ROCHESTER, Mich. – The No. 2 seed Oakland men's soccer team opens the 2019 Horizon League Championship with a semifinal match against No. 5 seed Wright State on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast live from Flames Field located on the UIC campus on ESPN+.
 
Notes:
-Oakland finished the regular season 7-8-3 overall with a 4-2-2 conference mark to earn the No. 2 seed.
 
Match up vs Wright State:
-Oakland is 7-4-2 over the last 13 games against Wright State. During the regular season match, Dylan Borczak connected on a diving header off a failed clear attempt in the 98th minute of overtime for the game-winning golden goal giving Oakland a thrilling 3-2 win at WSU (10/5).
 
-The last time both teams met in tournament play was during the 2016 season. Oakland got the equalizer in the 81st minute tying the game at 1-1. During the penalty kicks, Oakland scored on each attempt followed by successful attempts from all WSU shooters to knot the score at 5-5. WSU keeper Joel Sundell then made a diving save off AJ Shaw setting the stage for AJ Patterson who scored to advance the Raiders, 6-5, ending Oakland's bid for a three-peat.
 
Windy City Tournament History:
-The last time Oakland played in the league championships hosted by UIC was during the 2015 season. Ironically, the Golden Grizzlies entered as the No. 2 seed and defeated No. 4 seed Cleveland State (1-0) in overtime in the semifinals and No. 6 seed Wright State (1-0) in the championship game to claim their second consecutive title.
 
Horizon League Honors:
-Oakland had a league-high seven student-athletes garner All-Horizon League honors as voted on by the league's nine head coaches and announced by the league office on Monday. Sullivan Lauderdale was named Goalkeeper of the Year and earned first team honors along with Dylan Borczak and Elliott Bentley. Noah Jensen and Luke Morrell garnered second team honors while Cameron Wilde and Adam McAleenan were Horizon League All-Freshman Team selections.
 
Forwards and Midfield:
-Borczak leads the team in assists (8) which is tied for the league lead and also ranks 31st nationally. Additionally, he leads the team in points (16) which also is tied for seventh in the league and is tied for second on the team in goals (4). Borczak scored a goal with a season-high in assists (2) and points (4) in Oakland's 5-1 win at Robert Morris. He has recorded three points in a game with a goal and assist on three occasions with the game-winner against IUPUI, in overtime at Green Bay and at Wright State.
 
-Charlie Braithwaite leads the team in goals (5) and ranks third in points (11)
 
-Jensen ranks second on the team in points (12) and is tied for third on the team in goals (4) scoring against Western Illinois, IUPUI, UIC and Northern Kentucky. He is also tied for second on the team in assists (4) against Robert Morris, Green Bay, UIC and Marshall.
 
-Braithwaite and Borczak also lead the team in game-winning goals (2) which is tied for fourth in the league. Braithwaite's game winners came against Green Bay and Robert Morris while Borczak's came against Wright State and IUPUI.
 
-Wilde is tied for fourth on the team in points (9) with three goals and three assists. Wilde recorded his first career goal and assist in his collegiate debut in a 5-1 win at Robert Morris. He added a goal in a win over Western Illinois and recoded the equalizer to rally the Golden Grizzlies from a two-goal deficit to a 2-2 draw at Bradley. Wilde also posted assists in wins over Green Bay and IUPUI.
 
-Evan Sawula was named to the Horizon League Men's Soccer All-Academic Team for the second consecutive season. The 3.96 redshirt junior majoring in Bioengineering, ranks second on the team goals (4) and third in points (9). He scored the game-winning goal against Cleveland State and added goals in each of Oakland's wins over Western Illinois, Green Bay and Wright State. His lone assist came on the game-winning goal propelling Oakland to a 1-0 win over Michigan State for the first time since 2014
 
Back line production:
-Bentley has anchored the back line to four shutouts while ranking second on the team in assists (4) from his defensive back line position. He recorded an assist against Western Illinois, added two at Green Bay and assisted on the game-winning goal against Michigan State.
 
-Morrell has also anchored the back line to four shutouts. He scored a goal for the second consecutive match against No. 15 Marshall and scored the game-winning goal just 44 seconds into the second half off giving Oakland a 1-0 win over Michigan State for the first time since 2014 in front of the fifth largest crowd of 1,672 on Senior Night. His first goal of the season came in a 2-2 draw at Bradley.

