Both the Oakland University men’s and women’s soccer teams set high expectations coming into this season. The quest to reach those preseason goals, particularly within the Summit League, begins now for both teams.

The OU men played a brutal non-conference schedule, including three teams ranked in the nation’s top 25, and started the season 1-5. However, they started the Summit League season off on the right foot with a 4-0 win over IPFW last Friday.

The women’s team also got off to a less-than-desirable start, getting shut out in four of its first five matches, but has since rallied to win three in a row and get its record back to the .500 mark, 4-4-1. They begin league play with a pair of home games this weekend —Friday at Ultimate Soccer Arenas against North Dakota State and Sunday at the OU Soccer Field against South Dakota State.

Well tested

“I think when you play a really demanding schedule like we have this year, even though obviously we’d like to get a few more wins and results out of those games, I think it shows that we can play with any team in the country,” men’s head coach Eric Pogue said. “Right now we’ve been in every game but we’ve struggled to score and put the final pieces together. Confidence wise, I think going into conference play we know it’s a different season and we’re looking for a fresh start.”

Prior to the 4-0 defeat of IPFW, the Golden Grizzlies (2-5, 1-0 Summit League) had not scored more than one goal in any game this season. That will have to change if they want to put together enough wins to get a high seed at the conference tournament and potentially qualify for a berth in the NCAA tournament.

“Going into these games with the record that we have has kind of put us in uncharted territory and we’re looking to get the monkey off our back,” junior goalkeeper and team captain Mitch Hildebrandt said. “We know that the other teams in our conference are going to come out and give us their best game and take their best shot at us because we’ve got that target after winning the (regular season) league title three years in a row. We’re fighting for our lives right now. We need every win we can get because a 2-6 record or whatever isn’t going to get us into the NCAA tournament.”

On top of its remaining league schedule, Oakland still has a handful of difficult non-conference games left to play.

The Grizzlies’ next game is Wednesday, Sept. 29 at Dayton. They also have a home game with No. 1 Akron Oct. 6 and games with University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Ohio State later in the year. Oakland, however, does have the benefit of hosting the Summit Tournament at the end of the season.

“Right now our goal is to really focus in on these upcoming conference games, get some wins, and get our feet back on track,” Pogue said. “I think it’s huge for us (to get off to a good start in league play), even though it’s early, getting to 1-0, 2-0 and having that early success in the league is important.”

While the offense will need to show improvement as the season progresses and the 4-0 win over IPFW was an indication of that, Hildebrandt knows it’s his job to focus on the number on the other side of the scoreboard and keep his team in as many games as possible.

“The Oakland history of soccer has always been defensive minded and I don’t think that’s changed at all, even though we’ve had some offensive guys that have come in and can play,” Hildebrandt said. “We’re still defense first and I’ve got to stay back there and continue to make saves so that Vuk (Popovic) and Makesi (Lewis) do their thing up top.”

This week Hildebrandt received Summit League Defensive Play of the Week honors for his efforts in the OU net.

OU women on a roll

For the OU women, a recent 2-1 road win over Butler has given the team confidence and momentum heading into the important homestand this weekend.

“Confidence wise, even more than our record getting back to .500, that win really gives us a boost and we’re trying to stay on this roll heading into conference play,” women’s soccer coach Nick O’Shea said. “The team is in good spirits right now and we’re doing some good things out there both technically and tactically.”

Prior to the season, Oakland was picked to finish fourth in the Summit League by league coaches in the preseason poll. The ranking was far lower than OU’s typical No. 1 or No. 2 prediction and it was a ranking that didn’t sit well with the team. The Golden Grizzlies (4-4-1) are looking to derail the credibility of that preseason poll.

“I definitely think right now the team is doing well enough to be able to take a top spot (in the standings) but once you get into conference play everything changes,” O’Shea said. “The intensity picks up a ton in these games and this is a huge weekend for us. We’re happy that we have these teams (North Dakota State and South Dakota State) and home this year instead of having to go on the road against them, but it’s definitely going to be a tough weekend.”

Oakland is still adjusting to an overhauled roster fused with inexperienced newcomers and a couple of returning players who have missed substantial time due to injuries. But Coach O’Shea feels his players are now getting comfortable with their roles and will be ready once conference play begins this weekend.