| BUCKS SHINE ON COLLEGIATE STAGE 14 "Michigan" Bucks Players Garner First-Team All-Conference Honors The Michigan (formerly known as Mid Michigan) Bucks minor league soccer franchise was well represented when the 2003 collegiate All-Conference teams were announced this week as 18 players were honored, 14 of those as First-Team selections. Named to the All-Big Ten First Team were Knox Cameron, Kevin Taylor, Peter Dzubay and Mike White from the University of Michigan (U of M) along with John Minagawa-Webster and Nick DeGraw from Michigan State University (MSU). Cameron was also voted as the Big Ten Athlete of the Year. U of M's Mychal Turpin was selected to the Second Team and Penn State's Simon Omekanda joined the All-Freshman squad.In the Mid-Continent Conference, five Bucks from Oakland University were honored, led by Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Jason Perry. Joining Perry on the First Team were Doug Rice, Jeff Wiese and Ryan Rzepka, with Chris Edwards being selected for the Second Team. Others gaining First Team honors in their respective leagues were George Kithas (University of Detroit-Mercy) in the Horizon League, Boyzzz Khumalo (Coastal Carolina University) in the Big South Conference, plus Stephan David and Brian Ombigi representing Lindsey Wilson College in the NAIA's Mid-South Conference. Abe Geiger (Stanford) was named to the Pac 10's All-Academic First Team. "We are not surprised by the success all these guys had this fall because they are such hard workers. The Bucks are extremely proud of and happy for them because they are not only good soccer players, but classy individuals as well," said Bucks general manager, Jim Duggan. "Watching players that we've had for years, like Jason (Perry) and K.T. (Kevin Taylor) for example, develop into true stars is really the fun part of what we do." The Bucks compete in the Premier Development League (PDL) of the United Soccer Leagues (USL), which allows top collegiate players to compete in a professional environment during the spring and summer, while maintaining their NCAA eligibility. BUCKS IN NCAA TOURNAMENT; U OF M TO HOST SECOND ROUND MATCH Good luck to all the Bucks whose teams qualified for the NCAA and NAIA tournaments this fall. U of M drew a First Round bye and will host the winner of Brown vs. St. Peter's (NJ) on Wednesday, November 26th, tentatively scheduled for 2:00pm at the U of M Soccer Field. Also on November 26th, Notre Dame (Nate Norman) hosts the winner of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Western Michigan, while the winner of Virginia and Seton Hall will travel to Wake Forest University (Ryan Alexander). In other First Round games, which are both scheduled for today or tomorrow, Oakland University travels to Tulsa and Coastal Carolina hosts Davidson. Lindsey Wilson competes for the NAIA National Championship this week. Fans may get more information on the Michigan Bucks at the franchise's website: http://mmbucks.com | |
