Another week is in the books for Oakland athletics, and here is a comprehensive breakdown of how the Golden Grizzlies fared in athletics events this week (Sept. 10-16).
Men’s Golf
It was a decent week for the men’s golf team, which finished fourth out of 11 teams at the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational over the weekend. Sophomore Luke Kelly led the way for Oakland as he placed in the top 10.
The Golden Grizzlies had a solid first two rounds, but the third round is when Oakland made up some ground as the team shot 293 — seven strokes better than its first-round score of 300.
Oakland finished behind Ball State, Butler and Bowling Green while edging out DePaul, IUPUI, Southern Indiana, Detroit, Evansville and Earlham.
The team will host the Elliott Cup, an alumni match, on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 23-24.
Women’s Soccer
Oakland secured its second victory of the season this week, as it improved to 2-4-3 on the season.
The Golden Grizzlies knocked off Toledo, 2-1, on Sunday, Sept. 10. Jayna Fraser scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute. The win over the Rockets concluded the non-conference schedule for the Golden Grizzlies.
Then, on Sunday, Sept. 17, Oakland opened the Horizon League play with a 1-1 tie with Purdue Fort Wayne at home. Unfortunately for the hosting Grizzlies, Oakland scored an own goal in the 20th minute, giving the Mastodons an early advantage.
Luckily, Oakland got the goal back in the 76th minute to salvage a tie.
Oakland is now 0-0-1 in conference play with Northern Kentucky and Cleveland State coming up on Thursday and Sunday.
Volleyball
Similar to the women’s soccer team, the volleyball team wrapped up non-conference play this week, taking on Toledo, UT Martin and Southern Illinois.
OU went 2-1 on the week with wins over Toledo and UT Martin.
Oakland rallied from a set down to steal the match from Toledo in five sets on Tuesday. Patti Cesarini led the way for the Golden Grizzlies with 17 kills, two blocks and an ace.
Cesarini helped Oakland to another five-set victory on Friday over UT Martin.
Unfortunately for the Golden Grizzlies, they couldn’t carry the momentum into Saturday’s match against Southern Illinois as they lost in four sets.
Oakland now sits at 6-6 overall on the season and will host Youngstown State on Friday.
Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team continues to struggle this season. Although it was fairly fresh after enjoying a week off, Oakland was defeated, 3-0, by Northern Kentucky on Saturday.
Oakland out-shot the Norse 15-8, but it was a tough day for goaltender Finn Jurak, who was replaced by Alex Flowers with about 15 minutes left in the match.
The Golden Grizzlies are now sitting at 1-4-1 on the season, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier. OU has Michigan and Michigan State coming up, and it will also have to navigate a tough conference schedule over the next few weeks.
