Sept. 27, 2008
Box Score
PONTIAC, Mich. - Junior Sebastian Harris scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season at the 8:39 minute mark, and senior Steve Clark made two saves en route to his fifth shutout this season, to lead the 24th-ranked Oakland University men's soccer team (7-2, 1-0 Summit) past Western Illinois (6-2-1, 0-1 Summit), 1-0, in front of a program record 1,105 fans at the Ultimate Soccer Arena on Saturday night. The Golden Grizzlies outshot the Leathernecks 19-7 in the game.
"We knew coming in that Western (Illinois) was going to be one of the teams to beat in our conference, if not the team to beat," said OU coach Gary Parsons. "We were ready and had put the Michigan loss behind us.
"He's (Sebastian Harris) been the guy that has been the most consistent scorer for us this year and he did it again tonight. He is dangerous in the box, but if he was a good finisher, he would have eight goals right now instead of four. But he works hard to get them and is improving on his ability to finish."
The Golden Grizzlies controlled the first 45 minutes, outshooting the Leathernecks 11-1, and creating several chances in the box. Harris broke through just over eight minutes in to the game off a deflected shot by junior Stefan St. Louis that caromed right to his teammate and Harris fond the back of the net to give Oakland a 1-0 lead.
Harris almost notched his second goal of the game three minutes in to the second half on a nice feed from freshman Tom Catalano as Harris headed one towards the net, but WIU's Stephen Paterson snagged it for his fifth save of the game to keep the Leathernecks down by one goal.
The Leathernecks' Nathan Sanchez had the first real scoring threat for WIU at the 32:45 minute mark of the second half as he received a pass down low in the corner of the box, but Clark stepped out to cut down the angle and keep the Leathernecks off the scoreboard.
Once again Harris found himself on the doorstep and sent a header to the top half of the net (27:26) that WIU's Paterson tapped over the top of the crossbar to keep the score 1-0 in favor of the Golden Grizzlies. WIU's Martin Browne, Jr. had a chance 77 minutes in to the match to get the Leathernecks on the board but sent a shot wide from inside the box.
Junior Wade Allan had a nice flip towards the far side of the goal that glanced off the outside of the post and continued wide with just over six minutes remaining in the game. The game would end in a 1-0 score in favor of Oakland.
OU had 19 shots, seven corner kicks, two saves and 21 fouls, while WIU had seven shots, no corner kicks, seven saves and 10 fouls. The Golden Grizzlies were whistled for two offsides, while the Leathernecks had none.
The Grizzlies will hit the road after a week off and head to Tulsa, Okla., to face Summit League opponent Oral Roberts on Saturday, Oct. 4. Match time is slated for 8 p.m. ET.
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