Flint City Bucks reach USL2 playoffs, host Fort Wayne in Central Conference semifinals tonight

Posted on Jul 21, 2024

By Harold C. Ford

The Flint City Bucks will play Fort Wayne FC tonight at Atwood Stadium in the semi-finals of the United States League Two (USL2) Central Conference.

The Bucks have had a memorable 2024 season thus far, reaching the first round of the USL2 playoffs with a 10-0 victory over Michiana FC of South Bend, Indiana on July 13, 2024. In doing so, they finished their regular season with a record of 10 wins, three draws, and one loss.

Flint then played a quarterfinal matchup against the Cleveland Force at 7:30 p.m. on July 19. After a scoreless first half, the Bucks took control of the game with a steadfast defense and a hungry offense that created numerous scoring opportunities.

Flint’s Palmer Ault scored the game’s only goal in the 76th minute of the second half, assisted by Josemir Gomez. The 1-0 finish decided the Bucks’ semifinal run tonight.

Palmer Ault celebrates with his Flint City Bucks teammates after scoring the team’s only goal of the quarterfinal game on Friday, July 19, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Flint City Bucks)

Flint clinch division championship en route to playoffs

The Bucks’ 10-1-3 regular-season record earned them first place in the USL2 Central Conference’s eight-team Great Lakes Division. (Three points are awarded for a win, one point for a tie and no points are awarded for a loss.)

The seven other Great Lakes Division franchises trailed the Bucks with the following regular-season point totals: Midwest United FC, 31 points; Kalamazoo FC, 27; AFC Ann Arbor, 26; Oakland County FC, 14; Lansing City Football, 13; Union FC Macomb, 13; and Michiana FC, 2.

On July 10, the Bucks were ranked fifth in the USL2 power rankings out of the 72 teams in the league.

A quick summary of the Bucks

The Flint City Bucks team – formerly the Mid-Michigan Bucks and Michigan Bucks – is one of the most successful minor league soccer teams in the United States. In its 29 years of existence, it has qualified for 11 U.S. Open Cups, won 12 division titles, and secured four national championships.

The team was founded in 1995 and began play as the Mid-Michigan Bucks in Saginaw, Michigan. After a name change in 1996 to the Michigan Bucks, the team relocated to Plymouth, Michigan in 2004, and then to Pontiac, Michigan in 2008. The Michigan Bucks rebranded as the Flint City Bucks and began playing home games at Atwood Stadium in Flint in May 2019.

There, on August 3, 2019, the team won its fourth national championship with a final score of 1–0 against Reading United FC in front of more than 7,000 fans at Atwood Stadium. The winning goal came in the second 15-minute extra time on a penalty kick by Flint’s Ayuk Tambe.

The 2024 Flint City Bucks pose for a photo during a welcome reception at Huntington Bank in downtown Flint, Michigan on May 13, 2024. (Photo by Kate Stockrahm)

The current team consists of young men from across the United States and around the world, including Canada, France, Germany, Iraq, Jamaica, Poland, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Most of the team’s members play for American universities outside the USL2 summer season. In addition, several Bucks players have gone on to play in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level in the United States.

Bucks founder, CEO and chairman Dan Duggan and team president Costa Papista were named USL2 Co-Executives of the Year in 2019 after the club captured its fourth national championship.

The team’s current coaching staff consists of: Dan Doroh, Head Coach; Andy Wagstaff, Advisor to the Director of Coaching and Recruiting; and Rajko Jovanovic, Goalkeeping Coach.

At the start of the 2024 season, Doroh told East Village Magazine editor Kate Stockrahm, “I get my joy from … working with them (players) every day and seeing their success on the court.”

The Bucks’ semifinal game will be held at 5 p.m. July 21 at Atwood Stadium in Flint, located at 701 University Ave.

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