ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Oakland women's soccer team will travel to Northern Kentucky to take on the Norse Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ from the NKU Soccer Stadium.
The Golden Grizzlies (1-2 HL) look to bounce back after a 3-2 OT loss to Cleveland State last week. While Northern Kentucky (1-1, 1-0 HL) also looking to get back in the win column after a 2-1 loss to Dayton.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Oakland vs. CSU: 4-4-1
Last Meeting: NKU won, 2-0
At Home: 2-2
At NKU: 2-2
First-Ever Meeting: (9/14/12) OAK won, 2-0
LEAGUE LEADERS
Carmela Barro and
Sami Lopez mark just the second pair from a Horizon League team to have two or more assists from the same school.
Junior
Alexa Sabbagh sits fourth in the Horizon League in shots (8) and third in shots on goal (5).
CAREER FIRSTS
Izzy Karkaba,
Jackie Reilly, and
Macey Wierenga all netted their first career goals for Oakland this season, while Lopez is the other goal-scorer for the Golden Grizzlies this season.
PRESEASON POLL
Oakland was picked to finish fifth in the 2021 Horizon League women's soccer preseason poll, announced by the league office on Monday and voted on by the league's 12 head coaches.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
The Golden Grizzlies welcome back
Hollie Clement,
Jaimie Leas and
Ashley Postma for their senior campaign.
A LOOK AT LAST YEAR
The Golden Grizzlies finished in sixth place a season ago with a 7-8-3 record, 4-3-2 in Horizon League play. Oakland made it all the way to the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship for the second-straight season before bowing out of the tournament after a 2-1 loss to no. 1 seed and tournament champion, Milwaukee.
OFFENSE ON THE RISE
The Golden Grizzlies netted 21 goals in 2019, a vast improvement from 2018 where Oakland scored 10 goals. It is the most goals Oakland has recorded since the 2016 season, led by
Alexa Sabbagh who tallied seven on the year.
In 18 games, nine Golden Grizzlies recorded at least one goal on the year. Oakland emphasized its ability to work as a team as the Black and Gold registered 27 assists on its 21 goals. An impressive 12 Golden Grizzlies recorded at least one assist, led by sophomore
Sami Lopez with five.
ALL LEAGUE HONORS
Alexa Sabbagh,
Kendra Zak and
Jessica Shears earned Horizon League Women's Soccer All-Conference honors. Sabbagh and Zak were named to the All-Horizon League Second Team, while Shears earned Horizon League All-Freshman Team Honors.
Sami Lopez was named to the 2019 Horizon League All Tournament team after Oakland's semifinal appearance.
