A goal from Saint Lucian Donavan Gusto Phillip enabled the Flint City Bucks to edge Union FC Macomb 1-0 on Sunday night at Atwood Stadium in Flint, Michigan, USA. City were competing in their sixth US Soccer League Division 2 opening night.
The powerfully built Phillip smashed home in the second half off a precision cross from Bart Muns. The decisive marker from the Marchand man gave the undefeated Flint City their third win in succession to start the season, after a keenly contested first period.
Flint City would maintain a majority of the possession through the end of the match repelling several Union FC counterattacks with great saves by keeper Jakub Grzesiak who earned his third consecutive clean sheet.
Phillip, a wide forward and midfielder at NC State University, was drafted 62nd overall by Colorado Rapids Soccer Club in December’s Major League Soccer SuperDraft. A sophomore, he appeared in 19 matches during his first season at NC State, helping the Wolfpack reach the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. Phillip tallied a team-second six goals, including two in the tourney, adding four assists in 1,172 minutes.
This isn’t Phillip’s first go-round in USL2. He had prior experience with Kalamazoo FC, tallying nine goals, the second-most by one player in the Great Lakes Division. Kalamazoo were the Bucks’ opponents in the second game of this season, another 1-0 win, in which Phillip got an assist on the game-winning goal.
The next home match for Phillip and Glint City will be Saturday, June 14, against Northern Indiana FC. That match will be recognised as Military Appreciation Night and will feature a live post-game jersey auction.
