ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Oakland women's soccer team will travel to rival Detroit Mercy to take on the Titans in a Metro Series match-up Wednesday, March 3 at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ from Titan Field.
Oakland (1-2-1) looks to earn its fourth straight win over Detroit Mercy (1-1-1) and second straight at Titan Field.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Oakland vs. Detroit Mercy: 15-7-2
Last Meeting: Oakland won, 2-1
At Home: 8-2-2
At Detroit Mercy: 7-4
Neutral: 0-1
First-Ever Meeting: (9/30/94) DET won, 4-1
LEAGUE LEADERS
Carmela Barro and
Sami Lopez mark just the third pair from a Horizon League team to have two or more assists from the same school. Lopez has tallied three assists on the year while Barro has recorded two.
Junior
Alexa Sabbagh sits sixth in shots on goal (6).
GOAL GETTERS
Izzy Karkaba,
Jackie Reilly, and
Macey Wierenga all netted their first career goals for Oakland this season, while Lopez and
Sophie Wilsey are the other goal-scorer for the Golden Grizzlies. Oakland's five goal scorers ties a league-best as the Golden Grizzlies and Milwaukee are the only teams to boast five different goal scorers.
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.
