Oct. 18, 2009

Box Score

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Freshman Katie Bramble scored with less than 17 minutes left in the game and sophomore Shannon Coley came up with some big saves to record her fourth and one-half shutout of the season as the Oakland University women's soccer team (6-7-1, 3-2-1 Summit) moved past Oral Roberts (6-7, 2-3 Summit) 1-0 Sunday afternoon at the OU Soccer Field.

"We didn't play very well but we found a way to win," said head coach Nick O'Shea. "I felt we didn't play very hard in the first hard. The girls came out and worked hard in the second half. Shannon Coley was solid in the net for us today. Melissa Hartwig came up with a huge block of a shot late. We'll take the wins anyway we can get them."

In the first half, neither team mounted much of an offensive attack with just four total shots. At the 16:47 mark, Natalya Manyan raced in front of the defenders and blasted a shot at Coley. Coley dove to her right to come away with a great save.

The Golden Grizzlies controlled the pace for much of the second half. Oral Roberts did not get off its first shot of the second half until there was just over three minutes left.

At the 73:37 mark, freshman Marlen Knoph moved inside and threaded the ball between two defenders to Bramble. Bramble got the ball on the left and slid it past the goalie to make it 1-0. It was her first goal of the season.

In the last four minutes, the Golden Eagles mounted a full assault on the Oakland goal. With 3:09 to go, Manyan had another one-on-one with Coley, who once again smothered the shot. At the 87:45 mark, Coley dove to her left to deflect a shot by Annie Bickers.

Oral Roberts then got a corner kick with 1:42 left and sent the ball into traffic. Bickers found herself alone on the right side and put up a shot. Junior Melissa Hartwig came out of the crowd and booted the ball away just in front of the line to preserve the win.

Oakland closes out the home season, Friday, Oct. 23, at the Ultimate Arena taking on IPFW. The game, which is senior day, is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.