ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Oakland women's soccer team welcomes UIC to the Grizz Dome for its home opener Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 2:30 p.m.
The Golden Grizzlies (1-0) are coming off a 2-1 win over Youngstown State. Wednesday's game marks the first of the year for UIC, as its season opener against Northern Kentucky was canceled last week.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Oakland Leads: 3-2-1
Last Meeting: UIC won, 2-1 at UIC
At Home: 3-0
At UIC: 0-2-1
First-Ever Meeting: (10/11/14) Oakland won, 1-0
TEAM EFFORT, TEAM WIN
Sophomore
Macey Wierenga and freshman
Jackie Reilly recorded their first career goals in Oakland's season opener. Junior
Carmela Barro was responsible for the assists on both goals, while
Alexa Sabbagh also recorded a helper and four shots on the day.
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.
ABOUT UIC
UIC was picked third in the Horizon League preseason poll, after finishing 12-6-1 and 7-2 in conference play a season ago. The Flames fell 2-0 in the Horizon League Championship game to Milwaukee,
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.
