The Flint City Bucks capped their 2020 six-game exhibition schedule with a 4-0 shutout Sunday afternoon at Kettering University’s historic Atwood Stadium.  This time the victim was Rebels FC from the UPSL.  Flint City scored a first-half goal, then tacked on three insurance tallies after halftime to cruise to its third straight shutout. The Bucks, the 2019 USL2 North American champions, concluded the 2020 campaign of friendlies with three straight shutouts.

FCB recorded clean sheets in the shortened season and never allowed more than one goal in a single match. Only Carpathia FC in Week 2 and Inter Detroit FC in Week 3 were able to convert against the Bucks’ stingy defense, while Flint City never trailed the entire season.

“Overall, I’m very pleased with today and the whole schedule really,” stated first-year Bucks head coach Andy Wagstaff. “We only allowed two goals defensively, which is a real tribute to our defenders and goalkeepers. A lot of players contributed today and many gave us a strong showing (this season).”

Michael Sly, a Grand Blanc native and member of the U-19 Michigan Wolves MLS Academy team, earned the win and clean sheet in his first-ever Bucks appearance by making three second-half saves.  “Michael is a guy who approached us when he found out we were playing exhibition matches,” offered Wagstaff. “He’s a very outgoing young man and obviously a very talented goalkeeper playing with the Michigan Wolves MLS Academy program. He got his opportunity today and did very well when Rebels FC created scoring chances. He made a couple of very impressive saves today.”

Sly became the third goalkeeper this fall season to record a shutout for the Bucks, following Oakland University incoming freshman Finn Jurak (Week 1) and OU alum, Eliott Tarney (Week 4 and Week 5). 

Defensively, the Bucks did not even concede a shot to Rebels FC until the 29:50 mark of the first half and did not yield a shot directly on frame until the 61:14 mark.  As it has all season, Flint City’s defense limited the opposition to single-digits in total shots while the Bucks offensively outshot all six opponents by sizable margins. Flint City held a commanding 24-5 shots edge, including 13-3 with shots on frame, and compiled a 5-3 edge on corner kicks against Rebels FC.

After a sluggish start in the opening minutes, the Bucks wound up outshooting Rebels FC 14-2 in the first half. The persistence paid off when Ayuk Tambe scored off a penalty kick at 32:45 after a teammate was tripped up in the box.

Javier Steinwascher set up the next three goals for the Bucks.  After dribbling by three defenders, he slipped a pass into the box to Amadou Cisse who one-touched another pass to Marty Maybin. The surging Maybin blasted home a shot at 56:35 for the 2-0 advantage.

The Steinwascher to Maybin combination joined forces for the third goal, as Steinwascher’s chip cross into the box was redirected into the net by Maybin at 58:32.  The final goal came at the 84:53 mark. Steinwascher’s through ball to Tambe was tapped over to Cisse, who fired home the close-range shot from the center of the box to cap the scoring.

The exhibition season was not only televised on Mid Michigan’s CW46 or streamed online, but it served as an important tryout opportunity for the 2021 season, where the Bucks will officially defend their fourth USL2 North American championship.  “We’ll see what happens with the NCAA and how long the top collegiate players will be available to us next summer,” noted Wagstaff. “The college season should start in February and we’ll see how far into the spring it goes. Then we have to evaluate when they schedule the 2021 fall NCAA season. We don’t know exactly how it will all work out. But I know a lot of these guys would like to be a part of FCB next year if they can.”

THAT’S A WRAP… 

Not being allowed to defend its 2019 North American title — the program’s fourth all-time — due to the pandemic and 2020 League Two regular season cancellation, the Flint City Bucks were impressive in just about every category in their (for TV only) exhibition schedule against teams from a variety of pre-professional and semi-professional leagues around Michigan.

Flint City, which hosted each game at Kettering’s historic Atwood Stadium, never trailed over the course of the season — some 540 minutes plus stoppage time. The Bucks did so with a wide variety of talented players.  This included alumni of various top NCAA programs, current college players and incoming college freshmen who won’t be able to begin their respective college careers until the NCAA commences “regular 2020” seasons in February. Most of the current college players did not compete after the first two weeks, as they were called back to their respective campuses to begin training.

Man of the Match: Northwood University alum James Decosemo. Although the holding midfielder was not involved in the scoring Sunday, Wagstaff felt his presence was felt in every game this season.  His consistency was apparent in both the attack and the front gate to the Bucks’ defense. 

The statistics for the Bucks’ perfect 6-0-0 exhibition season in 2020 include:

Week 1: Flint City Bucks 8, Midwest United FC 0

Week 2: Flint City Bucks 2, Carpathia FC 1

Week 3: Flint City Bucks 2, Inter Detroit FC 1

Week 4: Flint City Bucks 7, Livonia FC 0

Week 5: Flint City Bucks 3, Detroit United FC 0

Week 6: Flint City Bucks 4, Rebels FC 0

Goals For: 26

Goals Against: 2

Shutouts: 4

Team Goals-Against-Average: 0.34

Record: 6-0-0

JERSEYS FOR DOLLARS

The Flint City Bucks’ finale concluded with a Bucks/Capelli hot pink jersey auction that helped raise money for the Hurley Medical Foundation Breast Cancer Navigation Program. Each player came forward to the microphone for an interview with Bucks Play-By-Play announcer Neal Ruhl as a live jersey auction through Facebook Live took place for each player that suited up Sunday. The auction lasted 30 minutes and raised over $2,500 for the Hurley Foundation!