Mike Holody, 22-Ian Daniel, 4-Kyle Russell, 15-Santos Perez (14-Alex Morriset ’46), 17-Piotr Nowak, 8-Nate Jafta, 13-John Palladino, 7-Ty Shiplane, (11-Steve Bonnell ’69), 21-Khelli Dube, 18-Doug DeMartin (10-Kenny Uzoigwe ’52)
Subs Not Used: 9-George Josten, 12-Joe Donoho, 19-Steve Brust, 20-Dan Stevens
Head Coach: Dan Fitzgerald

West Michigan: 0-Chris Austin, 18-Greg Janicki, 16-Eric Alexander, 20-Zach Scaffidi (12-Joel DeLass ’87), 21-Peter Hill, 7-Jake Stacy, 14-Tom Oatley (16-Martin Browne ’83), 17-Scott Blandford, 2-BJ Goodman (4-Kyle Hall ’81), 6-Dave Hertel, 10-Kenzo Webster
(22-Elfid Kovacevic ’56)
Subs Not Used: 0-Casey Aubil
Head Coach: Mark Bell
 
Misconduct Summary
MICH: Santos Perez ’23
WMICH -- Tom Oatley ’28
WMICH -- Eric Alexander ’32
WMICH -- Dave Hertel ’55
WMICH - Scott Blandford ’57
WMICH -- Jake Stacy ’70
MICH -- Kenny Uzoigwe 88

Shots: West Michigan 8, Michigan 14
Saves: West Michigan 9, Michigan 4
Fouls: West Michigan 11, Michigan 16
Offsides: West Michigan 2, Michigan 1
Corners: West Michigan 3, Michigan 14

Referees: Mike Shirra, Mike Allie, Joe Augusta, Dave Ashaki