ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Oakland men's soccer team officially kicks off the 2021 Fall season with a non-conference match at Butler on Thursday, Aug. 26 beginning at 9:30 p.m. Due to extreme afternoon heat in the forecast for Thursday, the match was moved back from the original start time of 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast live from the Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl on Butler Athletics' YouTube page.
 
NOTES:
MATCH UP VS THE BULLDOGS:
Oakland is 1-2-2 over the last five matches against Butler. Both teams played to a draw during the last two meetings in 2011 and 2012. The Golden Grizzlies last defeated the Bulldogs back in 2000 on the road by a score of 4-1.

THE TEAM:
- The 2021 Fall season marks the 48th year of the men's soccer program
- Head Coach Eric Pogue is in 13th season and 20th overall with the program
 
EXHIBITION RECAP:
Aug. 20 - Oakland 2, Davenport 2:
Noah Jensen scored a goal and added an assist, Kieran Hayes added a goal while Ville Ahola posted an assist. Oakland was able to cash in off a corner kick set piece as Jensen served the ball in and connected with Hayes who made a run inside the box to put a volley past Davenport goalkeeper Markus Sundin tying the game at 1-1 in the 51st minute. For the game, the Golden Grizzlies held a 10-2 advantage in corner kick opportunities.
 
Oakland then moved ahead 2-1 off a strike from Jensen who beat Sundin off a feed from Ahola in the 77nd minute of the second half.
 
The lead looked secure until the Panthers' Justice Sikkema was able to connect off a feed with a low shot past Alessio Carbone to tie the game with just eight seconds left in the match.
 
Aug. 15. - Oakland 3, Lawrence Tech 2:
The Golden Grizzlies kicked off the 2021 Fall season with a 3-2 exhibition win over Lawrence Tech last Sunday. Noah Jensen, Dylan Borczak and Mikey Ketteman each scored goals while Ville Ahola, Charlie Braithwaite and Owen Smith added an assist.
 
During the first 30-minute period, Jensen connected on a beautiful free-kick from 25-yards beating LTU goalkeeper Riley Alexander to the upper right 90 giving Oakland a 1-0 lead. Borczak then took a long feed from Ahola and flipped it over a charging Alexander increasing the Golden Grizzlies' lead to 2-0. Lawrence Tech added a goal to pull within 2-1 just before the end of the period.
 
After a scoreless second period, Ketteman took a pass from Smith and was able to slot the ball behind the goalie for the eventual game-winner giving Oakland a 3-1 lead to open the third period at the 16:40 mark. LTU responded with a tally to once again close the gap to one goal at 3-2. Oakland's defense was able to keep LTU off the board in the final 30-minute fourth period to secure the win.
 
2021 FALL HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL:
For the second consecutive season, Oakland was picked to finish first atop the Fall 2021 Horizon League Men's Soccer Preseason Poll announced by the league office and voted on by the league's 11 head coaches. The Golden Grizzlies secured 113 points and seven first place votes. Prior to the COVID-19 shortened Spring 2021 season, Oakland was selected to finish in a first-place tie along with UIC.
 
RETURNING FIRE POWER:
The Golden Grizzlies have 23 returners including all six student-athletes who garnered All-Horizon League honors last season in three-time team captain Noah Jensen, Dylan Borczak, Charlie Braithwaite, Dawsun Schrum, Reid Sproat and Jaiden Ramsay-Kelly. Jensen was named Player of the Year and earned first team honors while Borczak was named Offensive Player of the Year and also earned first team honors along with Braithwaite. Schrum and Sproat garnered second team honors while Ramsay-Kelly was named to the All-Freshman Team.
 
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR:
The 2021 roster also includes 15 international players representing 10 different countries: Australia (2-Kieran Hayes, Finn Jurak) Canada (5 – Alessio Carbone, Robbie Cleary, Kai Garvey, Noah Jensen, Sebastian Nuzzo, Jaiden Ramsay-Kelly), England (1-Charlie Braithwaite), Finland (1-Ville Ahola), France (1-Arthur Widiez), Japan (1-Taiga Shiokawa), Jordan (1-Mohammad Issa), Mexico (1-Gabriel Baylon), New Zealand (1-Owen Smith), Northern Ireland (1-Adam McAleenan).
 
NEWCOMERS:
Oakland has a diverse group of five newcomers in goalkeepers Alessio Carbone and Michael Sly Jr., forwards Kai Garvey and Zach Townsend, and midfielder Robbie Cleary who will look to make an immediate impact.

2021 SPRING SEASON RECAP:
Due to COVID-19 protocols, the 2020 Fall season was moved to 2021 Spring consisting of a Horizon League conference-only schedule. The Golden Grizzlies finished with a 6-1-2 overall record and perfect 5-0 mark at the Grizz Dome to earn the No. 2 seed and was set to host No. 3 seed UIC in the Horizon League Championship semifinal. However, the Golden Grizzlies were unable to play due to COVID-19 concerns within the program effectively ending the season.

JENSEN AND BORCZAK NAMED TO UNITED SOCCER COACHES 2021 MAC HERMAN TROPHY WATCH LIST:
Noah Jensen and Dylan Borczak were two of 44 national men's soccer players named to the United Soccer Coaches 2021 Men's Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy Watch List announced by the national office on Thursday (8/26). After his historic 2020-21 campaign, Jensen was selected as one of 15 men's soccer national semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy which the highest individual award presented to a player in intercollegiate soccer.
 
