USL News Release

Thursday, August 9, 2007

LAREDO, TX – No one knows quite what to expect on Saturday when the Laredo Heat play host to the Michigan Bucks in the PDL Championship because there has never been a championship rematch in the league’s 19-year history. The match kicks off in Laredo at 9:30 pm ET and will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel at 11:00 pm ET immediately following the MLS match.

The defending champion Bucks will be trying to become the sixth club to repeat as champion, but have a tough task at hand attempting to do it in back-to-back years in a hostile environment. Michigan, known throughout the soccer community as giant killers given their previous successes in the US Open Cup, had yet to win a league title before last season in despite nine postseason appearances in 10 years. The 11th campaign proved to be a historic one as the 13th-seeded Bucks became the lowest seed in the history of the league to win the championship, downing Laredo 2-1 in the final.

Laredo, on the other hand, is a very young club that is only in their fourth year of existence, making it remarkable that they have been able to reach the league championship game the past two years. Despite a significant home field advantage with nearly 7,000 in attendance last year, the Heat were unable to complete a rally after falling behind by two goals in the first eight minutes.

Laredo comes into the match unbeaten in their last eight games including playoffs (7-0-1) and has outscored their postseason opposition 7-1. On the season, the Heat finished with the second fewest goals allowed total with just 12 finding their way past Ryan Cooper and Jorge Zamora. Their 29 goals scored, however, ranked 23rd in the league and was only second-best in their division.

Michigan, in contrast, comes into the rematch on a four-game unbeaten run including playoffs (3-0-1), needing penalty kicks in the league semifinals to get past 14th-seeded Brooklyn, who nearly handed the Bucks a little of their own upset magic from the previous year. Michigan tied for fifth in the league in fewest goals allowed with 15 on the season. At the other end of the field, the Bucks led the league in offense with 48 goals for the season, an average of three per game.

2006 PDL Championship Flashback

Forward Kenny Uzoigwe put the Bucks on the board four minutes in with a powerful blast. A goal kick from Steven Clark found Uzoigwe in the offensive third. He pushed the ball forward to Mychal Turpin, who played the ball back to Uzoigwe. Uzoigwe took the ball forward a few yards before feeding it to league Assist Leader Nate Jafta inside the box. Jafta's attempt to return the ball to Uzoigwe deflected off a defender, but sat perfectly into his stride for a one-time rocket into the back of the net.

Five minutes later the Bucks doubled the lead as the result of a penalty kick. Turpin was taken down as he was driving into the box to earn the penalty only to see his shot to the right stopped by All-Conference selection Ryan Shaughnessy. The rebound on the hard shot, however, fell out to the right side of the penalty area where Tyis Shipalane was charging in hard on the play and ripped a low shot under the outstretched hand of Shaughnessy, who had done well to get up after the initial save.

In the 16th minute a corner into the six was headed low past Clark only to be cleared off the line by Shipalane, who was guarding the far post on the play.

Two minutes later though, the Heat did cut into the lead on a corner from the opposite side, finally taking advantage of a series of corner kicks over the previous few minutes. Juan Ibarra sent his corner toward the near post, where it was flicked on to the far post. Defender Jose Macias was there to put the ball away and give the home side hope.

Back-to-Back PDL Champions

Cape Cod Crusaders	2002-2003
Chicago Sockers	1999-2000
Central Coast Roadrunners	1996-1997
Carolina Dynamo	1993-1994
Colorado Comets	1989-1990