Cleveland, OH (May 19, 2010)- The Michigan Bucks started their fifteenth season in the United Soccer League’s (USL) Premier Development League (PDL) with a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Internationals on Wednesday night in Cleveland. First year head coach Gary Parsons started a young team that consisted of seven players making their first ever start in a Bucks uniform, but it was a long time PDL veteran that led the way. After a slow start, striker Kenny Uzoigwe, playing in his eighth PDL season (fifth with the Bucks) got the team from Michigan on the scoreboard first with a leaping header off a corner kick from Ben Speas (Stow, OH/ Akron) in the 25th minute. Seven minute later, left back Chase Tennant (Rochester Hills, MI/ Michigan) made a long overlapping run and crossed a ball to the top of the eighteen, where is was smacked into the top corner of the net by Tommy Catalano (Shelby Twp, MI/ Oakland) to make the score 2-0. The Bucks continued to press to try and deliver the knockout punch before the halftime whistle and that came in the 37th minute when Uzoigwe’s offensive pressure created an easy tap in for Rubin Bega (Harper Woods, MI/ MichiganState).
Parsons was naturally pleased with the first half score, but identified several key areas that need improvement. “I am happy with the result, but I had hoped we would do some things better as a unit. That is hard to expect seeing that we have only been together two weeks, but we should be farther along defensively. Our plan defensively was to shut down (Cleveland’s Darlington) Nagbe on the counter attack.” The Akron star is currently one of the top rated college soccer players in the nation. “We know how dangerous he can be and he nearly got them on the scoreboard early in the half,” said Parsons. Bucks goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt (Livonia, MI/ Oakland) made four key saves on the night in registering the shutout and the win. “We did some good things in that last twenty minutes of the first half and then came out flat in the second half,” added Parsons. “This is something we need to address before Saturday. We have to maintain the intensity to keep teams from getting back in the game.”
Cleveland came out the aggressor early in the second half, but the only noise they made around the goal was a shot off the crossbar. Parsons used all his subs in the second half and brought in six players off the bench, four who were making their debut in Bucks uniforms. Returning to the Bucks offense were Simon Omekanda (Rochester Hills, MI) and Stefan St. Louis (Trinidad/ Oakland) who linked up nicely with new comber Andy Lubahn (Erie, PA/ WakeForest) on several combinations. Lubahn was stopped twice on great saves from Cleveland goal keeper Anthony Ponikvar to keep the score at 3-0. The Bucks (1-0-0) now shift their focus to their home opener on Saturday night against the Dayton Dutch Lions (1-0-1), who have started their first PDL season with a 3-3 tie against Cincinnati and a 3-0 win over the Internationals.
Tickets for Saturday’s home opener at Ultimate Soccer Arenas (7:30 pm kickoff) are available at the door and online through Ticket Master. This year’s prices are the same as last year, $10 Adults and $7 Youth (15 and under). Children 5 and under are always free to Bucks games. For further information about the Bucks upcoming home schedule and information on this year’s discounted season ticket packages (which will be available at the door on Saturday night), please visit the Bucks web site at www.buckssoccer.com.
