Box Score Rochester, Mich. (Oct. 12, 2003) ???C Freshman forward Marianne Samdal (Tiller, Norway) scored with less than two minutes left to give the Golden Grizzlies women???s soccer team a 2-1 victory over the Panthers of Wisconsin-Milwaukee early on Sunday afternoon. The game is the seventh straight win for Oakland as the team???s season record improves to 9-3-1. With the first shot of the match at 16:28 junior Shelly Piccirillo (Niagara Falls, Ont.) managed to put the ball past Panthers keeper Kerri St. Aubin and give Oakland the 1-0 edge. It was a slow start to the day with nearly 17 minutes gone by without either team taking a shot, however, Oakland capitalized on their first opportunity to take the lead. Silje Peltopera (Karasjok, Norway) intercepted a ball from the backline of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and knocked the ball back in over UWM???s defense to Piccirillo. Piccirillo then beast one defender to the inside on top of the 18 and ripped a shot past St. Aubin and into the upper left-hand corner of the net. Wisconsin-Milwaukee managed to tie the game twenty minutes later on one of their five corner kick attempts throughout the match. Ginny Graczyk took the corner that connected with Melissa Ricter???s head. The ball fell to the near post where Oakland defender Therese Bjorke (Lovenstad, Norway) seemed to have it under control however a collision with goalkeeper Sarah Buckland (Burlington, Ont.) caused the ball to be redirected and into the back of the net. With just four minutes left in the half, the Panthers looked as if they were going to get the go-ahead goal when Val Cooper headed the ball inside Oakland???s 18 only to be stopped by the crossbar. The second half was a battle between the two teams with Oakland creating the better of chances. Their persistence paid off with just less than three minutes left when Samdal put the ball past Molly Schneider to take the win. Midfielder Lisa-Marie Woods (Oslo, Norway) began the play with the ball deep into Oakland???s half. She fed a ball into Piccirillo???s feet at the half mark where Piccirillo gave a ball to right winger Beth Howson (Grosse Pointe, Mich.). Howson beat her defender in a foot race and gave a long ball onto a running Samdal in the middle of the pitch. Samdal then slid the ball past Schneider on top of the penalty box to give Oakland the game winner. Head coach Nick O???Shea was happy with the way Oakland played and with the win. ???It was a great win??? said O???Shea after the match. ???The game was against two teams on hot streaks entering the match and it was a battle for the win. I am happy with the players because they worked hard and came up with a goal. It was a hard fought game.??? Staying strong in net for the Golden Grizzlies was Buckland who made three saves on the day. Leading Oakland???s offense was Piccirillo with one goal and one assist for three points. Both Piccirillo and Samdal now lead the team in goals with eight apiece. Samdal has scored eight consecutive goals in the past seven matches. Oakland will continue to keep their winning streak alive this coming Thursday when they take on conference rival Oral Roberts at 4:00 pm at the OU Soccer Field. The two teams last met in the conference championships in 2002 where Oakland beat the Golden Eagles on penalty kicks to take the win.