Bucks topple FC London, edge closer to division championship with 10th win

MOVING TOWARDS A GOAL: Tommy Catalano and the Michigan Bucks inched closer to the goal of the PDL Great Lakes Division championship with a 2-0 victory Saturday over FC London at the Ultimate Soccer Arenas.

BY ALEX DROPKIN

INTERN CORRESPONDENT

PONTIAC — The Michigan Bucks and FC London butted heads on Saturday night in a potential Premier Development League playoffs game.

The Bucks, at home, came away with the 2-0 win in a tightly contested battle at the Ultimate Soccer Arenas.

Michigan, London and the Chicago Fire Premier have locked up the Great Lakes Division’s three playoff spots, but the division championship — and a first-round bye in the playoffs — is still up for grabs. The Bucks knocked London out of title contention, setting up a crucial road matchup against Chicago on July 20.

The Bucks currently lead the division with 32 points (10-2-2), but Chicago is just three points behind with a game in hand.

“We know what we’re up against when we play London and we know what we’re up against when we play Chicago, and if you look at the big standings, they mirror exactly that,” Bucks head coach Gary Parsons said. “(These are) three quality teams that are going to go head to head and battle each other, and whoever puts their chances away is going to come out the winner, and we did tonight.”

While Michigan had a few good runs early in Saturday’s matchup, neither team managed a goal in a very even first 45 minutes.

“They were exactly what we expected. They are a really hard working team, and we knew it was going to come down to us taking care of a couple of our chances,” midfielder and co-captain Simon Omekanda said. “We had a couple of chances that we missed, but we just kept going at it.”

London held the slight 7-6 advantage with shots in the half, and in the 31st minute, nearly took the lead. On a free kick that was sent into the box, London ripped two shots that were knocked away by a sprawling Bucks keeper Mitch Hildebrandt.

“I would say all 22 guys on the field were inside the box, because I couldn’t see anything. I kind of just knew he was going to hit it and he caught it clean. It came hard,” said Hildebrandt of the second shot. “I kind of just made myself big, and it hit off me luckily. It was a funny play, but it got us out of a jam and we were able to come back in the second half and get three points.”

Hildebrandt came up big once again for the Bucks, recording his league-leading 10th shutout of the season and continued his scoreless streak at home.

In the 68th minute, the Bucks finally broke the stalemate with a goal from midfielder Tommy Catalano. After a long throw-in got the ball near London’s box, defender Sebby Harris flicked the ball to a wide-open Catalano, who tapped it right into the net.

The goal was Catalano’s team-leading eighth of the season.

“That’s what you work for. You work your butt off to get the chances to get the goal, and whoever gets the first one has got a huge advantage now,” Parsons said. “So (Catalano’s goal) was good timing for that. It took a little bit of the steam out of them.”

A penalty kick was awarded to Michigan 12 minutes later, and co-captain Stew Givens buried it to secure the victory.

Omekanda referred to the win as a true test of the Bucks’ capabilities and talent.

“In the locker room before the game, I said, ‘We’re all good players, but it’s in games like this that we’re going to see who the real good players are…. Any of us can go in the first (few) games of the season and play well, but in a game like this, with this pressure…we’re going to see who the players are,’” Omekanda said. “Today we saw that we’re a team that can make a run. (The win) just solidified what I think we already knew, that we’re a team that can be there in the end.”

Category: Colleges / Other, Michigan Bucks