JENSEN RETURNS AFTER HISTORIC SEASON:
Jensen, a three-time team captain at midfield and Courtice, Ontario, Canada native, returns after having one of the most successful seasons in program history. He became the first men's soccer student-athlete in program history to earn United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men's All-America second team honors in the Division I era after leading the nation in assists (14) and assists per game (1.56). Jensen also ranked seventh in the nation while leading the Horizon League in points (22), second in the country in points per game (2.44) and third on the team in goals (4) with three coming off penalty kicks.
 
Additionally, Jensen was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-North Region first team and was named one of 15 men's soccer national semifinalists for the United Soccer Coaches Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy, the highest individual award presented to a player in intercollegiate soccer. He also was named 2021 Horizon League Player of the Year and earned All-Horizon League first team honors.
 
Academically, Jensen earned 2020-21 United Soccer Coaches Men's NCAA Division I Scholar All-America first team honors after earning a 3.70 overall GPA and perfect 4.00 GPA last semester while majoring in Actuarial Science. He also garnered 2020-21 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men's Scholar All-Region honors while garnering Horizon League All-Academic Team honors for the second time in his career.
 
BORCZAK IS BACK:
Midfielder Dylan Borczak named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year and earned first team honors for the second consecutive season after ranking 22nd in the nation and second in the league in points (18) while ranking 20th in the country and second in the league in goals (9) and sixth in the country in points per game (2.00) at midfield for the Golden Grizzlies. He was also named to the United Soccer Coaches All-North Region first team.
 
The Detroit, Mich. native also knotted three first-half goals to complete the hat trick while adding an assist for a total of seven points to lead Oakland to a dominating 5-0 win over visiting Robert Morris (2/4). For his efforts against RMU, Borczak earned three national Player of the Week honors and four overall. He earned United Soccer Coaches College Player of the Week honors (2/9) and TopDrawerSoccer.com Men's DI Player of the Week accolades and was one of 11 student-athletes named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Men's DI Team of the Week (2/9). Borczak also earned College Soccer News Men's National Player of the Week honors and was one of 12 student-athletes named to the College Soccer News Men's National Team of the Week (2/8) in addition to being named Nike® Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week (2/5). He was also named Nike® Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week (3/6) for the second time after accounting for five points scoring two goals while assisting on the game-winning goal to lead Oakland to a 3-1 Metro Series win over arch-rival Detroit Mercy (3/5).
 
BRAITHWAITE LEADS THE CHARGE UP FRONT:
Forward Charlie Braithwaite was an All-Horizon League first team selection and named to the 2020-21 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men's North Region first team. The Doncaster, England native ranked fourth in the league, second on the team and 36th in the nation in goals (8) and third on the team and seventh in the league in points (15). He scored a goal in 6-of-9 matches including one in each of the last five consecutive games including the game-winning goal to led Oakland to a 3-1 Metro Series win over arch-rival Detroit Mercy (3/5). Braithwaite added his second game-winner to help Oakland to its first road win of the season with a dominating 4-0 performance over Green Bay to secure the No. 2 seed in the #HLMSOC Championship.
 
SCHRUM LOOKS TO CONTINUE AFTER BREAKOUT SEASON:
Midfielder Dawsun Schrum was named to the 2020-21 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men's North Region second team and earned All-Horizon League second team honors ranking ninth in the nation and third in the league in assist (7) and third in the country in assists per game (.78). He also ranked 43rd in the nation and fifth in the league in points (15) and tied for third on the team in goals (4). Schrum was named Nike® Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week (4/7) for the second time after scoring his fourth goal of the season while adding first assists on two goals for a total of four points leading Oakland to its first road win of the season with a dominating 4-0 performance over Green Bay (4/5) to secure the No. 2 seed in the #HLMSOC Championship. He also was named Nike® Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week (3/19) after posting three goals with two assists totaling 11 points helping Oakland to a pair of wins over Milwaukee (3/12) and Cleveland State (3/18).
 
Schrum had a hand in all of Oakland's four goals scoring two while assisting on the other two accounting for six total points in the Golden Grizzlies' thrilling 4-3 win over Milwaukee. For his efforts, he was one of 12 student-athletes named to the College Soccer News Men's National Team of the Week (ending Mar. 14) and was a TopDrawerSoccer.com Men's DI Team of the Week Honorable Mention (Mar. 15). He also recorded a goal for the second consecutive game in Oakland's 3-2 win over CSU helping the Golden Grizzlies finish the regular season home league schedule a perfect 5-0 at the Grizz Dome and was also named the United Wholesale Mortgage Student-Athlete of the Week.
 
JURAK IS THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE:
Goalkeeper Finn Jurak started in seven games in net posting a 5-1-1 record with 21 saves while anchoring the back line to a pair of shut outs over Robert Morris (2/4) and Green Bay (4/5). He was named to the 2020-21 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Men's North Region second team. Jurak was selected Nike® Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week (4/7) for the second time after recording his second shutout of the season making four saves leading Oakland to its first road win of the season with a dominating 4-0 performance over Green Bay to secure the No. 2 seed in the #HLMSOC Championship. He earned Player of the Week honors for the first time (2/19) after picking up his second win of the season making two saves, including a crucial one off a penalty kick, helping Oakland to a 2-1 win over Purdue Fort Wayne (2/16). He also came up big late in the match during the 77th minute as he saved a penalty kick off PFW's Logan Lee keeping the Mastodons off the board and preserving Oakland's 2-0 lead.
 
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