Metro Series may be a popular term around Oakland athletics, but a majority of the student body doesn’t know what it is.

The Metro Series is a combined athletic competition between Oakland and the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM), established last September. Oakland won the first Metro Series 26-10.

The series isn’t just one soccer game or one basketball game, but a combination of all sports that the two schools compete in. The multiple games all count towards a final score.

The included sports are men and women’s basketball, men and women’s cross country, men and women’s golf, women’s softball, women’s tennis and men and women’s track and field.

For cross country, track and field and golf, the teams are scored by their placement in the Horizon League Championship. Last year, the Grizzlies swept both indoor and outdoor track and golf for men and women’s competition.

Oakland’s women’s cross country team placed higher at Horizon League’s last year and Oakland also took softball.

On Sept. 30, the first Metro Series game of 2015-16 took place when women’s soccer took on Detroit. The game went into double overtime and resulted in a tie.

“In the Metro Series you get two points for a win and nothing for a loss,” head coach Margaret Saurin said. 

The women’s soccer team took the field last Wednesday, Oct. 14, in the chilly 50-degree weather. Twenty-six minutes in, Jennifer Borawski from UDM scored the first goal of the game. However, during the 67th minute, Oakland’s Alice Palmer, who was dealing with injuries during the week, scored a goal to tie the game up.

“It was great to be back playing with the team. It was a hard week and I’m glad to be back and playing Detroit,” Palmer said. “It was a good break we had a few crosses and it was nice just to tap in.”

Since that game, the women’s soccer has gone 2-0-1 in Horizon League play with victories over Valparaiso and Wright State. They’ll play in the Horizon League tournament beginning Nov. 2. 

The next Metro Series game will take place this Wednesday, Oct. 21 with Oakland hosting Detroit’s men’s soccer team at 7:30 p.m.

The marquee matchup between the two men’s basketball teams will take place at Detroit on Jan. 16 and at Oakland on Feb. 26. The women’s teams will play at Detroit on Jan. 23 and at home on Feb. 27.

Looking ahead, the Metro Series will continue through the spring with the final event being the outdoor track and field championship from May 1-3 on Oakland’s track.