Oakland advances in the NCAA College Cup tournament to face Michigan State Saturday. Photo/Golden Grizzlies Instagram
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] remarkable run by Oakland Men’s Soccer carried on Thursday night with a triumph over Kentucky, 2-0, in the NCAA College Cup First Round.
The Golden Grizzlies (10-6-3) went scoreless in the first half, then paired both their scoring efforts within six minutes of one another during the second half to turn back the favored hosts in Lexington.
The opening goal came in the 55th minute after Gavin Hoy earned the visitors their first corner of the evening, and the effort swung to the far post by John DeLeon connected with the head of Cody Archibald near left into the net past all.
While sublime execution supplied Oakland coach Eric Pogue’s team with the first, they pounced to double the comfort of their lead in majestic fashion in the 61st minute. Derek Nowak played a long ground pass from inside the half line to Matt Rickard. The junior’s weighted a touch perfectly to Hoy, who undressed two defenders with deft moves to his right in the box before firing a shot into the upper-left corner from six yards out left goalkeeper Callum Irving without any sort of chance.
While the Wildcats faltered in marking and generally in defense, Oakland did well to command the pitch in the midfield.
“It was a pretty evenly matched game in the first half,” Pogue said. “In the second half we came out and really dictated the play and had some nice finishes.”
The Horizon League Tournament winners generated more shots overall, 10-6, and got two saves by goalkeeper Wes Mink in his seventh shutout of the season.
Making their sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament since joining Division I, the victory marked just the second for the program since reaching that status. Their first win came against Michigan State, who will host the Golden Grizzlies in the second round on Sunday.
Oakland already hold a win over the Spartans (11-4-5) this season, a 2-0 win in Rochester propelled by goals from Hoy and Rickard. Michigan State, the No. 3 overall seed and ranked fifth in RPI, were an at-large selection. They tumbled out of the Big Ten Tournament following a loss to Maryland, the College Cup’s No. 4 overall seed, in penalty kicks.
Kick-off against the Spartans at DeMartin Stadium is set for 1 p.m. ET.
Report courtesy of Press Row Sports.
