Detroit native and Oakland University junior Dylan Borczak was recently named to the Horizon League First All-League Team for men’s soccer. Borczak and the Golden Grizzlies also placed second overall in the conference, but unfortunately fell short in the semifinals to Wright State University.

“I think we lost a lot of games we shouldn’t have but we played better than the majority of the teams,” Borczak said. “We kept losing 1-0 in the lost games.”

Even though the outcome for Borczak and the Golden Grizzlies was not the outcome they expected, this season was definitely a lesson learned, according to Borczak.

“There isn’t much I would change about our season because we became better at staying in the match for the whole 90 minutes, and not turning off,” he said.

Along with Borczak, a number of other Golden Grizzlies earned All-League First Honors, including Elliot Bentley, Noah Jensen, Sullivan Lauderdale, Adam McAleenan, Luke Morrell and Cameron Wilde.

“I wasn’t too focused on earning this honor,” Borczak said. “I was more focused on playing my best for my team and getting better for them. It was more so of a thing where ‘if it happened, it happened.’”

Borczak and the Golden Grizzlies focused not only on winning or winning individual honors, but also on the team’s chemistry.

“Our chemistry was really good and we all got along so well, and we supported each other,” he said. 

Earning the honor of First All-League Team is not the only honor Borczak has been awarded. In high school, he earned MVP his junior and senior year. His skills and knowledge of the game caught the eye of Oakland soccer while attending Schoolcraft College.

“My team and I made it into the national finals and then Oakland saw me playing, so I attended a recruiting camp where they saw more of me play,” Borczak said. 

Since Borczak has joined the Golden Grizzlies, he has scored six goals overall along with nine assists. In the 2018 season, he was the lone goal in the Metro Series Rivalry match against the University of Detroit Mercy. He scored the game-winner in the final minute of overtime. 

With the 2019 season coming to an end a couple of weeks ago, Borczak looked over his personal goals and the team goals for the 2020 season, which include advancing farther in the tournament stages, into the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) tournament.

“I want to get a ring and earn First-Team again,” he said. “For our team goal, we want to win the Horizon League and then to the NCAA.”

With the 2019 season ending, Borczak and the Golden Grizzlies will continue to train for the 2020 season to come back better than ever.