Michigan Bucks News Release -- www.buckssoccer.com
Thursday, July 28, 2011
PONTIAC, Mich. -- The Michigan Bucks completed training Thursday afternoon and seem to be set for their huge playoff game against the Des Moines Menace on Friday night (8 p.m. kick off) at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac. The Bucks come in as the No.1 seed in the Central Conference Final Four and will look forward to their match immediately following the night’s first game featuring the Thunder Bay Chill and the Chicago Fire Premier. The four teams have logged the most playoff games of any of the sixteen teams that make up the Central Conference.
"This is annually the toughest Conference from top to bottom," said Bucks head coach Gary Parsons. Des Moines won the 2005 PDL title, the Bucks the 2006 title, the Bucks lost in the 2007 final and Thunder Bay won the 2008 title and lost in the final in 2010. "There is a whole lot of great PDL history in these four clubs and I can promise the fans are in for a treat this weekend," finished Parsons. "Who ever gets out of this weekend alive could be the favorite to win it all."
The winner of the two Friday night semi final matches will face off in the Central Conference championship match on Saturday (7:30 p.m. kickoff) with the winner advancing to the PDL Final Four the weekend of August 5-6. The PDL championship match will once again be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel on Saturday (7:30 ET kick off). With two wins this weekend, the Bucks hope they will have an opportunity to host next weekend’s Final Four, the first championship game the team would host since 2000. "Let’s not get ahead of ourselves," said Bucks Chairman/ CEO Dan Duggan.
"We have an extremely difficult task ahead," Duggan said. "Winning one game will be a huge accomplishment and winning both will be a monumental task. The players aren’t looking past Friday for a moment because if you do, you will be watching the other two teams on Saturday and that would not be good for the program or our fans."
The Bucks and Des Moines Menace have faced off in the post season four times in the past with the Bucks holding a 3-1 lead in the series. The Bucks won playoff games in 1997, 2002 and 2003 and the Menace lone playoff victory came over the Bucks in Des Moines in 2005 and culminated in the franchise’s only PDL title. Des Moines began in 1994, two years before the Bucks, and is second in total victories behind Michigan of all the 64 PDL teams in North America. The Bucks set the PDL record for wins earlier this season when they became the first team in league history to ever surpass 200 all time victories.
Both teams are known more for their flair in the attacking half of the field and scored a similar amount of goals on the sixteen game regular season campaign with the Menace holding a slight advantage (41-38 goals scored). The Bucks dominate the defense like few teams in the PDL and held teams to only 9 goals on the season (compared to Des Moines’ 20) and registered a league high twelve shutouts during the campaign. Bucks goal keeper Mitch Hildebrandt not only led the PDL with the twelve victories and twelve clean sheets, but he did not yield a single goal in eight home games over the summer. Parsons would like to see a repeat of that two more times this weekend.
"We know if Mitch continues to dominate between the pipes, our offense should create enough chances to give us the lead," Parsons said. "If we can jump out early we should be able to hold down the fort knowing we have a solid defensive back line and the best PDL keeper this season as our back stop."
Tickets for both matches on Friday are only $10 all ages (5 and under free) at the door, but are still available at half price until 3 PM Friday. The Bucks best ticket value is the Family Four pack, which includes 4 tickets to both games on Friday and 4 tickets to the championship match on Saturday. The $80 value Family Four pass is available until 3 PM on Friday for only $25. Tickets can be purchased at Ultimate Soccer Arenas or on line at www.buckssoccer.com and clicking on the TICKET link. The Bucks are hoping for huge local support from the community to help sway the USL to select the Bucks as Final Four hosts, should they survive the weekend.
"We know that Laredo was selected in 2006 and 2007 because of their huge local support where they brought over 7,000 fans to the game," Duggan said. "If we can sell out Ultimate Soccer Arenas, we may have a chance. Plus, the team plays better with the place full so hopefully that will the advantage that will insure we are still alive to play next weekend."
Both games will be streamed live over the Internet on Friday and can be viewed at www.USLlive.com beginning with the first match at 5:30 PM. To keep up with all of the 2011 PDL playoffs, please visit the United Soccer League home page at www.uslsoccer.com.