2015 Spring Schedule

ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland men's soccer team and head coach Eric Pogue announced their 2015 spring schedule on Thursday. The spring season will be highlighted by the Michigan Cup comprised of the five Division I schools in the state of Michigan and Division II Saginaw Valley State.

"This spring schedule was put together to test ourselves against some of the nation's top teams and see where we are at and where we need to be come August 2015," said Pogue. "We return a very strong base of players that helped Oakland men's soccer to one of Oakland athletic department's most successful years in NCAA Division I history winning Horizon League undefeated regular season and tournament titles and advancing to the NCAA Tournament Second Round, but we also lost a core group of seniors that played large roles and provided a ton of leadership, so this spring will give us a great opportunity to gain invaluable experience heading into a very tough Fall 2015 schedule we have put together for our men to get ready to defend our Horizon League title and return to the NCAA Tournament."

Oakland starts Spring play on March 14 as it faces Saginaw Valley State in the first game of the Michigan Cup. The Golden Grizzlies will then play Michigan State in game two of the Michigan Cup on March 28. The Spartans defeated the Golden Grizzlies in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014. The Michigan Cup is a two-group round-robin style tournament for in-state bragging rights. The teams will be divided into two three-team groups that will play against one another. Group one consists of Oakland, MSU and SVSU, while group two is comprised of Michigan, Western Michigan and the University of Detroit Mercy. After round-robin play the winner of each group will play for the championship on Apr. 11 at the Ultimate Soccer Arena, while the second-place and third-place teams will also play.

The Golden Grizzlies will begin the season with an exhibition game on Feb. 20 against Sigma FC Academy at 8 a.m. in the new Oakland Sports Bubble. The Michigan Bucks will play host to the 2015 College Challenge that will see Oakland play a double-header on March 21 at the Ultimate Soccer Arena, facing Notre Dame at 2:10 p.m. and Butler at 5:30 p.m. Tickets for the 2015 College Challenge can be found here. Oakland's final spring game will be April 3 taking on Bowling Green from the Oakland Sports Bubble beginning at 7:30 p.m.

"Our spring schedule includes 2013 national champions Notre Dame, NCAA Elite Eight Michigan State, as well as perennial nationally recognized programs in Butler and Bowling Green," added Pogue. "Saginaw Valley State is one of the top five NCAA DII programs in the nation, so we will be tested each and every game.

"Special thanks to the Michigan Bucks for always including us in their Bucks College Cups and this year in the inaugural Michigan Cup, as well as the Legacy Center in Brighton for inviting us to participate in the inaugural College Clash Invitational versus SVSU, as these are great opportunities to showcase our program and our players to the Michigan soccer community."

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