The Oakland University women’s soccer team added a new piece to the puzzle to hopefully push them over the top in the Horizon League.

Last year, the Golden Grizzlies lost in the Horizon League Championship to the Milwaukee Panthers. OU has now named Margaret Saurin to succeed last year’s interim head coach Dave Morgan.

“I knew this was a very successful program and I wanted to continue that success,” Saurin said. “When I seen that the job was posted in January I decided to put in my resume.”

Prior to this job, Saurin was head coach of Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne for seven years. IPFW is a member of the Summit League, OU’s former conference, so she has experience facing the Golden Grizzlies.

Saurin is 1-6 competing against OU, with her only win coming in 2012, it was Oakland’s final season as a member of the Summit League.  They played again in 2013, resulting in a 3-0 Oakland win.

The move to the Horizon League was a big deal for Saurin because the tougher competition makes her excited for the new opportunity.

“Any place I go I feel like there is that kind of pressure,” Saurin said. “I have high standards and high expectations for myself.”

Oakland was a good fit for Saurin because she thinks the Grizzlies’ playing style is something she finds comfortable and familiar: a possession-oriented style that Saurin applied in her previous programs.

“My teams will be competitive, hard-working, possession-oriented, but always with a purpose,” Saurin said.

She has already began working with the team and says right now they’re working on defensive shape. Saurin wants her teams to be difficult to breakdown defensively so that they’re ready to execute off of turnovers.

Saurin arrived at Oakland on March 17 to watch the girls play that day and then start working with them the day after. The new coach realizes the balance of being a player’s coach and a nose-to-the-grindstone coach.

She wants to maintain an open-door policy with the players, as well as making sure everybody knows their role and responsibility to the team. But mostly, she wants to win.

“I realize this is a high profile sport with high expectations, and I’m really looking forward to competing in the Horizon League this year.”