A four-game scoreless streak may be expected when playing strong teams, but the Oakland women’s soccer team was happy to finally get on the board as the Golden Grizzlies played to a 1-1 tie against Detroit on Sunday at the Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac.

Oakland (1-4-1) ended its four-game goalless drought in the 37th minute of the first half when Abigail Haelewyn scored on a header off a Kara Weber free kick.  It was the first collegiate goal for Haelewyn, a freshman midfielder from Rochester Hills.

“It felt really good to get out of the slump,” Haelewyn said.  “I think we all did really good.  We made lots chances for each other and just played well, attacking and defensively.” Oakland coach Nick O’Shea is not concerned with the lack of offense from his team so far this season.

“To not score against good teams is not the end of the world,” O’Shea said.  “We were playing well and it’s not easy to score goals in soccer, especially when you play really good teams.  Call it a four-game slump, but it has something to do with scheduling.”

The Grizzlies and Titans (3-2-2) exchanged quality scoring chances throughout the first half, but a Detroit foul in the 38th minute allowed for Weber’s free kick, and Haelewyn was in the right place to redirect the ball off her head and into the net.  Weber’s assist is the sixth point this season for the sophomore defender from Calgary, putting her in a tie for third in the Summit League with teammate Amy Trandell.

After that point in the game, it seemed Oakland, coming off expected road defeats against Western Michigan and Pittsburgh and close home losses to Michigan and Dayton, might earn its first win since it thoroughly beat Rochester College in the season opener.  That was until the 66:05 mark in the second half when Titans defender/midfielder Sarah Dzuris tied the game with a free kick placed into the back of Oakland’s net.  It was the second goal of the season for Dzuris.

Following the Detroit goal, Oakland came back out with more aggressiveness, limiting the Titans’ time in the offensive zone.  When Detroit did manage to get the ball into the Grizzlies’ half of the field, Oakland goalkeeper Shannon Coley stopped every shot.  Coley made five saves on six Titans shots on goal.

“They had a couple of dangerous players,” O’Shea said of the Titans.  “(Forward Nina Carter) is very fast.  She had a very good chance that Shannon Coley stopped.  And (midfielder/forward Kaitlyn Quarrell) out wide, very tricky on the ball, and she didn’t get the chances but she caused problems getting down (to the Detroit net).”

Oakland appeared to have won the game in the final seconds of the second overtime, but the goal was disallowed because the Grizzlies were offside.  Abolins also finished five saves on six shots on net.

O’Shea credited his deep bench for building more pressure on Detroit.

“We were making more subs,” he said.  “They don’t have much depth, so we started subbing in the midfield, subbed aggressively up top.  Fresh legs were finally paying off.”

A lingering question for Oakland is the availability of freshman midfielder Dani Haelewyn.  Dani, the sister of Abigail Haelewyn, went down after she seemed to get entangled with a Detroit player, grabbing at her lower leg for several seconds before the whistle was finally blown at 84:16 in the second half.

Abigail noted that Dani was “cleated” in the ankle, while O’Shea added, “It was a hard tackle.  We’re hoping that (she’ll be back soon).  She’ll have to see the doctor soon.”

Dani’s ability to play in Oakland’s remaining non-conference games will be important, as it faces Youngstown State and Massachusetts on Sept. 17 and 19, respectively, at the Oakland University Soccer Field.  The non-conference schedule ends with Oakland traveling to Indianapolis on Sept. 24 to play Butler.

“We’re just getting ourselves ready for conference play,” O’Shea said of the upcoming opponents.  “Just trying to find players that work well, make sure everyone is in shape getting into conference.  We have three games to get that done, so we’ll have to see.  We’ll prepare based on the opponent and working on ourselves.”

Oakland’s lead in the all-time series against Detroit is now 10-3-1.