South Bend, IN (May 28, 2007) -- The 2006 North American champion Michigan Bucks finished a wild Memorial Day weekend with a 3-3 come from behind tie against the Indiana Invaders to claim the final US Open Cup spot and keep the Invaders from their first ever appearance in the nation’s oldest tournament. The Bucks (3-0-1) will appear in their record seventh Cup in eleven years and will find out their first opponent when US Soccer announces pairings tomorrow. Round One games are slated to be played on Tuesday, June 12. Indiana (2-0-2) came into the game knowing that a tie would do them no good in qualifying, so they came out attacking from the opening whistle. The entire game was played at an incredible pace, with both teams creating great scoring chances in the opening half. Just when it looked like the first half would be completed as a scoreless draw, the Invaders pounded a corner kick at the Bucks goal, only to have Nate Jafta clear the first shot off the line and Ty
Shipalane to clear the ensuing rebound as well. In the mad scramble, Shipalane kicked the ball into his own goal, with the credit eventually going to Invaders forward Saidi Isaac. It wouldn’t be the last the Bucks would hear from the speedy forward, as he gave the Bucks problems all night long. The goal was the first goal given up by the Bucks this season and ended goalkeeper Steve Clark’s consecutive shutout minutes at 378, dating back to last year’s championship match.
Bucks head coach Dan Fitzgerald made a couple of strategic defensive moves, as well as added striker Kenny Uzoigwe in the lineup for some instant offense. The Bucks began attacking from the start of the second half and nearly tied the game before the Invaders started a quick counter attack which sent Isaac in all alone on Clark. He calmly slotted the ball in the corner to give the Invaders what they thought should be an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the 51st minute. But that is when the savvy leadership of Bucks forwards Uzoigwe, Jafta and Khelli Dube took over. After Nate Jafta cracked a 30 yard bomb off the cross bar in minute 56, the Bucks began to click. After forcing a corner kick, assist specialist Jafta sent a driven ball to the back post which Uzoigwe nodded home to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 59th minute. With the momentum changing in a hurry, deja-vu struck just two minutes later. Jafta send another corner kick to nearly the same spot and Kenny once again headed it home to tie the match at 2-2 in the 61st minute, his third goal in the young season. Both teams continued to create chances for the next quarter of an hour, when Jafta sent a ball up field to Uzoigwe, who raced in on goal against two defenders. Just about the time Kenny got to the top of the eighteen yard box, he sent a perfect pass across the 18 to Bucks leading scorer Dube, who smashed home the team’s third goal in full stride. Dube’s team leading fifth scoring strike gave the boys from Michigan their first lead of the evening. Not only had the Bucks overcome a two goal deficit, but now the Invaders needed two goals in the final twelve minutes to move on in the Cup.
It only took three minutes for the Invaders to knot the score, when Isaac again finished another mad scramble in the box, after Clark had denied three different attempts. With the score tied 3-3, the remaining portion of the game was not the defensive battle you might expect on the part of the Bucks, but turned into an up and down track meet with both teams having great chances in the closing minutes. After about 7 minutes of injury and stoppage time, the final score read Bucks 3 Invaders 3 and the Bucks move on to represent the United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier Development League’s (PDL) Great Lakes Division. Only the top team from each of the eight PDL Divisions qualifies to move on into the Open Cup, something that Bucks owner Dan Duggan has been lobbying to change for several years. "The Commissioner (Francisco Marcos) and League Vice President (Tim Holt) have been listening to my unhappiness about the number of teams that qualify from the PDL. This year, it will be worse. It is an absolute travesty that the Indiana Invaders are not in the tournament because they tied us and Chicago," said Duggan. "Between US Soccer and the USL we must make it a point to resolve this issue. This team we played tonight would represent the PDL in fine fashion. The fans who watched this game were thrilled with the action from both teams. I am not sure some of them really understood the heartache that Indiana is feeling after such a wonderful performance in salvaging a tie."
