The Oakland University Men’s Soccer team began their season Friday night at OU’s Soccer Field and did not disappoint in the home opener of the year shutting out New Hampshire 3-0.

Junior Midfielder Michel’le Lipari led the charge putting up a pair of goals within 38 seconds of each other and finishing with the two goals on 3 shots.

Redshirt junior Scott Messer put up a strong performance on defense at goalkeeper holding New Hampshire scoreless recording five saves while playing all 90 minutes.

“Starting off with a win is always positive” Head Coach Eric Pogue said in his postgame interview with OUGrizzlies.com

“I think we played pretty well,” Pogue said. “We were strong defensively and Scott [Messer] made some nice saves in goal. Once we figured things out we had some nice attacking pieces that allowed us to get some goals.”

The first goal came at the 34-minute mark when Lipari scored on a goal inside the far post on a assist from Senior Forward Kyle Bethel. That was followed that up seconds later on a goal assisted by Junior Midfielder Sean Magee. The two goals by Lipari equaled his total from all of last year.

OU kept the momentum going in the second half with a goal from Senior Midfielder Johnny Dreshaj thanks to the second assist by Magee during the 58^–minute mark.

Messer preserved the shutout with a fingertip save that came during the 77^–minute mark.  Both teams attempted 16 shots on goal with OU claiming victory attributed to tough defense while scoring on three goals on five shots and stopping all five shots on goal against the home team.

Oakland was ranked third in the Summit League in a preseason poll, receiving 38 points and two first place votes as voted by league coaches.

The Golden Grizzlies next game will be a home game Friday at OU Soccer Field against Cleveland State at 5:30pm. The game is part of a double-header with the women’s team playing at 8pm that night.

 

 

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