Bucks off mark in seventh straight win
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
PONTIAC — The Michigan Bucks are in the midst of seven-game win streak. It’s hard to imagine what could happen when the Bucks actually start firing on all cylinders.
Even with another dominating performance — the Bucks defeated PDL expansion team Akron Summit Assault, 2-0, Wednesday in a Great Lakes Division contest at the Ultimate Soccer Arenas — Bucks coach Gary Parsons was not impressed with the overall effort put forth by several of his players.
Michigan (7-1-1), which opened the campaign 0-1-1 before its current win streak, outshot Akron 16-8, including 5-4 with shots on frame, and even held a 6-1 edge on cornerkicks. The Bucks squandered too many grand scoring chances and nearly allowed the Summit Assault to climb back into the game with some late defensive lapses.
“There were a whole bunch of things wrong with tonight’s game,” admitted Bucks coach Gary Parsons, not trying to sugarcoat the Bucks’ methodical win over a first-year team. “There some other things that were more (alarming). You’re going to get those games where you don’t get four goals. The fact that we only finished two, I can live with that. Some days were’ going to put some away and some were not. It’s some of the other things out there. When you’re halfway through the season and we’re (still) doing things (wrong).”
Still, Michigan found enough offense to keep Akron at bay, scoring both goals in the first 35 minutes of the first half.
Bucks all-time leading scorer Kenny Uzoigwe caught Akron goalkeeper Brad Stuver napping just 9:01 into the contest. Thomas Catalano’s flick into the box went right to Uzoigwe, who was wide open six yards in front of the goal to head home the ball inside the near post.
At 34:15, three players were involved in the Bucks’ second tally. Catalano laced a free kick into the penalty box, which Tony Walls moved over to a wide-open Stewart Givens, who ripped a shot from the top of the box
Akron almost spoiled the shutout at 28:20 when Ryan Minick broke through the Bucks’ backline, but misfired a shot just wide of the goal from 20 yards out.
Michigan continued to attack Akron’s net for the first 30 minutes of the second half and even had a brief 4-on-2 rush in the 74th minute, but couldn’t cash in on the opportunity — one of several during the final 45 minutes.
“I think, based on tonight’s game, that there’s a (boatload) to build upon,” said Parsons. “We weren’t good in many aspect of the game. Other than scoring goals on set plays (offensively), tell me what we did right. We will work on some things. Whether it be in the middle of the midfield, or the substitutions that we made to give us energy which we got none out of it, we got too lose in the back (on defense) at the end. We started to shadow play at the end.
“It’s just discipline on how you play the game and some of the players are lacking that discipline on how you play the game,” added Parsons. “We may have to make personal changes. If we can’t sort it out in practice, to try to get the guys on the right page what you need to get done. You might have to change some people.”
Akron (3-2-3) began to pressure the Bucks’ net over the final 15 minutes of the contest, but couldn’t cut into the deficit. Mitch Hilderbrandt picked up his seventh shutout on the season, making three second-half saves. He has posted a 0.45 goals-against-average to rank inside the top-10 nationally in the 64-franchise PDL.
With the Bucks letting their guards down, the Summit Assault had a rash of scoring chances in the final 10 minutes of play, its best was a blast Rhys Cannella’s ripped a shot on net from 22 yards out that was punched away Hildebrandt, the Oakland University senior-to-be who has yielded only four goals all season and just one goal in the seven-game win streak.
Hildebrandt has been the one consistent bright spot in terms of individual play this season for Michigan, which leads the nine-team with 22 points, six ahead of second-place Chicago Fire.
“He has not put a foot wrong all season,” praised Parsons. “He’s been solid.”
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