To say that the Flint City Bucks and Detroit City FC franchises are part of a close-knit soccer community in Michigan feels a bit cliché, but for proof look no further than the front offices of each organization.
“There’s so many cool personal connections between the organizations,” said David Dwaihy, one of the co-founders of Detroit City FC. “Just for example, Costa (Papista), the president of the Bucks, I taught and coached his daughter when she was in high school, so we go way back. I’ve always been a supporter of them, but ever since he took over (as team president), I’ve been additionally supportive and excited for them and all of their success.”
The two squads are preparing to add another chapter to their shared histories as they meet in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, at Don Batchelor Stadium in Grand Blanc (tickets are available online). They’ve previously faced each other four times since 2012, when Detroit City FC was formed. Three of those matchups were in U.S. Open Cups, with the Bucks, then the Michigan Bucks, winning 3-0 in 2015 and Detroit City winning on penalty kicks in matchups in 2016 and 2018.
Detroit City FC was also a part of the Flint City Bucks’ debut in Flint in 2019, with the Bucks winning a friendly 1-0 at Atwood Stadium. That game was also notable for how big of a crowd both teams attracted – Detroit’s supporter group, the Northern Guard, is large and passionate, which should make for a fun dynamic with Flint’s River Rats supporter group on April 1.
“I really don’t have any idea (how many fans will be there), but when we opened at Atwood for the first Flint City Bucks game in 2019, we had 4,200 or 4,300 people there, and there was probably about 800 fans from Detroit that made the trip,” said Dan Duggan, CEO and chairman of the Flint City Bucks. “I know that the facility (Don Batchelor Stadium) holds 5,000, and I imagine it’ll be a good, exciting crowd and it’ll be packed.”
Both teams are coming off of impressive opening round wins in the U.S. Open Cup. Flint beat Forward Madison FC 2-0 on March 19, with their first score coming on an own-goal by Madison and the second by Jordy Lopez. Keeper Isaiah Goldson had four saves in the shutout. Perhaps most impressively, the majority of the Bucks’ roster had arrived less than a day before gametime and only had a brief walkthrough together before their match. Although Duggan noted that’s not an ideal way to construct a roster, that is the reality for non-professional teams in the tournament because of where it now falls on the calendar (in 2022, the tournament pushed its start date to March instead of May). And despite that, he was pleased with how cohesively the team meshed on the field.
“They’re flying out here, they’re not even training together, they don’t even know each other’s names in some cases, and they get on the field then they play,” Duggan said. “You hope for a good result. Fortunately we have great recruiting and we have good players, and they came together in that Forward Madison game. It was outstanding. What you saw was a lot of really good, talented, future professional soccer players, and it all clicked for us. I suspect Detroit City’s gonna be a harder side, so we’re gonna have an even bigger challenge.”
Detroit City FC defeated Michigan Rangers FC 5-1 in their opening round matchup, falling behind 1-0 early before a barrage of five unanswered goals put the game away. Scoring for Detroit were Preston Tabort Etaka (two), Maxi Rodriguez, Alex Dalou, and Ates Diouf. The team made use of significant depth to create several scoring opportunities, and Dwaihy noted that is a strength for the squad this season.
“I think what would be considered one of our more notable strengths this year is our depth,” Dwaihy said. “We have the luxury of being able to put an 11 on the field that’s gonna start the game well and be very strong, but we can make changes that hopefully adds something and maybe even makes us a little bit better or more dynamic in certain ways. So hopefully we can rely on that depth and get across the finish line.”
The styles of play between both teams should mirror each other in some facets. Both teams are aggressive, fast, and disciplined, which should lead to exciting play.
“We’re definitely not a big team physically,” Dwaihy said. “We’ve built a team around the idea that we’re gonna try and play the ball quickly, circulate it, and ideally create some opportunities with good movement. So I hope it’ll be an attractive brand of soccer. We’re gonna look to play soccer and try and win by way of breaking teams down. And we know that Flint is very capable of doing the same thing, but we actually really like playing teams that are like us in that regard. It’s nice to have a good, open game between two teams that are gonna try and keep the ball on the ground and get after it.”
Although the Bucks are excited to continue competing in the U.S. Open Cup, they also constantly have an eye toward their primary focus, which is preparing players for professional opportunities. Since their founding, they’ve had more than 300 players go on to play professionally and over 100 who were selected in the Major League Soccer (MLS) Draft.
“Our goal from 1995 when I started the team hasn’t changed a bit,” Duggan said. “The focus is to bring young high school and college players here for the summer to prepare them to become professional soccer players and give them opportunities to develop. These guys know if they come here, they’re gonna see what the future’s like if they want to be a professional soccer player. We do a great job of recruiting, bringing the people together with the right attitude and telling them that if they take care of business, they’re going to get an opportunity to be seen. And that’s what the Open Cup is all about. The Open Cup is an opportunity to play firsthand against professional teams, and whether you win or lose, a lot of our players over the past 30 years that have played in the Open Cup have directly been recruited or scouted or signed with professional teams. A lot of them, we played directly against.”
One of those professional sides with deep respect for the Bucks’ longtime track record for player development is Detroit City FC, which competes professionally at the USL Championship level. The matchup is an opportunity to compete, but it is also a chance for Detroit’s organization to see players from the Bucks who will likely be joining professional leagues in the near future.
“When we started our organization, they (the Bucks) were the gold standard in terms of the product on the field, their recruitment, the level of players that have been coming in, the coaching they’ve had,” Dwaihy said. “They’ve just had quality players and coaches and people involved in that organization since its inception. I also think it’s kind of a cool thing to think about the platform that this game provides for their players in the Open Cup. One thing about the Bucks that’s undeniable is that they’re gonna have players on the field who are likely going to get drafted into MLS within the next year or two, or are likely going to be in a position to sign USL championship contracts in a year or two. For our coaching staff, it’s a really neat opportunity for our team to see that next generation of players that are coming through. Even though we’re competitor organizations, in some ways we’re also partners and we want to work together because this is all about player development and player platforms, and so hopefully this game provides that for them and we can benefit from it as well.”
One benefit the Bucks won’t have this game: their reputation for beating professional teams precedes it, so Detroit City FC is prepared for a strong effort even if Flint’s roster is still newly formed.
“We have a ton of respect for them,” Dwaihy said. “As we’ve grown, they’ve always been very supportive of us and we’ve had the opportunity to play each other in this tournament a few times over the years, and it’s always a great match. When it comes to the Open Cup, they are like the biggest dragon slayers ever, they’ve taken on and beat multiple MLS teams. We’ve kind of transitioned into being like a quote unquote professional team and they’re still in that pre-professional classification. But we do not look at it that way in terms of the matchup. It’s very much a team that we have to prepare for and respect the same way we would any opponent.”
Duggan noted that it’s an exciting opportunity for the players on both teams, and good for the sport overall with two Michigan teams facing each other for the chance to move on and face an MLS team in the next round.
“That’s what the Open Cup is all about, being able to bring teams not only from the same state but all over the country together, teams that normally would never face each other,” Duggan said. “It will be a good match and good gauge to see where our guys are early in the season. I know that the guys are excited about it and, and both teams are equally as excited that the winner gets to play an MLS team. That’s why our guys do this. And I’m sure that the Detroit City guys are equally as excited to get that opportunity.”
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