K-W United suffered their first loss of the season Saturday afternoon in Michigan to the reigning PDL champions.

It would prove to be a spectacle for the supporters on hand as the fixture was a battle of the top two finishers in the Great Lakes Division from 2014.

Both teams came off season opening wins over Toronto FC Academy.

United got the upper hand early on their opponents, maintaining possession and delaying the speed of the game. A lapse in defending saw the visiting team fall behind in the 24^th minute.

The Bucks defence launched the ball back into the United half after an initial clearance. It took several bounces before some miscommunication between keeper Nicholas Ciraldo and his defenders gave Michigan forward David Goldsmith a breakaway. Goldsmith made no mistake and finished it off.

Captain Sergio Camargo got his side right back in it 12 minutes later. Camargo latched on to a nice through ball from midfielder Dylan Sacramento and finished it past the Bucks keeper to equalize.

The teams exchanged back and forth attacks after that and looked to be headed into the halftime break nodded at one. It wasn't before the Bucks scored with seconds left in the half.

The Bucks won a free kick just outside the United penalty box. Michigan defender Francis DeVries stepped up and curled it nicely around the wall and into the top right hand corner to give his team a 2-1 advantage going into the intermission.

United head coach Chris Pozniak made a tactical substitution bringing on striker Bryce Follensbee at the half. The forward quickly made his impact felt when he tested the Bucks with two nice shots on target early in the second half.

With United focusing on finding a second equalizer, the home side struck for a third time. After some nice possession play from the Bucks, the ball fell to midfielder Jeff Adkins. Adkins took a touch to control the ball and struck it into the top of the net over a sprawling Ciraldo to make it 3-1.

"It's obviously a nice feeling to get it out of the way [the goal], get it out early, and openmy account for the season," stated Camargo after the game.

"But it's overshadowed by our loss today. I thought we played well at first but not enough to come out with the result."

Camargo is in his third season with the club and despite the loss, remains optimistic the team can turn it around and right the ship.

"We've got Pittsburgh [Riverhounds] in a few days; we have a long season ahead."

"We're down right now but we know we can come back and still win this conference. We have to play Michigan again and we'll see them when we're better."

Michigan will travel to Waterloo on July 1st for the second game of the season between the two sides.

United continue their road trip with a third consecutive away game to start the season on Wednesday when they take on the Riverhounds in Pittsburgh.

Sergio Camargo was named Man of the Match for his performance.

Article by Bassil Thayabeh