ROCHESTER, Mich. – The start of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies' 2023 men's soccer campaign is still roughly eight months away, but the program has had about as positive of an offseason as possible, as five key contributors have confirmed they will return in the fall.
In alphabetical order, they are
Ville Ahola,
Finn Jurak,
Mikey Ketteman,
Micah Sonnenberg and
Reid Sproat.
Importantly, this quintet represents every area of the field, as Ahola is a midfielder, Jurak is a goalkeeper, Ketteman a forward, and Sonnenberg and Sproat defenders.
Three of these five have already participated in four seasons of play at the collegiate level, but had the option to return in 2023 due to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) granting all student-athletes an additional year of eligibility in 2020 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
"We are really elated to welcome back these five young men for the Fall 2023 season, as I believe they all feel they have championships left on the table to earn this Fall," head coach
Eric Pogue shared.
"Securing the commitments of Reid, Ville, Mikey, Finn and Micah – really up the spine and backbone of our team – shows the loyalty, character and integrity these five young men have as I am 100 percent certain they'd all have a slew of NCAA Division I programs lined up for their services.
"We still have some major holes to fill for our 2023 recruiting class to be the top team that we expect to be in the Fall, but these commitments thus far are the start of the top recruiting class that I can think of securing to compete for Horizon League Championship and NCAA Tournament runs come November."
Ahola, Ketteman and Sproat have combined to earn six All-Horizon League spots over the last three seasons and Sonnenberg has started 43 of the 47 matches he has appeared in over the same span.
Starting 20 matches over the prior two campaigns, including during Oakland's run to the 2021 Horizon League Tournament Championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament, Jurak played in just three matches in 2022 before sustaining an injury. He is back to health and ready to go for 2023.
