Oct. 20, 2014 ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland men's soccer team (6-5-1) will host No. 16 Michigan State (9-2-2) in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday at the Oakland Soccer Field beginning at 7 p.m. The match can be seen live on ESPN3 as Oakland is one of the first Horizon League schools to broadcast on the ESPN platform with the voice of the Golden Grizzlies Neal Ruhl and legendary coach Gary Parsons on the call.
The Golden Grizzlies are riding a seven-match unbeaten streak after earning a 2-0 victory over Belmont on Saturday at the Oakland Soccer Field. Wes Mink was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week and also earned his second Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week of the season after posting his fifth-straight shutout and making 10 saves on the week. It marks the third consecutive week the Golden Grizzlies have collected the weekly honor as Mink won on Oct. 6 and Cody Archibald won on Oct. 13. The Oakland defense has not allowed a goal in over 489 minutes of game action dating back to Oct. 1.
Matt Dudley earned a goal and an assist against the Bruins and now has the team lead in points (8) and is tied with Shawn Claud Lawson for the team high in goals (3). Joey Tinnion and Matt Rickard each have two goals while Gavin Hoy has a team-best three assists.
The nationally-ranked Spartans come into the match having defeated No. 12 Penn State by a 2-0 margin for its 10th shutout of the season. Michigan State is led by Jason Stacy with 14 points with a team-best four goals and Zach Bennett with only five goals allowed all season for a 0.37 goals-against average. Oakland is 20-9-3 all-time against MSU but have not won since 2007 when the Golden Grizzlies defeated the Spartans 2-1 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Celebrate the Detroit City Football Club as members of the Northern Guard will be in attendance as both Oakland and Michigan State have players affiliated with Le Rouge. The first 200 students will receive a free grey "Wear The Bear" t-shirt.
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