By Harold C. Ford
After exiting the 2026 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 1-0 loss to Detroit City Football Club in April, the Flint City Bucks are readying for their regular season start on May 30.
The Bucks’ opening match will take place against Kalamazoo FC, starting at 7 p.m. at Kettering University’s Atwood Stadium near downtown Flint. But before Flint’s USL2 soccer team takes to the pitch, here’s a quick recap of the Bucks’ Open Cup play and 2026 recruiting and roster thus far.
Detroit knocks Flint from U.S. Open
The Bucks won their first match of the U.S. Open Cup, a single-elimination tournament with a $1 million purse, in a 2-0 win over Forward Madison FC on March 19 at Grand Blanc’s Don Batchelor Stadium.
That glory was short-lived, however, as Flint lost its next game 1-0, on a goal by Detroit City FC’s Alex Dalou at the 40-minute mark of the first half, also played at Don Batchelor.
The tight match between the I-75 rivals was the fourth time the teams have faced off in the Open and the first since Le Rouge (now Detroit City FC) became a professional club.
Detroit edged out Flint in terms of possession, 55 percent to 45 percent, and put four shots on goal of 13 taken. Flint countered with two shots on Detroit’s net of nine taken. Detroit City FC was eliminated from the tourney at its next match on April 14, losing 2-1 to the Chicago Fire.
The 2026 U.S. Open will last seven rounds, one less than usual so as to not overlap with the FIFA Men’s World Cup schedule. The cup competition breaks after May quarterfinals until mid-September semis, with a championship match scheduled for October 21.
Building a roster
Ahead of the Cup, East Village Magazine (EVM) caught up with Flint City Bucks President Costa Papista to talk about the team’s winter roster-building in preparation for the 2026 season.
As EVM reported then, Flint began play on March 19 with an 18-man roster that included players from four continents (Europe, African, and both Americas), six countries in addition to the U.S. (Denmark, Ireland, Liberia, Ghana, Columbia, and Canada), and three states other than Michigan (Ohio, Kentucky, and Texas).
At the time, Papista credited the organization’s people with its overall recruitment and season-on-season success.
“We’ve got great people,” Papista said. “The secret sauce is the people.”
He named several Bucks personnel, including Gary Parsons, Director of Coaching and Player Personnel; Paul Doroh, Head Coach; Dan Duggan, the Bucks’ CEO and Chairman; and Assistant Coaches Nick Deren and Mali Walton.
Flint City’s 2026 recruits hail from 14 institutions of higher learning including seven in Michigan (Davenport, Detroit Mercy, Madonna, Oakland, Western Michigan, Michigan State, and Michigan) and seven in other states (Akron, Bowling Green, Cornell, Fairfield, Florida Atlantic, Northern Illinois, and Oral Roberts).
“These are the best collegiate players from around the country that we assemble,” Papista said. “Many of them are the captains and the best players of their collegiate teams.”
The club president noted that the Bucks have scouts “all over the country,” but the team has also earned the trust of college programs over the years, which bolsters the organization’s continually successful recruitment.
“They trust us to send their best because they know we’re going to develop them the right way,” Papista said of the college programs the team works with. “We’re not going to burn them out or overplay them. We’re not going to send them back injured.”
Beyond the Bucks’ people and reach, though, Papista credited Flint itself as being one of the draws for recruits.
“We do lots of team bonding from day one, as soon as the players arrive, so the team is able to jell very quickly,” Papista explained. “We’re at the Farmers Market twice a week for lunch … the guys love it.”
He also called the Bucks’ relationship with the University of Michigan-Flint, which houses players each summer, “fantastic” and noted that it ensures the team can easily learn and navigate the city.
“The guys can just walk to the stadium,” Papista said. “A lot of the guys don’t have cars.”
Ultimately, though, the Bucks’ reputation is why the club president believes players come – and come back – to play for Flint.
