CHICAGO, Ill. – On opening night, Oakland University Women's Soccer turned an offensive explosion into a win as the Golden Grizzlies would take down DePaul 1-0 at Wish Field to kickoff the 2022 campaign.

It was Oakland who would get the shots off early in the first 20 minutes or so with Jayna Fraser and Karabo Dhlamini getting their attempts off target while Carmela Barro would force an early save by the Blue Demons' goalkeeper.

Macey Wierenga would get one more attempt off from just outside the box only to be blocked by the back of a DePaul defender before Dhlamini saw her shot go just wide of the fingertips of a goalkeeper dive at the 23:00 mark of the first half.

Things would remain stagnant through the rest of the frame with no team getting a clean look at the ball as the end of the first half would see the stalemate continued until the 43:49 mark which forced DePaul defenders into a frenzy as Izzy Karkaba had an off target shot that once again threw the Blue Demons' goalkeeper into a dive as the ball rolled just to the right of the post.

The Golden Grizzlies out shot DePaul at the half 10-2 with both of those Blue Demon shots being limited to the first few minutes of action. With three consecutive corner kicks, Oakland once again held an advantage 7-4 in that category.

It didn't take long for Fraser to find the back of the net, toppling over a DePaul defender and getting the one-on-one edge past the Blue Demons' goalkeeper in the bottom right corner for the team's first score of the regular season.

Oakland would continue to apply pressure with less than 23:00 to go as Sami Lopez's rocket of a shot would turn up blocked off the Blue Demons' back line. This would ring true as the black and gold continued to outshoot the home blue 19-3 with time remaining.

With 2:00 remaining, a threatening DePaul offense would have Noëmi Stadelmann leaping over a Blue Demon attacker, grabbing the ball just above the head of the blue jersey as the crowd at Wish field would continue to hold their breath. 

The clock would stop with three seconds to go to set up the DePaul free kick but the ball would not find the net after a physical and tense final few moments as the boot would bounce off the head of a couple of Golden Grizzly defenders.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Fraser secures her first goal of the season after bagging two a season ago
• Oakland not only out shot DePaul 21-4 but also in corners 9-4
• Six shots would be on target for OU behind Fraser, Barro, Lopez, Alexa Sabbagh, Karkaba, and freshman Anuhea Aluli 
• Stadelmann finishes the game between the pipes with two saves to her credit, playing all 90:00
• With the effort, Aluli earns her paws with three shots (one on goal, as mentioned) in 46 minutes of play meeting the quarter-game requirement
• Oakland wins its season opener for the first time since the 2020-21 season over Youngstown State
• The series between OU and DePaul is now tied 1-1 

The non-conference slate will continue to roll for the Golden Grizzlies on the road on Sunday, August 21 at 1:00 p.m. in Kent, Ohio against the Golden Flashes of Kent State.