Oct. 30, 2011
Box Score
INDIANAPOLIS - Jordan Penz scored the match-winning goal, as the Oakland women's soccer team (8-10-1, 6-2-1) held on for a 3-2 win over IUPUI (4-12-4, 2-6-1) on Sunday at Michael A. Carroll Stadium. Meghan Reynolds added a goal and an assist, as the Golden Grizzlies finished the season with four consecutive victories.
"Knowing that we had clinched a tournament spot, we had two objectives in mind for this match," said Oakland head coach Nick O'Shea. "The first was to score goals, the second was to make sure that everyone played. We accomplished both today."
Penz netted the third first-half goal for the Golden Grizzlies just before halftime, scoring from seven yards out off of an Erin Ring corner kick. Oakland outshot IUPUI 10-3 in the first half with three different players finding the back of the net.
Shannon Doyle put OU ahead in the 33rd minute with a goal from 10 yards off an assist from Reynolds. IUPUI quickly equalized in the 35th minute through a Taylor Heidorn goal. Reynolds restored the Oakland lead with a goal in the 40th minute from a long-range goal through traffic.
The Golden Grizzlies outshot IUPUI 22-14, but the Jaguars were aggressive in the second half and pulled within one goal in the 80th minute. Megan Hock scored the Jaguars second goal off of a corner kick by Kristin Pierce.
A total of 29 players saw action for OU, including three goalkeepers. Payj O'Shea started the match and made one save over the opening 30 minutes of action. Melissa MacKinnon played the second 30 minutes, while Anne Berschbach made three saves over the final 30 minutes. For IUPUI, Giselle Guzman made nine saves.
"We were able to get quality minutes for our younger players, while resting others who had seen significant playing time for us throughout the season," said O'Shea. "It was a great luxury to have heading into the tournament and a great day for Oakland women's soccer."
As defending regular-season champions, Oakland is the host for The Summit League Championship, which gets underway with semifinal action on Friday.
As the No. 4-seed the Golden Grizzlies will host top-seeded South Dakota State at 6 p.m. at the OU Soccer Field. That match will be preceded by the other semifinal between No. 2 North Dakota State and No. 3 UMKC at 3 p.m.
"We will head home and start preparing for the tournament," concluded O'Shea. "After a day off for the players on Monday, we will begin preparing to face South Dakota State on Friday."
-OAKLAND-