“Because the team has done so well over the years, and we’ve had so many players get drafted by Major League Soccer, players want to be here.”
A very successful franchise
This year marks the seventh season that the Bucks’ franchise has been headquartered in Flint.
Founded in 1995, the team began play as the Mid-Michigan Bucks, based in Saginaw. In 1996, the team changed its name to Michigan Bucks, moved to Plymouth in 2004, then to Pontiac in 2008. They began play as the Flint City Bucks in May 2019.
Papista explained that Atwood Stadium was a key in getting the Bucks to relocate to Flint. He’d been invited to a football game at the facility by then-Circuit Court Judge Duncan Beagle and simply fell in love with the pitch.
“My jaw hit the floor when I saw the stadium,” said Papista. “I thought it was gorgeous … it sneaks up on you … it truly is a hidden gem.”
That sparked several conversations with Dan Duggan, Papista explained, who started the soccer club with his brother Jim Duggan. At the time Papista started talking about a move to Flint, the club was playing at an indoor stadium in Pontiac.
Overall, the Bucks have made the postseason playoffs in 27 of 30 seasons – a league record. In fact, since their arrival in Flint (not counting the 2020 season disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic) the Bucks have never missed the playoffs. Their record of four league championships is unrivaled.
The Bucks last won the league championship in 2019 before more than 7,000 fans at Atwood Stadium on a second-overtime period goal by Ayuk Tombe.
Last season, the Bucks finished in first place in the Great Lakes Division with a record of nine wins and three losses which qualified them for the postseason tournament. The Bucks reached the USL2 national semifinal in Seattle where they dropped a close 2-1 contest to Seattle-based Ballard FC.
2026 season
USL2 begins the 2026 season with 158 soccer clubs across the nation, grouped into 20 divisions divided among four conferences.
The Bucks will start the season again as a member of the seven-team Great Lakes Division in the Central Conference. In addition to the Bucks, other division clubs – all Michigan-based – include AFC Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo FC, Lansing City Football, Midwest United FC (Grand Rapids), Oakland County FC, and Union FC Macomb.
The schedule of home games for the 2026 Bucks includes: May 30 at 7 p.m. vs. Kalamazoo FC; June 6 at 7 p.m. vs. Midwest United FC; June 10, 7 p.m. vs. AFC Ann Arbor; June 20 vs. Detroit Metro FC; June 27 at 7 p.m. vs. Oakland County FC; and July 11 at 7 p.m. vs. Union FC Macomb. All matches are played at Atwood Stadium except the June 20 contest, which will be played at Grand Blanc’s Batchelor Stadium.
USL2 playoffs begin in July. Across the league’s four conferences, 35 teams will qualify for the playoffs. All 20 division winners will automatically qualify for the single-elimination tourney; 14 division runners up and one third-place club will earn the remaining spots. The championship match will be played on Aug. 1.
The women’s side, Flint City AFC
Flint City AFC, the women’s side of Flint’s premier soccer franchise, began its fifth season at Atwood Stadium on May 16 vs Tulip City United Soccer, a club based in Holland, Michigan.
AFC took the night with a 5-1 win over the visitors thanks to a hat trick from Reese Canada and two goals from Alison Ernst. The remainder of the Flint women’s home schedule is as follows: May 29 at 7 p.m. vs. FC Pontiac; June 14 at 5 p.m. vs. Pinnacle FC (Auburn Hills); and June 26 at 7 p.m. vs. Michigan Jaguars FC (Novi).
The AFC coaching staff is headed up by Michele Krzisnik, who was named coach of the year by the United States League Women in 2023. Krzisnik is assisted by Doug Landefeld, Adil Salmoni, Jeff Shuk, Shannon Browning, and Dennis Darnoi.
Editor’s Note: A version of this story first ran in East Village Magazine’s May 2026 issue. It has been updated to include game highlights from Flint City AFC’s home-opener on May 16.
