(August 27, 2024) De Queen, Arkansas - With a trimmed down travel squad from the previous week, the Bucks hit the road to play a tough UA Cossatot program. In extreme heat and a very challenging pitch, the team had to adapt quickly. The Bucks were trying to recover from a 4-1 loss to open their season and were preparing for region play to begin on Sunday.

 

The pitch was very uneven, and it was a struggle for either team to get a foothold in the game. It was a stalemate until about 10 minutes through the first half when Mario Vingarzan (Madrid, Spain) cut into the penalty area and was brought down before he could shoot. Vingarzan stood up and converted the penalty kick he had created to give the Bucks a 1-0 lead. Cossatot seemed to be a little bit in disarray due to the goal, and the Bucks took advantage of this scoring a second only 1 minute later. Lucky Uzomba (Nuneaton, England) crossed in from the left on his right foot, and Angel Roa (Bogotá, Colombia) got in front of the first defender to flick the ball with the outside of his foot over the keeper's head. The score made it 2-0 in favor of the Bucks. 

 

As the half was coming to a close, it seemed the Bucks were controlling the game keeping Cossatot at arms length, but suddenly a whipped ball in from the right found an unmarked striker who headed in from close range. Questions were being asked as to how the player could find himself so open and so close to the goal, and this was the topic of conversation during the half time interval. The Bucks led 2-1.

 

The second half followed the pattern of the first half with both teams prodding to find holes in each other's defensive line. The Bucks were attempting more of a combination type method to generate attacks through the opposition. Whereas, Cossatot was hitting longer and more direct passes over the Bucks back line. Neither goal was under any real threat until Lenny Camara (Cueros, France) scored at the back post from a free kick into the penalty area, but the celebrations were muted as there was a call for offsides.  It was a close call, and the third goal would have probably put the game to bed.  

 

Very soon afterwards, the tide of the game turned on its head. Ebrima Jobe (Memphis, TN) was given a second yellow card for a late tackle, which resulted in him being ejected from the game. The Bucks now had to play the last 20 minutes with a man down. Cossatot threw everything they had at the UARM defense, who stood tall and cleared every cross which came into the box. Twenty minutes seemed an eternity as the Bucks players were entrenched inside their own penalty area heading and clearing everything that came at them. As darkness was looming over the field, the final whistle came, and the Bucks celebrated a very much 'backs to the wall' victory.

 

After some adjustments from last week, Coach Sherry was proud of his team's effort on Tuesday evening. "We had to remind the team to ignore the noises coming from outside the team, and prior to the game, the coaching staff made sure the players concentrated on our own goals and to keep their focus on the bigger picture. Despite a 4-1 loss on the road in the first game of the season, it was important to let the players recognize the positives. The team was very competitive in that first half and would have been leading 1-0, but for an unfortunate goalkeeper mistake, and it only went away from them in the second half because we changed the system of play to enable many bench players to get playing time. The level obviously dropped, but this was in no way a reflection of the team as a whole. Today, we had more of a streamlined squad, and they took a great step towards our end of season goal. I could not be any more proud of the lads. Every player stood tall today."

 

The Bucks will now face off against region foe Eastern Oklahoma State College on Sunday, September 1st. Kickoff is schedule for 3 pm in Wilburton, OK.