With their decisive 3-0 win over Western Illinois in Sunday???s Mid-Con Tournament championship game, the Oakland University men???s soccer team became one of twenty-two teams to receive an automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA Division I Men???s Soccer Tournament. The Golden Grizzlies drew UW-Milwaukee in the first round and will play at Milwaukee, Wisc. on Saturday, November 23 at 12:00 p.m. The winner will play Creighton in the second round on Wednesday, November 27 at a time to be determined. UW-Milwaukee was ranked in the top ten in both the NSCAA and Soccer Times polls last week. This will be Oakland???s first NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in any men???s team sport. Oakland (10-7-3) has won a share of the Mid-Con regular-season crown each of the last three years, but captured its first outright Mid-Con regular-season title in 2002 by finishing 3-1-1 in league play. The Golden Grizzlies went on to become the first Mid-Con men???s soccer team to ever win the title as the tournament host. Oakland went 0-1-1 against the NCAA field this season, losing a 1-0 decision at Creighton in the season-opener and tying Akron, 1-1. The Golden Grizzlies have lost just five of 18 games after dropping the first two games of the season. Oakland is led by Mid-Con Player of the Year Philip Braathen (Oslo, Norway), who leads the team with seven goals and 18 points, and league Newcomer of the Year Jeff Wiese (Omaha, Neb.), who registered a 1.15 goals against average, while making 80 saves and posting a league-best six shutouts. Mid-Con Tournament MVP Shahar Ktovim (Holon, Israel) scored the game tying goal in Oakland's semifinal game and netted the game-winner in the championship match. He is tied for second on the team with six goals. The midfield is anchored by sophomore Bret McNabb (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) who scored the game-winning goal in Oakland's come-from behind win over UMKC in the semifinal game of the Mid-Con Tournament. Co-captains Ryan Rzepka (Novi, Mich.) and Jason Perry (Southfield, Mich.) lead a suffocating Oakland defense.