PLOA SOCCER: Oakland FC fends off Grand Rapids
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — Far from a thing of beauty, the inaugural home opener for the Oakland County FC is in the records books and so is the franchise’s first-ever victory.
Oakland County FC opened up play in the 12-team Premier League of America Saturday night at Rochester Stoney Creek High School and came away with a 2-1 triumph over visiting Grand Rapids Ole Soccer in a game played under a rare sub 40-degree temperatures in mid-May.
OCFC built a 2-0 lead in the second half, only to hold on down the stretch, fending off a furious rally by Ole to claim the win.
“The crowd was amazing. It’s exciting to see the local community come together for a local game and watch local boys get the job done,” smiled FC coach Waad Sana. “It’s was a really exciting way to start. We’re looking forward to an exciting season and we’re hoping the weather cooperate with us a little better the next time out so we can get a larger crowd.”
Oakland FC (1-1-0, 1-0-0 PLOA) never trailed in the gnome opener. OCFC outshot Ole Soccer 4-1 in the first half and finally cashed in a paycheck at 45:27 when Danny Dragoi laced a shot from the top of the penalty box inside that found the webbing near the right post.
The momentum carried into the second half, as Oakland FC made it a two-goal cushion at 48:28 on a nice individual effort by midfielder Shawn Sloan. Picking off a clearing pass, Sloan blasted a 35-yard shot that sailed past Ole netminder Joe Fifer and just inside the far post.
Oakland FC outshot Ole by a 9-7 margin, although Ole held a 4-3 advantage with shots directly on frame. Most of Ole’s attempts came in the final 20 minutes of the contest.
Grand Rapids Ole (0-2-0, 0-1-0) spoiled the shutout at 79:46 on a 3-on-2 rush, as Brogan Shrimpton sent a through ball to Job Porter, who punched in a close-range shot by the far post that eluded goalkeeper Vito Lonigro.
Perhaps the save of the game came by Lonigro, who tipped a blast from Ole’s Jamie Waters over the crossbar at the 88:51 mark.
“We sat back a little bit too much after we scored the second goal and the substitutions that we made we made (too early) and I take the blame for that,” offered Sana. “We still hung on and got the W. Ole had some nice efforts at the end, but I thought our defense and our central midfielders played well and we held on. And our goalie made a couple of nice saves near the end of the game to (preserve the win).”
Fifer finished with one save for Grand Rapids Ole, while Lonigro recorded three saves for Oakland FC, which dropped a non-league friendly to the Michigan Stars (2-1) earlier in the week.
“We have a lot to work on, but we saw some nice things,” said Sana. “We gave our home crowd the win, which is important.”
FOLLOW Oakland County FC on social media:
www.facebook.com/oakcountyfootballclub
Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Featured Articles, Most Recently Updated Stories, NOS reference, Soccer, Sport, Top Stories, Uncategorized
