Flint, MI — Former Flint City Bucks goalkeeper Steve Clark is set to face international soccer star Lionel Messi in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup later this month.
Costa Papista, president of the Flint City Bucks, called it “an incredible moment for our legendary keeper.”
Clark now plays for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo FC, which is set to face Inter Miami CF — whose roster features Lionel Messi — in the championship match of the U.S. Open Cup.
Kickoff is scheduled for 8:35 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
A Lansing-area native, Clark was the Bucks’ starting keeper for four years, from 2006 through 2009. At the time, the club was known as the Michigan Bucks and based in Pontiac, and it claimed its first of four National Championships in Clark’s debut season.
Clark’s time with the Bucks was filled with accolades, according to the Buck’s Sept. 13, 2023 press release on his upcoming match.
The keeper was named most valuable player for the Bucks’ national title game in 2006 and backstopped another league-final run in 2007 before earning the Bucks’ Paul R. Scicluna Player of the Year Award in 2008.
From 2006 to 2008, Clark also helped the Bucks to three U.S. Open Cup appearances, the release states.
With the Dynamo this season, Clark has made 29 starts between MLS and the intercontinental Leagues Cup and has captained the side for four matches.
About the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Dating to 1913, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the oldest national cup competition in United States soccer and among the oldest domestic cup competitions in the world. The annual tournament is open to all U.S. Soccer affiliated amateur and professional teams in the U.S.