ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies Men's Soccer team is on the heels of falling one game short of winning the 2023 Horizon League Championship, and with the page turned to 2024 the team is prepared to return to the top of the mountain as regular season champs, and this time bring home the league championship trophy as well.

The program ushers in a new, yet very familiar regime with the hiring of Oakland Soccer Legend and Hall of Honor Inductee Paul Doroh as Head Coach. Doroh has seen everything in his time at Oakland, including a stint as Interim Head Coach during the team's successful 2023 season. His staunch dedication to the program and passion for the student-athletes brings a fire to the program that will no doubt push them forward.

This season the Golden Grizzlies will lean heavily on their youth, with a bevy of second year players having learned from a deep playoff run their freshman seasons in 2023. Players like defensemen Noah Roka and Carson Ballagh, who were both named to the 2023 Horizon League All-Freshman Team, are set to take on even bigger roles this season, along with others such as Andrew Darakdjian and Nour Aoude, who also shined in limited minutes last season as freshmen, are poised for big leaps as well, leading Oakland's group of 17 underclassmen on the roster.

However, the presence of springy, youthful energy does not come without that of the collected and steady presence of veteran leaders. Oakland is returning key playmakers as well, including junior midfielder Marco Mazzei, who logged the fifth most minutes on the squad in 2023, All-League First Team defender junior Jace Foster, junior defender Malik Sylvester, who is known for his timely goal-scoring, and redshirt junior Zach Townsend, just to name a few.

The team will be anchored by senior captains goalkeeper Alex Flowers and Midfielder Gabriel Baylon. Flowers will step into the leading role in goal after tallying 22 saves in four appearances last season. He heads the Golden Grizzlies' back-line which ranked first in the league in saves (97), save percentage (.746), and saves per game (5.11) in 2023, while also placing second in shutouts (5). Baylon, a fifth year senior who has spent his entire collegiate career at Oakland, will lead  the team's middle of the field force.

Oakland's greatest strength this season may shape out to be their incredible depth at the midfielder and defender positions. While not extremely equipped with experience at the forward/attacker position, the Golden Grizzlies have defenders who not only protect their side of the field, but are fully capable of creating runs towards the opposition's goal and even scoring themselves, apparent by the 27 assists from Oakland last season, many of them coming from the midfield and defensive positions.

The Golden Grizzlies also brought in many interesting international talents this season. Defender Markus Wienerroither and midfielder Julian Kanzler are both new additions hailing from Austria, with overseas experience at the club level with SV Grodig of the Austrian Landesliga division. They also welcome Serbian natives Milan Dajic and Andrija Stozinic, who also have European club level experience.

Another interesting offseason transfer portal acquisition for Oakland is forward Andriy Bilous. During the 2023 season where he played at California (Pa.), he scored five goals and dished out four assists as one of the PSAC's best freshman players.

As they prepare for their regular season opening match on Thursday, Aug. 22 against Omaha at home, the Golden Grizzlies are more than ready for what is sure to be an exciting fall.