Senior forward Makesi Lewis put the Oakland University men’s soccer team back in the win column when he connected on a pass from junior Winston Henderson in the 58th minute of Saturday’s match with Loyola University-Chicago. The Golden Grizzlies (4-7) came away with a 1-0 win and snapped a two-game losing streak.

The game-winning score was initially set up by a pass from junior Josh Bennett, who crossed the ball to Henderson to make the assist. It was Lewis’ second goal of the season.

“It’s always good to score the game-winning goal,” Lewis said. “It was good movement of the ball, good looks, good one-two passing and we took the opportunity.”

Defense dominated along with strong goalkeeping throughout the tightly contested match. It was a play by an Oakland defender that helped preserve the win.

With a little under 13 minutes remaining, Loyola attacked off a throw-in and had an opportunity to tie the game.

The Ramblers struck with Oakland goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt caught out of position, but defender Vuk Popovic provided backup, making a stunning sliding stop.

“Playing on the backline, it is important to read the game, not just your man, and drop or step before the play,” Popovic said. “It was a long throw-in, a Loyola man got open, tried to get a header in and I was at the right place at the right time.”

Popovic was an All-Summit League second team defender in 2009, but had been playing as a forward prior to the match. Oakland coach Eric Pogue made the decision to move him to back to defense in the second half.

“We needed him (Popovic) in the backline today and he stepped in and did a really nice job,” Pogue said.

Pogue felt the need to make adjustments after Loyola controlled the offense in the first half, doubling Oakland’s shot total, 10-5.

“We talked at halftime about being a lot more organized,” Pogue said. “We inserted Vuk in the backline to solidify things. John Evans was also great on the backline. Andrew Derayeh did good stepping in as a holding midfielder and Loyola was a lot less dangerous in the second half.”

Goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt survived the first half Rambler’s rush, making seven saves to notch his fourth shutout of the season. Hildebrandt had little time to settle in, however, as Loyola was on target with two strikes within the first five minutes of the match.

The Golden Grizzlies resume conference play Oct. 16 against UMKC at the OU Soccer Field. UMKC was ranked as preseason favorite to win the Summit League, and with a win, Oakland can tie the Kangaroos for second place in the current standings.

“UMKC is always a tough game for us,” Lewis said. “We celebrate our win, but we put this behind us and look forward to playing them.”