Light it up: Oakland blanks Michigan State in debut night game
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — It took more than three decades, but Oakland University’s soccer field is finally equipped with lights.
The Golden Grizzlies made sure that their debut night game had a grand finish in front of more than 1,000 fans.
Oakland picked up a second-half goal from one of its rookies and All-America candidate Mitch Hildebrandt recorded the clean sheet between the pipes, as the Golden Grizzlies turned back No. 19 Michigan State, 1-0, in a non-league men’s soccer match.
It was a rematch of last year’s NCAA regional opener, where MSU prevailed, 2-1.
“It’s great that we finally have a lighted field and we’re thankful that we had a quality opponent like Michigan State that was able to come down and play us,” said Oakland coach Eric Pogue, who is in his third season as head coach. “This is a good for our program. We’ll be able to play night games and draw some good crowds.”
Oakland made sure that its first game on the renovated field, which included new sod, was a memorable one. The golden Grizzlies finally broke the 0-0 stalemate with 26:57 to play, thanks to the instincts of freshman Gavin Hoy.
Jonathan Evans (Woodhaven) served a long ball to Jake Przybycien (Clarkston), who flicked a ball onto a charging Hoy. The freshman sniper from Thunder Bay, Ont., tucked in a shot from six yards out past MSU goalkeeper Jeremy Clark (Utica Ford).
Oakland nearly made it a two-goal lead when Cody Archibald clanked a long shot off the crossbar. Michigan State’s best chance came with 14:38 to play, when Ryan Keener (Grand Blanc) clanked a header off the goal post and Hildebrandt was able to corral the rebound in traffic to nullify the Spartans’ scoring chance.
“I think our motto will be to keep the ball out of the net, because if we do that we’ll be a tough team to beat. We have a very good goalkeeper and a lot of players back from last year,” said Pogue.”I saw some things I liked from the returning group, as well as some of the newcomers. We got a goal from a freshman, and he made a nice play to score the goal.”
Clark and Bryce Dobbins (Auburn Hills Avondale) split time in goal for Michigan State, with Clark registering two saves and Dobbins one. Hildebrandt, the PDL Goalkeeper of the Year this past summer with the Michigan Bucks, made six stops for the victory.
Both teams traded off 11 shots in the match, but Michigan State held a 6-4 edge with shots on frame and the Spartans held the upper hand with an 8-1 edge on cornerkicks.
Still, OU was able to avenge one of its in-state rivals.
“It was great to play a rival like Michigan State. It gets everybody (pumped) up,” said Hildebrandt. “We had a great crowd tonight and hopefully we can get that for every game. It’s exciting (playing in this atmosphere).”
To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com . Follow us on Twitter @LocalSportsFans and more than a dozen other social media networks.
Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland University
