Oakland University men’s soccer (4-2-5) and Denver (5-3-3) went to double overtime Monday, Oct. 7, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw.

OU forward Joey Tinnion broke through the DU defense on a pass from teammate Gavin Hoy and netted the goal to put the Grizzlies up 1-0 in the 63^rd minute.

“It feels good to be getting some goals finally,” Tinnion said. “But tonight Gavin did a good job with the one goal — he slipped it through, and I was able to toe poke it to the far post.”

It was Tinnion’s team-leading fifth goal of the season. He also leads the team in shots on the year with 30.

Just three minutes after Tinnion’s score, Denver managed to come back with the equalizer in the 66^th minute, with DU forward Eric Kronenberg catching up with a rebound inside the box to put it in off the left post.

Oakland had another great chance when a cross came into the zone and bounced off the hand of a Denver defender, resulting in a penalty shot.

As the fog settled on the north end of the field, OU sophomore Shawn Claud Lawson lined up for a shot, but it sailed high and bruised the crossbar.

Tinnion had the hot foot, but he said it was Lawson’s shot to take.

“I mean Shawn Claud is number one on our depth chart for penalty kicks,” Tinnion said. “He’s quality at them. It was just unlucky, but he’s our guy.”

It was OU’s last good chance on net, as Denver played stout defense for the remainder of the game.

“We came out strong, put Denver on their back foot and created some real strong scoring opportunities,” OU head coach Eric Pogue said. “But unfortunately we didn’t put them in.”

OU applied pressure much of the first half with six of their 13 shots on net.  Sophomore Matt Dudley had two chances early, including one off a great cross from midfielder Mich’ele Lipari, but couldn’t capitalize. 

The Grizzlies outshot Denver 13-12.

“When you don’t put good teams away and you allow them to stay in the game, you have two teams back-and-forth in an even game. And that’s what it was,” Pogue said.

OU will play their final home game against the University of Illinois at Chicago Wednesday, Oct. 30. Until then, the Grizzlies will embark on a tough four-game road trip.

The Grizzlies will first take on Wright State before playing Michigan State and Ohio State, finishing the road trip at Milwaukee Saturday, Oct. 26.

“It will be a stiff challenge for our guys,” Pogue said. “We got a tough stretch of games coming up, but the guys are ready for it.”