ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland Men's Soccer has officially unveiled their 2025 schedule, beginning their quest for a third straight Horizon League Championship Match appearance.

The Golden Grizzlies have been a mainstay in the top of the Horizon League for several years, but the Championship title has eluded them since their 2021 title victory, despite back-to-back trips to the conference championship game in 2023 and 2024. With a roster full of new, explosive talent and key returning players, see what Oakland's path to glory looks like below:

Exhibitions

• Oakland will warm-up for the season playing three exhibition matches, all at home, before the official start of the season. They will host Western Michigan (Aug. 8), Madonna University (Aug. 12), and Chicago State (Aug. 16).​​​​​​

Season Opener

• Oakland will kick things off on the road, battling Loyola Chicago (Aug. 21) in what will be an epic rematch of last year's showdown, which the Golden Grizzlies won on a penalty kick goal in the 83rd minute.

Logging Time on the Road

• The season opener will begin a stretch of four consecutive road matches to start the season for the Golden Grizzlies.
• Oakland will travel to DePaul (Aug. 24), Ohio State (Aug. 28) and Dayton (Aug. 31) before playing their first home game.
  • The Buckeyes (3) and Flyers (12) were both ranked in the top of the nation last season (United Soccer Coaches Rankings).
  • The Golden Grizzlies go head-to-head with the Buckeyes for the first time in eight years, and make their first trip to Columbus since 2016. 

Home Opener

• The Golden Grizzlies open up their home schedule with a prime-time matchup with the Michigan Wolverines (Sep. 5).
  • Oakland is looking for their second straight home victory over Michigan, beating them 2-1 in 2023 at the Oakland Soccer Field.

Conference Opener

• The Horizon League matchups begin with back-to-back road trips to Purdue Fort Wayne (Sep. 13) and Cleveland State (Sep. 20).

Conference Home Opener

• The Oakland Soccer Field will see its first conference matchup on Sep. 27 as Oakland hosts Milwaukee.
• The next match will be back on the road for the Golden Grizzlies as they take a trip to Green Bay (Oct. 4) for a weekend matinee showdown of conference powerhouse programs.

Big-Time Matches

• Oakland will take a break in the conference action for another pair of non-conference matches, hosting Butler (Oct. 7) and visiting Marshall (Oct. 14).
  • The Herd (3) marks Oakland's third opponent that ranked in the top 15 of the United Soccer Coaches rankings in 2024.

Metro Series Matchup

• Sandwiched in between the Butler and Marshall matches, Oakland will take its turn hosting the Metro Series matchup against Detroit Mercy on Oct. 11.
• The Golden Grizzlies are looking to continue their series dominance, aiming to extend a 15-year stretch without a loss to the Titans.

Championship Rematch

• On Oct. 18 Oakland will try to exact their revenge on Robert Morris, hosting a rematch of the 2024 Horizon League Championship Match.

Closing it out at Home

• The Robert Morris match marks a stretch where Oakland closes out the season with three of their final four games at home.
• A road trip to Northern Kentucky (Oct. 25) will mark the final road match, before closing the regular season on home soil against Wright State (Oct. 31) and IU Indy (Nov. 4).