Box Score

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Wes Mink recorded four saves and Austin Ricci had two shots on goal as the Oakland men's soccer team fell at Air Force, 1-0, Sunday morning at the Cadet Soccer Stadium. The Golden Grizzlies led in shots on goal 8-5 but trailed in overall shots 17-16.

"I thought today we struggled to get into a good playing rhythm for large stretches of the game," said head coach Eric Pogue. "Some of that was a good, hard working Air Force team, there is a reason they are undefeated. Some of that was the conditions of the game where the altitude caught up to us along with heat and a thick, slow field. But having said all that, we still had plenty of opportunities to take the lead and couldn't put the final piece together."

The Falcons scored the lone goal of the match in the 77th minute as Kevin Meyer gave a pass in the box to Cameron Duley who one timed it into the back of the net.

In the middle of the first half, Ricci took a shot that was saved in the 26th minute followed closely by a Cody Archibald header in the 32nd minute that was also saved. Early in the second half Ricci fired another shot that was stopped by the AFA defense. Gerald Ben would take a look to put Oakland on the board in 59th minute as he headed a ball towards the goal that was saved by Jake Schenk.

The Golden Grizzlies put a late push together as John DeLeon and Shawn Claud Lawson each took shots to tie the game in the final minute but both were saved by Schenk to preserve the 1-0 score.

Mink suffers his second loss of the season while Schenk with seven saves improves to 3-0-2 on the season.

"It's frustrating for everyone because we know we are far better than our results show," added Pogue. "But the old cliche goes what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and we know being on the road for our first four games against four top, national programs in tough environments will prepare us for a tough Horizon League slate. We are extremely excited to be home on Saturday night for our Homecoming Game and what we know will be a great day for Oakland University as we will welcome our alumni back to campus."

Oakland will return to the OU Soccer Field on Saturday as they face Incarnate Word in the Homecoming Game starting at 5 p.m. The match can also be seen on the Horizon League Network.

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