BOWLING GREEN, Oh. - The Golden Grizzlies faced the MAC's Bowling Green (BGSU) Falcons in a night-time midweek matchup on Thursday.

Both teams came into the game looking to establish an identity on offense, and the Falcons applied pressure early. In the opening half Bowling Green dominated possession, holding the ball in Oakland's half of the field for the majority of the half.

While Oakland reeled on the defensive end, they held strong to not allow Bowling Green to score in the opening half, despite facing eight shots, four on goal, in the frame.

Putri Sazali on the outside and Tianna McDonald in the middle anchored the back line, deterring many of BGSU's attacking possessions. Julia Zangerl also created a brick wall in goal, finishing the first half with four saves.

While the defense was the star in the first half for Oakland, the offensive pressure did dial up about midway through the first half. Marina Downing made several key runs down the outside, deep into Falcon territory, and while none of them resulted in shots, the Golden Grizzlies had moments of attacking pressure.

The beginning of the second half saw more of the same from the opening half, with Oakland having a bit of a heavier control of possession than they did in the first. The Golden Grizzlies nearly broke through in the 58th minute as they built a possession into the Falcons' box, where Isabella Bierod saw daylight and let a shot off in the middle of the box, but the quick reactions of the BGSU defense resulted in a block to keep the game even at zero.

With a defensive approach to the second half, the Golden Grizzlies denied ten shots in the second half from BGSU as the two teams ended the game in a 0-0 draw.

"I'm proud of the girls tonight. They played with passion and pride," said Oakland Head Coach Devin Zvosec. "They left everything on the field against a potential NCAA Tournament team this year. We had four new faces in the starting lineup due to injuries and they rose to the occasion. It's fun to keep a clean sheet against a very dangerous and well coached attacking team. This is another good building block as we prepare for conference play."

Oakland did register three shots in the second half, two via Frankie Mudd and one from Bierod. The performance marked a stellar defensive outing, capitalized by Zangerl's season-high seven saves in goal.

Oakland will remain in Ohio as they play one last MAC opponent in the Ohio Bobcats this Sunday at 1 p.m., before they start league play for the season.