The Blitz: Nov. 20, 2019

Many Oakland sports teams took to the road this past week, with some competing in Horizon League playoffs.

Men’s Soccer

After about a week off of playing, the men’s soccer team took on the Wright State Raiders in the second round of the Horizon League tournament. They fell to Wright State 4-1 after the eventual league champion Raiders came out firing.

The Golden Grizzlies fell behind quickly, as Wright State scored an early goal in the 13th minute. Another goal two minutes later gave Wright State a 2-0 lead that would never be taken from them. The Raiders would score two more goals before Oakland was able to find the net for the first time in the 88th minute.

The tournament was held at the University of Illinois-Chicago on an icy field, something that Head Coach Eric Pogue took issue with on Twitter.

“EXTREMELY disappointing decisions allowing games played on ice rink in freezing temps at 7 p.m. with 15 fans,” Pogue said postgame after congratulating the Raiders on their victory. Oakland was the leader in shots, corners and had fewer fouls, but Wright State was able to get more shots on goal, recording 14 to Oakland’s nine.

Women’s Basketball

The women’s basketball traveled to Chicago State to win their second game in a row. The Golden Grizzlies controlled the game from the start, winning by a final score of 98-70. This was the team’s second win in a row after losing their season opener to Bradley.

Jalisha Terry led the team in scoring, putting up 21 points in 25 minutes. Kayla Luchenbach led the team on the boards with 10, grabbing seven defensive and three offensive rebounds.

As a team, the Golden Grizzlies shot 52% from the floor, 29% from three and 80% from the free throw line. 20 of their points came from the free throw line, as the team was able to get into the paint and score, as evidenced by their 46 points in the paint. The win was a team effort, with the bench putting up 51 points, a stark contrast to Chicago State’s 26 bench points.

The women’s basketball team returns home next on Dec. 18 after a lengthy seven-game road trip.

Cross Country

The cross country teams competed in the Great Lakes Regional Tournament in Madison, Wisc. over the weekend. Numerous runners finished high and brought accolades to Oakland.

Maggie Schneider and Connor Goetz ran the 6K and 10K respectively. Schneider finished with a time of 20:52.9, good for 20th place, while Goetz ran the 10k in 31:32.3, which gave him 45th place. Schneider’s performance was the third in school history to be worthy of competing in nationals. On Nov. 16, she was announced as a finalist for the NCAA’s National Championships.

The women’s cross country team placed 13th overall, and the men’s team placed 19th overall. The 13th overall finish by the women’s team is tied for the best finish at regionals by any Oakland women’s cross country team.

Schneider will compete in the national championship on Saturday, Nov. 23.