Oakland celebrates its victory over Wright State in Saturday’s Horizon League Championship match. The Golden Grizzlies will advance to the NCAA tournament. Photo/Press Row Sports
[dropcap]Z[/dropcap]ero wins, zero draws, and five losses.
The start to Oakland’s men’s soccer schedule could have foreshadowed an ominous outcome to the rest of the regular season. Instead, it was the start that meant absolutely nothing, with a finish fit for champions.
The No. 1 Golden Grizzlies went up early thanks to a pair of goals in the first half, and defeated No. 3 Wright State, 2-1, in the Horizon League Championship Saturday night, earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2008.
Oakland opened the scoring swiftly when Gerald Ben played a ball through to the feet of Matt Dudley, whose shot was saved by Tyler Blackmer, but the rebound was cleaned up on the right side by Joey Tinnion for a 1-0 lead to the hosts in the sixth minute.
They would continue to win the possession game up to the 35th minute, when Ben played a dangerous ball in from the side, this time to Tinnion, whose challenge by Raiders defender Emeke Ononye just in front of the net earned a yellow card and a quick decision to point to the spot from the official. Ben remained perfect on penalties this season as Blackmer guessed to his left and the forward converted to the opposite side to double the lead for Oakland.
The rally from Wright State would simply come too late, as Oakland remained balance, not conceding too much possession despite the two-goal advantage. The Raiders did eventually begin swinging momentum and the share of chances in the final 20 minutes, and were rewarded soon after. Sam DeRoy lofted a ball from outside the penalty area over the defensive line, and Marquis Payton was able to chip the ball over Wes Mink from five yards out to cut the deficit to one.
The remainder of play was quite chippy, with a challenge on Tinnion by Austin Polster that earned a yellow card. Cody Archibald would come out to confront Polster and the altercation would earn him a yellow from the official as well.
Still, the Raiders could not find a game-tying goal in a match where they also conceded six corner kicks to Oakland while earning none of their own.
Blackmer and Mink both earned two saves each in the contest, with Oakland collecting 14 shots in the match to Wright State’s 10 total.
Following an undefeated run in Horizon League play this season, the NCAA bid is the second for Oakland Head Coach Eric Pogue in his sixth year at the helm for the Golden Grizzlies. The program went four times previously under coach Gary Parsons since the jump to Division I in 1998.
Oakland will await its opponent for the first round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s College Cup, likely to take place next weekend.
Visit Press Row Sports for post-game interviews and more from Saturday’s championship match.
