Peoria City 1-0 Flint City Bucks

USL League Two, Central Conference Final (Final 8): Peoria City FC 1-0 Flint City Bucks at Shea Stadium, Peoria, Illinois

Peoria City were again chosen to host a USL2 playoff game, this time the Central Conference Final against the Flint City Bucks, who won the USL2 title in their first season in 2019. As the Michigan Bucks, they also won three PDL titles between 2006 and 2016. I also covered their 2022 conference final victory against Des Moines Menace; they went on to lose 0-1 to eventual national champions Ventura County Fusion in the national semifinal.

This time it was the Heartland that triumphed, behind a 63’ goal from Luke Persenico, his fourth in three playoff appearances. Persenico’s goals came a month after he was named the 2024 USL2 Heartland Division Player of the Year. Peoria goalkeeper Samy Slimi also notched his second clean sheet of the playoffs.

FC Tucson await Peoria City in the National Semifinal after they overcame Project 51O in the Western Conference Final, also hosted by Peoria.