Oct. 3, 2009

Box Score

SHREVEPORT, La. - Freshman Johnny Dreshaj scored his third game-winning goal of the season in the 69th minute, leading the Oakland University men's soccer team (5-3-2, 2-0 Summit League) to a 1-0 victory over Centenary College (2-7-1, 1-1 Summit League) Saturday evening at Mayo Field, keeping OU undefeated in league play.

"Conference games are always battles and tonight was no exception," said head coach Eric Pogue. "Credit to Centenary as they came out of the gates with a lot of energy and intensity and I don't think we matched it in the first half. The second half we played much better and created some chances. We were fortunate to get out of Shreveport with a win."

The Golden Grizzlies threatened to get on the board early in the contest when senior Stefan St. Louis took a penalty kick in the 12th minute, but Centenary goalkeeper Rennie Walker was able to make the save, thus preserving a 0-0 stalemate that carried over into halftime.

In the second half, Oakland was given another opportunity at a penalty kick in the match's 63rd minute and this time, the Golden Grizzlies were able to take advantage when Dreshaj sent the ball into the back of the net to bring the score to a 1-0 Oakland lead. It was the Clinton Township, Mich.'s third goal of the season and would also turn out to also be his third game-winner when time expired.

The Golden Grizzlies outshot the Gents 19-10 and committed fewer fouls, with 13 compared to Centenary's 15. The Gents just edged out OU in corner kicks 9-8.

Sophomore goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt made two saves for the evening and recorded this third straight shutout, raising his season total to four.

"I was pleased with the efforts of many of our reserves who came off the bench and helped make a difference in the game, as well as our backline who had a great outing," said Pogue. "We are a young, inexperienced team that is trying to find its way. Consistency and putting together a complete 90 minutes has been something we need to continue to improve upon, but hats off to the team for finding ways to get results."

Oakland will next host Ohio State University on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. at the OU Soccer Field. This game with be a rematch of the opening round of the 2009 NCAA College Cup, when the Golden Grizzlies fell to the Buckeyes 1-0 in penalty kicks. The game can be followed on Gametracker at www.ougrizzlies.com.

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