Noah Jensen’s intricate work and tireless effort seldom reveals itself on the scoresheet.

In the Flint City Bucks’ resounding 4-0 victory over Oakland County FC Saturday, the visionary midfielder made his mark in the box score and standings — tabulating four assists while also ensuring his team locked down a USL 2 playoff spot in the regular-season finale at historic Kettering University Atwood Stadium.

Amadou Cisse (18th minute), Abdel Kuku (22’), Jake Erlandson (45+1’) and Charlie Sharp (65’) registered goals for the Bucks (9-3-2, 29 points), who are headed to the postseason for an unprecedented 23rd time in their 26-year history.

The Bucks’ playoff opponent will be known later this week after the USL regular season concludes Sunday. Flint enters the postseason riding a four-game winning streak, having gone 6-1 in its last seven matches.

Goalkeepers Isaac Walker, who played 70 minutes, and Jacob Nunner shared in the shutout.

Jensen, who completed his senior season this spring at Oakland University, factored in all four goals. Aside from his game-winning strike in the 90th minute against South Bend June 29, the Canadian has done much of his yeoman’s work in the shadows.

“There are a lot of guys on our team like myself, Harvey (Slade) or Ideal (Shefqeti) who like to play a holding midfield role, who don't necessarily score but do as many things as we can for the team,” said Jensen, “Whether it is winning a 50-50 ball or just passing the ball forward, we try to do everything to make our team successful. 

“Tonight, it showed up a little bit more on the scoresheet than it usually does but a lot of that stuff goes unnoticed.”

National scouts are clued in. Jensen (No. 10) is listed among the USL 2 Top 50 Prospects along with Bucks’ center back George Proctor and midfielder Harvey Slade.

“He sees things happening three or four steps ahead,” Bucks coach Andy Wagstaff said. “So, he takes mental pictures of what could happen and what defenders could do before he receives (the ball). He's got incredible vision and he's got incredible technique.

“He’s one or three quarterbacks in a team. He can see the pass. He can see the picture developing and can deliver the pass on a dime.”

While the season finale was highlighted by a halftime ceremony where former players Adam Grinwis, Zach Steinberger and Stew Givens along with legendary coach Demir Muftari were enshrined into the Bucks Hall of Fame, another current player was working toward his first-ballot candidacy.

Cisse continued his torrid scoring streak, threading the needle for his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 19th minute. Alan Kehoe and Jensen assisted on the tally, which came on the heels of a three-goal outburst in Wednesday’s 5-1 trouncing of Toledo Villa FC.

Kuku walked right into Jensen’s masterful playmaking moves three minutes later. After immediately coming on for Slade (lower body injury), the Australian redirected a feed from the Hermann Trophy semifinalist to give the Bucks a two-goal advantage.

Jensen showcased his artistry on free kicks, sending a curling right-footed missile for Erlandson to head in one minute into first-half stoppage time. 

“It's easy when you've got Jake Erlandson in the box,” Jensen said. “You've just got to put it somewhere so he can get his head on it and it just goes in the back of the net. 

“On the free kick, I told him to stand in one spot and run straight and it worked like a treat.”

The three-goal advantage enabled Wagstaff to substitute freely in the second half.

Sharp struck three minutes after entering the match, right-footing a shot past OCFC’s goalkeeper Quentin Ubaydi. Jensen and Kuku assisted on the goal in the 65th minute, which was Sharp’s third this season. 

“Charlie Sharp came in and scored his goal,” Wagstaff said. “We talked a little bit in training about it. It was good to see him get a goal that he deserves. It was nice to get everybody in the game. We saw a lot of good things tonight.”

Wagstaff, who is in his first season as head coach, sees some parallels between this Bucks squad and the one that won the national title two years ago. The Muftari-led side had some nicks, entering the playoffs at 6-3-3.

This year’s Bucks endured hardships, including a winless spell June 9-16 where they only scored two goals in three games (0-2-1). Flint is 6-1 since then.

“If I look at us coming in, I am looking at a national champion that's won six out of the last seven and is starting to play some decent stuff and thinking, 'They'll be tough to beat,' which we will,” Wagstaff said. 

“Hopefully, we can take those losses and those ties and channel them in a way we can get the results on the road in the playoffs. Since we went through that tough spell, you either go one way or the other. I think we went one way and that was north, and that is good.”

Goals

Flint – Amadou Cisse, 19’ (Noah Jensen, Alan Kehoe), Abdelrahman Kuku, 22’ (Noah Jensen), Jake Erlandson, 45+1’ (Noah Jensen), Charlie Sharp, 65’ (Noah Jensen, Abdelrahman Kuku)

Yellow cards

Flint – Abdelrahman Kuku, 75’

Oakland County FC – Ben Rosenblatt, 45’, DJ Hooks, 75’

Lineups

Flint — Isaac Walker, GK; Jake Erlandson, George Proctor, Alan Kehoe, Dylan Borczak, Harvey Slade, Noah Jensen, Adam McAleenan, Amadou Cisse, Henry Sanchez, Matt Fearnley

Oakland County FC – Quentin Ubaydi, GK; Naji Elder, Micha Sonnenberg, Ben Rosenblatt, Niko Papakyriakopoulos, Rocco Galati, Mounir Boutarea, Demetri Pliakos, Tony Rizzo, DJ Hooks, Bobby Harris

Officials

Eric Lott, referee; Samuel Pizzimenti, assistant referee; Jared Benzniak, assistant referee; Conlan Campbell, fourth official 

On to the Playoffs

The Bucks are most likely headed to Jackson, Mississippi this week for the first round of USL League Two playoffs.  The two Central Conference hosts for this initial round are Jackson (Mississippi Brilla) and DesMoines, Iowa (DesMoines Menace).  If the Bucks are able to win both games in the first round, they will be a strong candidate to host the second round back at Kettering’s Atwood Stadium. 

Playoff Watch Party Locations

Stay tuned for a list of local establishments that will be showing Bucks’ playoff games on the road.

Team Swag

Support the Boys in Red and Blue by wearing Bucks gear around town.  Visit www.shop.flintcitybucks.com to order your favorite Bucks merchandise today!