Aug. 17, 2012

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ROCHESTER, Mich. - Johnny Dreshaj's penalty-kick goal was the difference as Oakland scored two early goals and held on for a 2-1 exhibition win over Bowling Green Friday at the OU Soccer Field. The Golden Grizzlies scored both goals within the first 11 minutes of the match.

"I thought that for the first 25 minutes we were excellent," said head coach Eric Pogue. "It was quite honestly some of the best soccer we've played in a few years. Unfortunately, we took our foot off the accelerator a little and didn't finish how we'd like. We're still happy to get the win."

Oakland got on the board in the fourth minute when Kyle Bethel slipped the ball across the face of goal to a wide-open Miche'le Lipari, who side footed the ball into the net. It was the second goal of the preseason for Lipari.

The Golden Grizzlies doubled the lead from the spot less than seven minutes later, after Gavin Hoy was taken down inside the 18-yard area. Dreshaj stepped up to convert the penalty kick, placing the ball into the top corner of the goal. OU outshot the Falcons 9-3 in a dominant first-period performance.

Bowling Green increased the pressure over the second two periods, outshooting OU 8-7 over the final 60 minutes . The pressure paid off with a goal in the 73rd minute when Danny Baraldi intercepted an attempted header back to the goalkeeper and fired a quick shot for the Falcon's lone goal of the game.

Oakland created other good chances but could not build on its early lead. In the 33rd minute Dreshaj had a header attempt cleared off the line by Zach Lemke. Raphael Reynolds was also denied when his curling shot was tipped over the bar by a fully-extended BGSU goalkeeper.

Wes Smith kept a clean sheet for 60 minutes making two saves, while Scott Messer had one stop for OU. Michael Wiest had a pair of saves for BGSU and Nick Landsberger added one save in the final 30 minutes.

Oakland wraps up the preseason on Sunday with a match at Butler at 4:30 p.m.

-OAKLAND MEN'S SOCCER-