ROCHESTER, Mich. – On what could be charitably described as a blustery day at the Oakland Soccer Field, the Golden Grizzlies defeated Wright State, 1-0, on Saturday, October 15, handing the Raiders their first league loss of the campaign.

Improving to 3-7-3 (3-1-2 Horizon League), Oakland's victory was made even more special by the fact it occurred on Homecoming with alumni from five different decades of Pioneer/Golden Grizzly soccer on hand to see the action.

Wright State, meanwhile, is still in a good position at second place in the Horizon League with 14 points, three ahead of fourth-place Oakland, at 4-4-4 (4-1-2).

The Raiders actually doubled up the Golden Grizzlies on shots, 16-8, but senior midfielder Ville Ahola's tally in the 54^th minute, his second of the season, was enough to put Oakland ahead to stay.

Recording nine saves, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Michael Sly, Jr., a former Grand Blanc Bobcat, registered his fourth shutout of the year and his second in as many matches.

With the team looking to generate more pressure offensively, Ahola took it upon himself to help lead the Golden Grizzlies' attack, knowing a single goal could very well be enough to emerge with the win.

"We knew they're a tough team," Ahola said of Wright State. "Second place right now, they're always one of the top teams in the league. We have a lot of guys out right now with injuries and sickness and stuff like that, so we knew we had to really fight for it.

"I thought it was always going to come down to one goal and who scores first, and luckily, we got the first goal. Good win for us."

As Ahola alluded to, Oakland has been playing without their two captains, including senior Mikey Ketteman, a 2021 First Team All-Horizon League selection.

Evidenced by his play in Saturday's triumph, Ahola has been one of the Golden Grizzlies to step up in their absences, helping Oakland weather the storm and keep pace with the upper echelon of the conference standings.

"Ville is just such a fantasic player," reigning Horizon League Coach of the Year Eric Pogue shared.

"He's really our field general out there, he gets the ball where it needs to go and he's been fantastic all year, but I think they did a nice job – especially in the first half – of kind of trying to limit his touches and mark him out of the game.

"Smart on their part, but I think (freshman) Marco Mazzei came in the second half and gave him some nice balance and allowed him to get forward a little bit and get that opportunity on goal."

In what was an extremely solid collegiate debut, Mazzei, a fellow midfielder from Dearborn, played 45 minutes Saturday.

MATCH NOTES

• Saturday's victory moves the all-time record between these two programs to 9-5-3 in the Golden Grizzlies' favor
• Six yellow cards were issued in the match, three for each club
  • For Oakland – Freshman Doug Hainer (29^th minute), redshirt junior Owen Smith (42^nd) and redshirt freshman Zach Townsend (87^th)
  • For Wright State – Sophomore Kobe Perlaza (29^th), fifth-year senior John Lynam (87^th) and sophomore Brock Pickett (88^th)

UP NEXT
The middle leg of their current three-match homestand, the Golden Grizzlies will return to the pitch Tuesday, October 18 to battle the Mid-American Conference's (MAC) Western Michigan Broncos at 7 p.m.

Entering play at 9-2-1 (3-1-1), Western Michigan is in second place in their five-member conference standings.

A great cause, Tuesday will also be Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, Awareness Night at the Oakland Soccer Field.

UP-TO-THE-MINUTE HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS