By Harold C. Ford
“The chemistry of this team has been fantastic from day one.” – Costa Papista, president, Flint City Bucks
A 2-0 defeat by division rival Midwest United FC (Grand Rapids) on July 2 dislodged the Flint City Bucks from first place in the Great Lakes Division of the United States Soccer League Two (USL2) – but only temporarily.
The Bucks regained the division’s top spot with a 3-1 win over division opponent FC Macomb only three days later on July 5 and have been on a weeks-long tear ever since. The team ended the regular season with victories over Northern Indiana, tallying a 2-1 win, on July 9 and Lansing City Football with 4-0 win on July 12. The victory over Lansing propelled the Bucks into the first weekend of the USL2 playoffs.
Early Playoff Recap
The Bucks hosted three visiting teams on their home turf at Atwood Stadium on July 18 and 20 for the first two rounds of the USL2 playoffs. They included: Midwest United FC; Fort Wayne FC (IN), the USL2 Valley Division winner; and Steel City SC (PA), winner of the USL2 Great Forest Division.
On July 18, the Bucks bested Steel City 4-3. Flint rallied twice from behind to knot the halftime score at two goals each. Flint took the lead with two more goals in the second half until the team from Pittsburgh closed out the match with a last-minute goal. In all, Flint got two goals from Donavan Phillip and one each from Wes Carnevale and Dominic Ayella.
Two nights later on July 20, the Bucks outlasted Fort Wayne 2-0 in a match that extended into two 15-minute overtime periods after a tight, scoreless match in regulation time. After Fort Wayne’s goalie blocked a penalty kick by Ayella, Phillip collected the rebound and put it in the net for a 1-0 extra time lead. Ayella added an insurance goal only seconds before the final whistle blew.
While USL2 features preprofessional players and competition, as does Flint, Fort Wayne intends to move up to the fully professional USL League One next season.
Five-match win streak sends Bucks to Seattle
For those keeping tally, that’s five wins in a row for the Bucks in the month of July.
Fort Wayne FC goalie Aurie Briscoe leaps to bat the ball away from Flint’s Donovan Phillip (#9) on July 20, 2025. (Photo by Harold C. Ford)
The win streak has propelled the Bucks into the USL2 Central Conference final in Seattle, WA on Friday, July 25 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Flint will take on Minneapolis City FC, the regular season first-place finisher in the Heartland Division of the USL2.
The site of the Flint-Minneapolis matchup is Interbay Stadium in Seattle, with a livestream available from Sports Engine Play where you can also see taped replays of contests already played.
A watch party of the Seattle contest(s) will be hosted by Luigi’s Restaurant at 2132 Davison Rd. in Flint. Reservations can be secured by phone at 810-234-9545.
132 teams down to eight
The USL2 regular season started with 132 teams. Then, USL2 playoffs began with 32 teams in four conferences – Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western.
The Central Conference clubs from Flint and Minneapolis are two of eight teams remaining in the playoffs. The other six include: Western Conference teams Ballard FC (WA) and Ventura County Fusion (CA); Eastern Conference clubs Vermont Green FC (VT) and Lionsbridge FC (VA); Southern Conference representatives Dothan United (AL) and Fort Lauderdale FC (FL).
Costa Papista, Flint City Bucks’ president, told East Village Magazine that Flint has a chance at hosting the national championship final on August 2. That, of course, is dependent on the Bucks’ success in their playoff run.
Championship pedigree
The Bucks have made the USL2 playoffs six years in a row – every season since they’ve been in Flint. The club’s history boasts 26 postseason appearances in 29 chances, 17 division crowns, 11 conference championships, and four national titles. The last national title was captured at Atwood Stadium in 2019 in front of 7,000 fans.
Before their playoff run, at the end of the regular season, Flint found itself atop the Great Lakes Division standings in first place. Here’s the breakdown, listed as overall points, points per match (PPM), then wins-losses-ties total:
- Flint City Bucks 27, 2.25, 9-3-0
- Midwest United FC 25, 2.08, 8-3-1
- AFC Ann Arbor 21, 1.75, 6-3-3
- Oakland County FC 20, 1.67, 6-4-2
- Northern Indiana FC 17, 1.42, 5-5-2
- Union FC Macomb 14, 1.17, 4-6-2
- Kalamazoo FC 14, 1.17, 4-6-2
- Lansing City Football 0, 0, 0-12-0
Three points are awarded for a win, one point for a tie, no points for a loss. Standings are decided by PPM, wherein the number of points earned are divided by the number of matches played.
The Great Lakes Division is one of 18 divisions spread over four conferences in USL2.
Flint Bucks, including Donavan Phillip (#9) await corner kick vs. Fort Wayne. (Photo by Harold C. Ford)
Phillip and Ayella
At this point in the season, the Bucks’ leaders on offense are clearly Phillip and Ayella, who are among the league’s top goal-scorers.
As of July 20, Phillip led the league with 15 goals. Ayella was tied with six others for fifth place in scoring with nine tallies. Phillip was also named a “Top Performer” in a recent USL2 post.
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