It was another quiet week for Oakland sports teams as the calendar flips from October to November. Some fall sports teams are beginning to wrap up their seasons (the women’s soccer team is already done), but men’s and women’s basketball is right around the corner.
Here is a full breakdown of how Oakland fared in its athletic competitions this week.
Men’s soccer
The women are through with their season, but the men are thriving. Eric Pogue and the men’s soccer team won the regular-season league title with a 6-3 Horizon League record.
Oakland capped off the title-winning season with a 2-0 victory over its rival Detroit Mercy on Wednesday. The Golden Grizzlies finished the season with 18 points, which was one better than runner-up Green Bay.
As the league champion, Oakland will host the semifinals and finals of the conference tournament, which began on Sunday. After securing the No. 1 seed, Oakland enjoyed a rest day on Sunday as seeds three through six all competed to advance to the semifinals.
Oakland is set to take on No. 5 seed Purdue Fort Wayne at home on Thursday at 1 p.m.
Pogue’s squad beat PFW, 2-1, in the only matchup between the two teams this season.
Should the Golden Grizzlies win, they’ll advance to the conference championship match, facing Green Bay or IUPUI. The winner of the league tournament will earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Volleyball
Oakland won its only match of the week last week as it defeated Cleveland State in a five-set thriller. The Vikings entered the match below the Golden Grizzlies in the league standings, so it was a good win by Oakland to keep the competitors at bay.
Now, with three regular-season matches left to play, Oakland will need to continue to win to qualify for the Horizon League tournament. Only the top six teams in the league earn an invite to the tournament, and Oakland is currently sitting in fourth place with a 10-5 record.
Matches against IUPUI, Green Bay and Milwaukee loom this week in what will be a crucial week for head coach Krista Rice and the Golden Grizzlies.
IUPUI is near the bottom of the conference standings, but Green Bay and Milwaukee are ahead of Oakland, so it’ll be a tough challenge.
The first round of the league tournament is set to start on Nov. 17.
Men’s basketball
Greg Kampe and the men’s basketball team played their second and final exhibition game of the season on Monday, Oct. 30, and the Golden Grizzlies looked solid in an 86-71 win over Wayne State at the OU Credit Union O’rena.
Jack Gohlke led all scorers with 25 points on 6-15 shooting (all 3-point attempts) and a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe.
Trey Townsend added 19 points on 7-12 shooting. He also shot perfectly from the free throw line, going 4-4.
Oakland officially began its regular season on Monday against Ohio State, but the Golden Grizzlies will face another Big Ten foe in Illinois on Friday. The first home game of the regular season will be on Tuesday, Nov. 14, against Bowling Green.