The Bucks schedule does not get any easier, as they return home to Berkley’s Hurley Field on Wednesday to take on Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew. The Crew come to town to play their annual game against their minor league affiliate to not only promote the higher level of soccer that is MLS, but also to give the Bucks the opportunity to show their talent to head coach Sigi Schmidt and his staff. Kick off is 7:30 for the Crew’s only appearance in Detroit this year and tickets are $15 all ages, general admission at the gate. You can still get pre sale tickets and save $5 each by purchasing tickets on line through Pay Pal or at one of the Bucks nine metro Detroit ticket outlets. $10 presale tickets can be purchased at the following locations:
George’s Soccer 3837 Rochester Rd., Troy 48083 248-528-2948
George’s Soccer 27051 Southfield Rd., Lathrup Village 48076 248-557-1166
Trading Post 1009 Ann Arbor Rd., Plymouth 48170 734-453-0022
Soccer Plus 37629 5 Mile Rd., Livonia 48154 734-432-0222
Soccer Plus 1952 S. Industrial Hwy., Ann Arbor 48104 734-214-7000
Soccer Plus 2191 Telegraph Rd., Bloomfield Hills 48302 248-758-0222
Soccer Plus 21952 23 Mile Rd., Macomb Township 48042 586-598-8400
Soccer Stop 34356 Utica Rd., Fraser 48026 586-296-5227
Tool Sport & Sign 1060 S. Lapeer Rd., Oxford 48371 248-969-5850
For more information, please visit the Bucks web site at www.buckssoccer.com.
Michigan Bucks vs. Indiana Invaders
Indiana Invaders Soccer Complex
May 28, 2007
Scoring Summary:
IND: Saidi Isaac (Justin Murrow) 44
IND: Saidi Isaac (Arran Horton) 50
MIC: Kenny Uzoigwe (Nate Jafta) 55
MIC: Kenny Uzoigwe (Nate Jafta) 60
MIC: Khelli Dube (Kenny Uzoigwe) 78
IND: Saidi Isaac (Ryan Stewart) 81
Lineups:
Indiana: 0-Carl Woszczynski, 26-Serginho Sandy, 4-Gregory Preciado (8-Issam Sawtarie ’80), 22-Hugo Gonzalez, 16-Ryan Miller, 15-Justin Murrow, 18-Nate Norman (14-James Urbany ’73), 10-Dustin Snyder (3-Mamba Chisoni ’46), 12-Saidi Isaac, 17-Ryan Stewart, 5-Arran Horton
Subs not used: 00-Rick King, 7-Michael Giffin, 9-Leonardo Peirano-Pardeiro, 21-Eric Meister
Head Coach: Rick King
Michigan: 25-Steve Clark, 3-Mike Holody, 22-Ian Daniel, 4-Kyle Russell, 14-Alex Morriset, 17-Piotr Nowak, 8-Nate Jafta, 15-Santos Perez (11-Steve Bonnell ’61), 7-Ty Shiplane, 21-Khelli Dube (13-John Palladino ’85), 18-Doug DeMartin (10-Kenny Uzoigwe ’46)
Subs not used: 1-Mitch Hildenbrandt, 9-George Josten, 19-Steve Brust, 20-Dan Stevens
Head Coach: Dan Fitzgerald
Misconduct Summary
IND -- Saidi Isaac ’23 (caution)
MICH -- Ty Shipalane ’29 (caution)
MICH -- Khelli Dube ’49 (caution)
IND -- Arran Horton ’53 (caution)
IND -- Mamba Chisioni ’58 (caution)
IND -- Rick King '68 (ejection) -- COACH
MICH -- Steve Bonnell ’89 (caution)
Shots: Indiana 15, Michigan 13
Saves: Indiana 3, Michigan 3
Fouls: Indiana 15, Michigan 15
Offsides: Indiana 5, Michigan 2
Corners: Indiana 6, Michigan 5
Referees: Andrew Scott, Ben Trevino, Peter Charpentier
