Rochester, Mich. - The Horizon League Championship officially runs through Rochester, as Oakland clinches the number one seed in the #HLMSOC Championship and claims the regular season league title.

You could tell Oakland had their mind on one thing and one thing only... winning. After nearly having their chance to clinch the top seed slip away in their last matchup, a 3-1 loss to Green Bay, the Golden Grizzlies came into their season finale laser focused, with extra incentive to beat their in-state rival.

Oakland began the game playing fast, constantly getting behind the Detroit defense, and even though they had their fair share of offsides, the aggressive tone was being set. The scoring would begin in the 21' minute when freshman phenom Donavan Phillip took a long ball from senior Ville Ahola, outran the defense and netted his fifth goal of the season to give Oakland a 1-0 advantage early.

Throughout the first half Oakland continued to sneak behind the back line of the Titans. Just a minute after Phillip's goal, fifth year forward Mikey Ketteman nearly broke the game open as he received a long pass and sprinted past Detroit. With just the goalkeeper to beat, the Horizon League's second leading scorer just barely sent the ball an inch too high over the crossbar, leaving the game at 1-0. 

Coming out of halftime the physicality began to escalate, with Detroit beginning to play with a sense of desperation to keep their own postseason hopes high. Several scuffles between the teams would occur, resulting in four yellow cards being given out. Luke Benford and Micah Sonnenberg both were carded for Oakland, while Diego Zermeno and Vincent Stockton received the cards for Detroit.

With both sides wrestling for scoring opportunities, Oakland would hit the silencer in the 83' minute as freshman Noah Roka sent a beautiful cross into the box to Owen Smith, who volleyed the ball into the back of the net with a booming left foot to extend the Oakland lead to 2-0 and secure the Oakland victory.

Oakland celebrates their second regular season title in three years. The last time they were the regular season champs, they ended up winning the #HLMSOC Championship in 2021. Oakland definitely hopes recent history will repeat itself with the Golden Grizzlies securing a first-round bye and home field advantage in the semifinals once again.

"This means a lot to the guys. It's an achievement that spans the whole season. The games and teams that we played were really difficult. With the perseverance the guys showed throughout the season, it means a lot to have us play the Horizon League semifinals and Championship on our home field," said Oakland Head Coach Eric Pogue after the game. "We're going to enjoy this. the team has worked so hard we have to celebrate the small and big victories".

Oakland will have over a week to rest and prepare as they await to see who their opponent will be for the #HLMSOC semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 9.



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