Michigan Bucks

BUCKS TO HOST US OPEN CUP ROUND ONE AGAINST PROFESSIONAL CITY STARS

Ultimate Soccer Arenas to host historic match indoors

The Bucks will host USL-2 side Cleveland City Stars in the first round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

Pontiac, MI (May 27, 2008) -- US Soccer has announced the pairings for the opening round of the 2008 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup today and the Michigan Bucks have been selected to host the Cleveland City Stars of the United Soccer Leagues (USL) 2nd Division. The Premier Development League (PDL) Bucks (one level below the City Stars in the American soccer pyramid) will take on the professional team from Ohio on Tuesday, June 10 (7:30 kickoff) at Ultimate Soccer Arenas. Ticket prices and availability will be announced later this week, but Bucks management expects to have tickets on sale by this Friday through Ticket Master and at Ultimate Soccer.

President of Soccer Operations, Kyle Karns was pleased with the news out of Chicago late Tuesday. “We are always proud to host a US Open Cup match, especially this year with the opening of our new 17 million dollar home. Representing the USL, the Buck’s organization has hosted more US Open Cup matches than nearly every team in the country, so we know how to put on a good show. We have scoured the history books and believe that this will be the first ever US Open Cup qualifying match held indoors. We will not let the selection committee down,” concluded Karns.

Bucks Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald has qualified for the US Open Cup in each of his three seasons at the helm and confirms that it is no accident. “I have been around this organization as a fan, an assistant and as head coach and learned long ago that the Bucks organization believes that this prestigious tournament is instrumental in helping to get our players noticed at a higher level. Everyone knows from the time they begin with the Bucks that there are three seasons here; US Open Cup, PDL regular season and PDL playoffs. The good thing about the way the qualifying works is that if you get off to a good start for the Open Cup, you are usually in the driver’s seat within the division as well.”

The Bucks unprecedented success in the Open Cup at the PDL level has helped to get several players noticed and drafted to Major League Soccer (MLS) over the past decade. “Our first year to enter the Cup was 1997 in our second full season,” said Bucks Chairman/CEO Dan Duggan. “We took the First Division powerhouse Rochester Rhinos to overtime on the road that year and then defeated the First Division Minnesota Thunder at their place in 1999. That earned us our first game against a team from Major League Soccer (Tampa Bay Mutiny), which we were fortunate enough to host.” Although the Bucks battled the Mutiny well, they were outclassed and were defeated 2-1. Added Duggan, “We had so much fun during those two seasons that we decided that to try and do this every year.” While most PDL teams have never qualified to even play in the tournament, the Bucks return in 2008 for an incredible eighth trip in twelve years. Along the way, the young college stars and professionals who gather from all over the world to spend the summer in Michigan have been able to earn the right to play teams from Major League Soccer on six different occasions. Needless to say, the most fun was the defeat of the New England Revolution 1-0 in Foxboro Stadium in 2000. But the match that Bucks fans will talk about forever was the 3-3 tie with the MLS Miami Fusion and eventual loss in penalty kicks (6-5) before 5,000 passionate fans at White Pine Stadium in Saginaw just two weeks after the emotional victory over the Revolution.

Dating back to 1914, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and is among the oldest in the world. Open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual U.S. Open Cup is entering its 95th edition in 2008. The single elimination tournament begins on Tuesday, June 10 with Round One where the sixteen qualifying teams from the Unites States Amateur Soccer Association (USASA) and the United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier Development League (PDL) square off against the sixteen qualifying professional teams representing the USL First and Second Divisions. Round Two will be played on Tuesday, June 24 with the sixteen winners from June 10 squaring off. The eight Round Two survivors will meet the eight qualifying teams from Major League Soccer (MLS) in Round Three on Tuesday, July 1. MLS’s New England Revolution are the current defending US Open Cup champions.

While the Bucks prepare for their Cup match, they will try to keep their 2008 unbeaten streak alive when they travel south this weekend for a two game road trip to Cincinnati and West Virginia. Michigan will take on the Kings Friday night before heading to Charleston, West Virginia for a Sunday evening rematch against the Chaos. The Bucks opened their home season with at 3-0 victory over West Virginia at Ultimate Soccer Arenas on May 17.

The Bucks return to play back-to-back matches at home on Wednesday, June 4 and Saturday, June 7. The June 4th game against the West Michigan Edge, originally scheduled to be played at Ultimate Soccer Arenas has been moved to Lake Orion High School (7:30 PM kickoff). The Bucks final tune-up before their Round One Open Cup match will be against a very tough opponent in the Cleveland Internationals. The last regular season meeting between Michigan and Cleveland will be played at Ultimate Soccer Arenas (7:30 PM kickoff) Saturday night June 7.

To get the most updated information, scores, stats and Open Cup ticket availability, please visit the Bucks web site at www.buckssoccer.com.