ROCHESTER, Mich – On a breezy Tuesday night at the Oakland Soccer Field, Oakland University Men's Soccer battled with Ohio State in an exhibition match but fell 2-0 to the buckeyes at the end of 90 minutes.

"Overall I was quite pleased with what we got out of playing a top Big Ten opponent in Ohio State, as we found out a lot about ourselves both positively yes but also things we can improve on, as the margin for error vs top opponents is very small, as you get punished for your mistakes against top competition," said Head Coach Eric Pogue.

The Golden Grizzlies posted a total of five shots during the match, individually led by Freshman forward Charlie Retzner with two shots on goal. 

"Better for us to find that out now in preseason, especially with 14 newcomers getting assimilated into the team, instead of waiting until the season starts and the games really start to count, as we open the regular season with top national programs Creighton, Omaha, DePaul & Butler before we begin Horizon League play," said Pogue.

In their first match against a Big Ten opponent this season, Oakland managed to draw the Buckeyes offside six times on the defensive end while refraining from going offsides the entire 90 minutes offensively. 

Senior keeper Finn Jurak had five saves on the night while Kai Garvey, Jack Klomparens, and Doug Hainer each added shots for the black and gold. 

"The road does not get any easier as we head out on the road to play national powerhouse University of Akron in hostile waters on Friday night, so that'll be a new set of challenges for us to navigate, but we look forward to it and embrace the process," said Pogue.

OU will wrap up exhibition play August 19 at FirstEnergy Stadium with a match versus the Zips.

"We are in the midst of a process of building a team that can win the Horizon League regular season and tournament championship in mid November, but the foundation for that excellence starts with the building blocks we lay day by day, practice by practice, game by game in August," said Pogue.