ANN ARBOR, Mich. – After a hard-fought 90 minutes, Oakland University Men's Soccer and the Michigan Wolverines would end their Monday night match in scoreless stalemate. 

After controlling possession for a majority of the first few minutes of the match, the Golden Grizzlies would engineer a scoring opportunity. 

In the 20' of the opening half, freshman Kevin Hubbell placed a crossing pass into the Michigan box which was then headed by Ville Ahola towards the Wolverines' goal but struck the right post. 

That marked the second Oakland shot courtesy of Ahola's head in the first half of play, the first of which missed just wide right of the Wolverines' net.

The senior-led OU defense of Reid Sproat and Kieran Hayes showcased their awareness and athleticism against the maize and blue. During the climax of a Wolverines scoring opportunity, Hayes blocked a shot that was rocketed off the foot of a Michigan striker.

A few minutes later, Sproat would try to one-up his fellow senior by intercepting a Wolverines' pass in the Oakland box, making keeper, Michael Sly Jr. 's job that much easier. 

Speaking of the Sly Jr, the redshirt freshman introduced himself to the Big Ten with tonight's contest and proved to be a thorn in the side of the maize and blue offense for the entirety of the match. In the last 10 minutes of the opening half of play, Sly Jr. made three diving saves, one from the corner of the box, one from roughly five yards from the net off of a Michigan player's head, and lastly one off of a Wolverines' free kick just beyond the box. 

The 6-foot-180-pound Sly Jr. picked up exactly where he left off during the early stages of the second half. The Grand Blanc, Michigan native would make three saves from the 37'-32' including one from point blank distance and another diving save towards the upper right corner of the OU net. 

Forward Ahmad Hamad found himself with more scoring chances this game. The Dearborn Fordson alum was the owner of the best scoring opportunity of the game for the Golden Grizzlies as the 5-foot-10 Hamad laced a shot towards the Michigan goal, forcing Wolverines' keeper, Ethan Wood to make a diving save. 

In an effort to break the tie, Gabriel Baylon forced a Michigan turnover at the 7' of the closing half. Baylon would quickly place a shot on the Michigan net that would be secured by the maize and blue goaltender.

Sly Jr. put his signature on the game by denying a Wolverines' shot with just three minutes left to go in regulation, that save marked the fifth diving save of the night, and the tenth overall for Sly Jr. 

The match would end after the second half in a 0-0 stalemate, marking the fifth tie in the all-time series between the Golden Grizzlies and the Wolverines. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 
 

• Two shots each for Baylon and Owen Smith.
• Sly Jr. impresses in net with 10 saves. 
• Seven shots total for Oakland.
• 17 Golden Grizzlies saw the pitch in tonight's contest.
• Sly Jr. made five diving saves on the night. 

Next, Oakland will wrap-up their long road-trip this Friday, September 23 at 7:00pm in Bowling Green, Ohio for a match against the Bowling Green University Falcons.