-Lauderdale posted a 6-7-3 record, is tied for third in the Horizon League in shutouts (4) while ranking third with a 1.34 goals-against-average. His four shutouts this season all came in league play leading to wins against Cleveland State (1-0), Green Bay (3-0) and IUPUI (4-0) along with a scoreless draw against Milwaukee. Lauderdale was also named Nike Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week (9/23).
 
-For his shutout effort against MSU, Liam McQueenie was named Nike® Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week.
 
Team Effort:
-As a team, Oakland led the conference lead in points (88), ranks third in assists (30) and fourth in goals (28).
-11 different players have accounted for 29 total goals while 12 different players have recorded 30 assists through so far this season.
-The Golden Grizzlies are 1-1-3 in overtime games.

Horizon League Rewind:
-In the league play regular season finale, Noah Jensen scored his fourth goal of the season as Oakland dropped a 3-1 decision at Northern Kentucky (11/8) in the regular season finale.
 
-Oakland played Milwaukee to scoreless draw in cold and windy weather conditions (11/2)
 
-Oakland dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime decision at UIC (10/19) for the team's first Horizon League setback of the season. Noah Jensen recorded a goal just 53 seconds into the game and assisted on Charlie Braithwaite's team-leading fifth goal of the season giving Oakland a 2-0 halftime lead. However, UIC rallied with two second-half goals and got the golden goal in overtime for the 3-2 win.
 
-In Oakland's dominating 4-0 win over IUPU (10/12) I, the Golden Grizzlies got goals from Dylan Borczak, Noah Jensen, Charlie Braithwaite and Mitch Meldrum on Homecoming Saturday to remain unbeaten in league play. Cameron Wilde, Dawsun Schrum, Mikey Ketteman and Borczak also each recorded an assist.
 
-Nolff scored his first goal of the season off assists from Schrum and Borczak as Oakland played arch-rival Detroit Mercy (9/28) to a 1-1 double overtime draw. The Golden Grizzlies remain unbeaten at 4-0-2 against the Titans since the inception of the Metro Series in 2014.
 
-Oakland recorded a 3-0 shutout win at Green Bay (9/21) in which Braithwaite, Sawula and Borczak each scored a goal over a seven-minute span in the first half. Bentley recorded two assists from his defensive position with Wilde, Borczak and Jensen also adding an assist.
 
-Lauderdale recorded his second shutout of the season in league play at Green Bay earning Nike Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week.
 
-Sawula also scored the game-winning goal in the 80th minute to give Oakland a 1-0 home opening Horizon League win over Cleveland State (9/14).
 
Team Breakdown
-The 2019 season marks the 46th year of the men's soccer program
 
-Head Coach Eric Pogue is in 11th season and 18th overall with the program
 
-Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Andy Wagstaff and Assistant Coach Demir Muftari return to the coaching staff. Both helped Oakland to the program's first Horizon League regular season and tournament championships in 2014. The team went on to defeat Kentucky in the opening round of the NCAA Championships marking the second time the Golden Grizzlies advanced to the second round of the College Cup
 
-Oakland was picked to finish fourth in the 2019 Horizon League Preseason Poll
 
-The Golden Grizzlies have 13 returners including Horizon League All-Freshman Team selections Luke Morrell who finished second on the team in goals (4) and points (8) and Napoleon Outlaw III who also finished second in points (8) scoring three goals with two assists
 
-Seniors Spencer Nolff and Elliott Bentley along with junior Noah Jensen were named team captains
 
-For the second straight season, Oakland has a diverse group of 11 newcomers who will look to make an immediate impact.
The group includes 10 freshmen Carson Debison-Larabie (Ajax, Ont., Canada), Frank Jones (Rochdale, England), Mikey Ketteman (Portage, Mich.), Auston Kranick (Murrysville, Penn.), Adam McAleenan (Crossgar, Northern Ireland), Mitch Meldrum (Chesterfield, Mich.), Marco Navarro (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Alexis Puga (Lawrenceville, Ga.), Micah Sonnenberg (Brooklyn, Mich.), Reid Sproat (Auburn, Ind.) and Georgia Military College transfer Charlie Braithwaite (Doncaster, England) to round out the class.
 
-The 2019 roster also includes 10 international players: Canada (5-Jensen, Evan Sawula, Debison-Larabie, Adam Giorgio, Liam McQueenie), England (3-Braithwaite, Bentley, Jones), France (1-Corentin Diverres), Ireland (1-McAleenan).
 
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