 | 1996 HIGHLIGHTS
INAUGURAL SEASON IN PREMIER DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE - Coach: Steve Burns
- Overall Record: 12-10; 10-8 in North Central Division
- Rebounded from 0-4 start to qualify for North Central Division playoffs by winning eight of last 10 regular season games
- Upset division-leading Michigan Arsenal, 3-2 in overtime, in Division Semi-finals
- Won Division title with exciting 1-0 victory on Tim Richey's shootout goal Goalkeeper Alan Placek named Man of the Match
- First Premier League Finals (Sizzlin' Six) appearance: sixth place finish
- Jeremy Guenther named to All-Tournament team at Sizzlin' Six
- Leading Scorer: Scott Weiger with five goals
1997 HIGHLIGHTS - Coach: Steve Burns
- Overall Record: 21-7; 17-4 in North Central Division
- Second straight North Central Division Championship and trip to the national Premier League Finals
- Franchise record 20 wins (12 League, 17 Overall in Regular Season, 3 in playoffs)
- 81 goals in 28 games shattered team scoring record (31 Goals in 22 games in '96)
- "Round One" 3-2 victory at Wilmington, NC (D3 Pro League) advancing to the "Final 24: teams of the U.S. Open Cup before losing to the A-League's Rochester Rhinos in Overtime
- Steve Burns earns "Coach of the Year" in Premier League
- Mali Walton and Valentino Scicluna named to All-Tournament Team, USISL Premier League Final Four
- Leading Scorer: Paul Snape with 19 goals and 12 assists
1998 HIGHLIGHTS - Coach: Steve Burns
- Overall Record: 16-7; 11-5 in Great Lakes Division
- Won third straight Division Championship with a 2-0 win over the Detroit Dynamite, earning a trip to the Regional Finals
- Defender Jeremy Aldrich was named to the All-PDVL Team, honoring the top 11 players from across the country in the 33-team league. Aldrich also became the first Bucks player to be drafted into the MLS, getting picked by the Miami Fusion
- The Bucks defense allowed only 1.21 goals/game in the regular season and had a 1.0 GAA in the playoffs
- Goalkeeper Reid Freidrichs was second in the league with 0.96 Goals Against Average
- Lost to undefeated Jackson Chargers, 3-2 in Regional Final in Jackson, MS.
- Leading Scorer: Stephen Armstrong with 8 goals and 4 assists
1999 HIGHLIGHTS - Coach: Steve Burns
- Overall Record: 20-4; 14-2 in North Central Division
- An unprecedented fourth consecutive division title
- Historic run in the U.S. Open Cup, which featured upsets of the D-3 Pro League's Austin Lone Stars and the A-League's Minnesota Thunder. Ended with a 2-1, Round Three loss to Major League Soccer's Tampa Bay Mutiny, in front of a franchise-record crowd of 4,887 at Saginaw's White Pine Stadium.
- Franchise record 17-game unbeaten streak (previous record 14 in 1997)
- All four graduating college seniors drafted into A-League or MLS
- Leading Scorer: Rodrigo Costa with 12 goals and 9 assists
2000 HIGHLIGHTS - Coach: Joe Malachino
- Overall Record: 17-5-1; 14-3-1 in Great Lakes Division
- Regular Season PDL Championship and fifth consecutive division title
- First PDL team in U.S. Open Cup history to defeat a Major League Soccer team, 1-0 over the New England Revolution at Foxboro Stadium
- Had second largest crowd in franchise history with 4,006 witnessing a 3-3 (6-5 penalty kicks) loss to Miami Fusion in Round Three of the U.S. Open Cup at White Pine Stadium in Saginaw.
- Hold U.S. Open Cup record for career victories by PDL team with five
- Joe Malachino received Coach of the Year honors in his first season as coach
- Four players (Paul Snape, Adam Heinemann, Ousmane Coulibaly, and Chad Shoemaker) made the PDL National Championship All-Tournament Team
- Leading Scorer: Boniventure Maruti with 22 goals and 5 assists
2001 HIGHLIGHTS - Coach: Joe Malachino
- Overall Record: 11-10-1; 10-9-1 in Great Lakes Division
- Sixth winning season in six years in the Premier Development League
- PDL-record fourth U.S. Open Cup appearance, after going 4-0 in qualifying
- PDL-record sixth U.S. Open Cup victory over the Chaldean Arsenal, 3-0
- Paul Snape was voted to the All-PDL team for the second time in his career
- Stephen Armstrong signs with DC United of Major League Soccer
- Leading Scorer: Paul Snape with 9 goals and 11 assists
2002 HIGHLIGHTS Advancing to the Regional Finals (PDL Quarterfinals) and finishing with a 12-6-2 record, the Mid Michigan Bucks now hold, or share, several Premier Development League (PDL) records including consecutive winning seasons (7), Quarterfinals appearances (5), Division titles (5), US Open Cup Qualifications (4) and US Open Cup victories (6). Not one of the other 50 members of the PDL has registered more than one US Open Cup win. The Bucks also rank in the top three for all-time victories (89), playoff appearances (6) and playoff victories (9).John Swann won the Paul Scicluna Memorial "Total Soccer Award" as the Bucks' player who best exemplifies Paul's life-long devotion to effort, excellence and class. Swann also became the third Buck in history to be honored as one of the league's top 11 players (along with Paul Snape and Boniventure Maruti). Previous winners of the Scicluna Award are Tino Scicluna, Paul Snape and Eric Pogue. Three more Mid Michigan players were invited to the MLS Draft Combine and each was selected in the draft: Ryan Mack (Chicago), Pat Noonan (New England) and John Swann (D.C. United). In addition, more than a dozen Bucks players were voted to collegiate all-conference teams in the fall. 2003 Highlights Coach: Don Gemmell Overall Record: 16-5-1 (14-3-1 in Great Lakes Division) PDL-record 6th division title PDL-record 8th consecutive winning season PDL-record 7th playoff appearance PDL-record 6th quarterfinals appearance PDL-record 7 th US Open Cup win (3-2 over Long Island RoughRiders) Faced PDL-record 5th MLS team in Open Cup (4-0 loss to NY/NJ MetroStars) Erik Nelson and Knox Cameron named to PDL All-Conference Team Kevin Taylor, Jason Perry and Justin Detter drafted by MLS Stephan David won the Bucks' prestigious Paul Scicluna "Total Soccer" Award 14 players earned collegiate First-Team All-Conference awards in the fall 2004 HIGHLIGHTS Coach: Don Gemmell Overall Record: 11-4-2 (11-3-2 in Great Lakes Division) 7 th division title 8th playoff appearance 9th consecutive winning season (in nine years) Knox Cameron led team with 35 points (15 goals and 5 assists) Erik Nelson and Kevin Taylor named to All-Conference team Taylor named All-PDL (top 11 out of over 1,100) Joseph Kabwe won the Bucks' Paul Scicluna (MVP) Award John Minagawa-Webster, Boyzzz Khumalo and Knox Cameron drafted into MLS | |
