Sept. 30, 2009

Box Score

PONTIAC, Mich. - Sophomore goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt made 14 saves and notched his second straight shutout and senior Stefan St. Louis led the offensive attack with two shots on goal as the Oakland University men's soccer team (4-3-2) battled No. 24 Michigan (7-2-2) to a 0-0 tie Wednesday evening in front of a record crowd of 2,117 at the Ultimate Soccer Arena.

"Michigan is a great team and I thought our boys battled extremely hard and their effort was amazing," said head coach Eric Pogue. "We had a game plan and we knew Michigan was a very talented team with a lot of ball movement and knew we would be defending them a good amount. We were able to create some chances and at the end of the day, to come away with a tie against a team like Michigan is very good."

St. Louis launched a promising attempt at 11:28 to get Oakland on the scoreboard, but was thwarted away by goalkeeper Chris Blias. Hildebrandt made five saves in the first half to keep the match at a stalemate going into halftime.

In the second half, the Golden Grizzlies fired four shots, including another close call by St. Louis in the 77th minute and by sophomore Jonathan Evans in the 81st minute, but neither was able to connect with the back of the net and the match was sent into overtime.

After a scoreless first extra session, the Wolverines nearly sealed the game in the second overtime period when Adam Shaw headed the ball into what looked like the game-winning goal in the 109th minute, but Hildebrandt made a diving save to preserve the shutout and kept the match at what would be its 0-0 final score.

"Mitch continues to play extremely well for us," said Pogue. "He knows that when the ball gets through our defensive line, he's going to be called upon to make big saves. We've been blessed over the years at Oakland with goalkeepers that are willing to make the big saves. That's what makes a great goalkeeper."

Oakland fired 13 shots and committed nine fouls in the contest, while Michigan took 31 shots and collected 16 fouls.

The Golden Grizzlies set an attendance record for The Summit League tonight and will return to league play on Saturday, Oct. 3 when they face Centenary College. The match is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and can be followed via Live Stats at www.ougrizzlies.com.

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