The Oakland University women’s soccer team suffered their second loss of the season Sunday to the University of Michigan,1-0 at home.

Coming off of a hard-fought and physical 0-0 draw with Michigan State on Wednesday, Oakland put up a dog-fight type effort in front of a large turnout at home of over 650 people in the stands.

Despite facing a bigger opponent that had three U.S. Women’s Soccer players who participated in the World Cup and the former head coach of the U.S. team, Oakland didn’t show any back down.

After being outshot 13-1 in the first half, the Golden Grizzlies led the Wolverines in shots 5-4 in the second half, coming out playing with more aggression as they continued their strong team defensive play.

“Michigan showed some good pressure in the first half and it took us a while to deal with it and match their effort,” Head Coach Nick O’Shea said.

The only goal of the game came in the 5th minute from Michigan midfielder Christina Murrillo off of a corner kick on the assist from defender Shelina  Zadorsky.

OU continued to battle and their efforts nearly paid off on two near scores in the second half with midfielder Nicole DeLuca attempting a cross shot that came up just short in the 81st minute and another with DeLuca getting one past Michigan goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer that sailed past the post.

Despite the loss, O’Shea praised his team for the resiliency shown by the Golden Grizzlies to stick with the Wolverines to make it a close match until the end.

“You don’t play teams like this every day, so to get the opportunity to play teams like Michigan State and Michigan, it will only make us better,” O’Shea said. “I like how we responded with good pressure coming out in the second half, we had a few close calls and the game could have gone either way.”

Goalkeeper Shannon Coley continued her strong play, anchoring the team defense with several key stops down the stretch in the game to keep OU within striking distance for a potential comeback effort that just came up short.

After the loss, Oakland is now 2-2-2 on the season as they move on to play Northern Kentucky in Highland Heights, Ky., Friday at 7 p.m.

 

—-

Contact Staff Intern Allen Jordan via email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aj1218