Michigan Bucks qualify for US Open Cup

Story courtesy MIchigan Bucks Public Relations

Cleveland, OH (May 26, 2008) -- The Michigan Bucks finished their perfect run at qualifying for the 2008 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup with a 2-1 win in Cleveland against the Internationals. The Bucks won all four of their first matches to lead the Great Lakes Division and Central Conference of the United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier Development League (PDL) with a maximum twelve points.

In the Bucks thirteen-year existence, they were allowed to enter the Cup twelve times and have qualified a record eight times. Four of those seasons also included perfect 4-0 starts to begin the PDL and Open Cup season. The St. Louis Lions claimed the only other conference berth with a record of 3-0-1. Cleveland, despite its best start in team history, finishes cup qualifying at 2-1-1 and would have snatched the final spot from the division leading Bucks with a victory.

The Bucks started attacking early on in the match and opened the scoring when Ty Shipalane (S. Africa/Lindsey Wilson) took a short corner kick from college teammate and fellow countryman Nate Jafta. Shipalane fired a laser through a crowd in front of goal and into the side netting in the game's 10th minute.

The Internationals did not seem to be fazed by the early strike and continued to handle the majority of possession until halftime in an initial stanza that saw several yellow cards and a couple of spectacular saves by Bucks goalkeeper Steve Clark (Mason, MI/Oakland). Although Clark played another stellar game in goal, he could not get his third shutout of the season due to a call against the Bucks following a hard driven shot into the wall from the top of the eighteen yard box that was deemed to be a handball. Internationals midfielder Mike Nanchoff buried the penalty to Clark's left just before halftime and the teams went into the locker rooms deadlocked.

The Bucks came out more aggressive in the second half and regained much of the run of play as they pushed to get the second goal to put the game away. With the Bucks holding the tie breaker for Cup Qualifying due to Cleveland's draw on Saturday, the experienced team from Michigan was patient enough to wait for the counter attack that would put the game away. That opportunity came in the 66th minute when the dynamic duo of Kenny Uzoigwe (Toledo) and Jafta hooked up again for the game winner. Jafta laid a return pass to Uzoigwe, who blew past a defender and ripped a shot that the Internationals keeper Nick Harper had no chance at. Uzoigwe's fourth goal of the season in as many games leads the Bucks team again in scoring, but is not far ahead of Jafta, who already has notched seven assists in the first four games to go along with the lone goal he scored Saturday against Ft. Wayne.

The pairings for the 2008 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup will be announced by US Soccer on Tuesday and will pit the eight qualifying clubs from PDL and the eight USASA teams against the eight teams from USL 1 and the eight teams from USL 2 on Tuesday, June 10, with the winners advancing to play in Round Two on June 24. Teams from Major League Soccer (MLS) join the nation's oldest tournament on July 1 in Round Three. The Bucks have a positive history of hosting US Open Cup matches over the years, having hosted ten Cup matches, including four teams from MLS that have come to town. The Bucks First Round match and the venue will be announced Tuesday afternoon. To keep up with the team's Open Cup run, visit usopencup.com or visit the Bucks web site at buckssoccer.com.

Michigan Bucks vs. Cleveland Internationals
St. Edwards High School
Cleveland, OH
May 26, 2008

Scoring Summary:
MICH - Ty Shipalane (Nate Jafta) - 10th minute
CLE - Mike Nanchoff (penalty kick) - 44th minute
MICH - Kenny Uzoigwe (Nate Jafta) - 66th minute

Lineups:

Michigan: 25-Steve Clark, 4-Kyle Russell, 22-Ian Daniel, 3-Mike Holody, 15-Dave Hertel, 17-Piotr Nowak, 14-Alex Morisset (13-Zac Scaffidi '33), 8-Nate Jafta (11-Besmir Bega '69), 7-Ty Shipalane (18-Doug DeMartin '22), 16-Nik Djokic, 10-Kenny Uzoigwe
Subs not used: 1-Bret Mollon, 5-Fabien Lewis, 9-Mauro Fuzetti, 20-Spencer Thompson

Cleveland: 0-Nick Harper, 7-Chris Korb, 18-Josh Williams, 6-Mitch Boyer, 19-John Brickman (15-Jud McKinnon '52), 20-Justin Morrow (24-Nick Thompson '75), 16-Mike Nanchoff, 4-Jeff Marsh (8-Danny Bartulovich '59), 13-Ben Zemanski, 16-Matt Tudich, 11-Steve Zulkuani
Subs not used: 1-Jason Whitehead, 25-Chris Alexander, 21-Shakir McCoy, 9-Kevin Pitorak

Misconduct Summary:
MICH - Dave Hertel - caution - 11th minute
MICH - Nate Jafta - caution - 28th minute
CLE - Chris Korb - caution - 39th minute
MICH - Nik Djokic - caution - 42nd minute
CLE - Mike Nanchoff - caution - 49th minute
CLE - Matt Tudich - caution - 86th minute
MICH - Besmir Bega - caution - 90th+ minute
MICH - Kenny Uzoigwe - caution - 90th+ minute

Statistics:
Shots: Michigan 6, Cleveland 7
Saves: Michigan 4, Cleveland 2
Fouls: Michigan 20, Cleveland 18
Offsides: Michigan 3, Cleveland 1
Corners: Michigan 3, Cleveland 5