London, ON (July 18, 2009)- The Michigan Bucks run towards the 2009 Premier Development League (PDL) playoffs came to an end Friday night when they finished their road match against FC London in a 0-0 draw. The outcome pleased the 2,000 plus fans who came to see their home team take the final playoff spot from the Bucks with the one point they earned in the draw. The Bucks (7-5-3, 24 points) did everything possible to win the match, except finish their several great chances to win the all important road match. Coach Dan Fitzgerald started his top offensive weapons of Kenny Uzoigwe, Dave Hertel and Mauro Fuzetti, who all put on a brilliant display of attacking and kept the young London team under fire from the opening whistle. It looked like the Bucks might get on the board in the first five minutes when defender Nate Craft ripped a laser that was headed for the top corner that London goal keeper Scott Cliff got a hand on. The ensuing corner kick was nearly headed in as well and the frustration for the Bucks early would turn out to be sign of things to come. Dominating the midfield and the attacking third of the field, Uzoigwe continued to be a handful up top for the tight defensive backs, but he continued to work balls back onto the feet of Fuzetti and Hertel. Shortly before halftime, Fuzetti juked his defender from the right side, and smacked a left footed dipping shot from the top of the eighteen that beat Cliff but didn’t come down fast enough. What looked like a sure goal cracked off the cross bar and was cleared out of danger. Fuzetti would have a second half shot bounce off the goal post as well to add to his frustration.
For the second game in a row, the Bucks knew that a tie would do them no good and needed to win the game to stay alive in the playoffs. The first half was the best half of soccer the Bucks played all season and they came out firing in the second half as well. Uzoigwe appeared to have put the Bucks on the board when he headed in a cross from John Schaefer, but the goal was disallowed for offsides. The Bucks contined to press and created five more quality opportunities in the final ten mintues, with Uzoigwe and Hertel missing from short range late in the game. Although London did most of the defending throughout the match, they did create several dangerous counter attacks that would have put the game out of reach. Bucks keeper Steve Clark made two great saves from close range shots from Alan McGreal and Kevin Zimmerman. When the final whistle sounded, the Bucks were bounced from PDL playoffs for only the second time in fourteen seasons, while FC London qualified for the post season in their inaugural season.
Fitzgerald didn’t have a whole lot to say after the game, except for stating the obvious. “We were very good tonight offensively and they were very good defensively. You would think in soccer that when you create as many chances as we do each game, we would end up with more to show for it. That is our second scoreless draw this season and we should have won them both. We struggled finishing goals all season and that proved to be what ultimately killed us.” The Bucks, who have averaged over 50 goals a season over the past five years have scored a club record low of 21 goals this season. “You don’t have to have a college degree to figure out our problem this season,” concluded Fitzgerald. “The sad part is, we created more quality chances this season than we did all last season and we have only half the goals.”
The Bucks finish the season on Sunday in Toronto against the Lynx (5:00 kickoff). Following that match, several of the Bucks senior players will explore options with professional teams this summer, while the college players will enjoy three weeks off before they report to their respective school teams for pre season training on August 13. Several of the Bucks players will remain in Pontiac to work the Bucks final summer soccer camp (August 3-7) at Ultimate Soccer Arenas. For more information, please visit the Bucks web site at www.buckssoccer.com.
