ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies played NIU to a 1-1 tie Saturday at Oakland Soccer Field, closing out a two-game home stand to begin conference play with a tightly contested match.
The Golden Grizzlies kept the Huskies off the board in the first half, with
Cole Thompson making an early save and the back line handling repeated corner-kick pressure, including a save  in the third minute.
Andriy Bilous recorded Oakland's first shot in the 17th minute, and
Kinan Abdulrazzak later gave Oakland two attacking looks, including a saved shot at 31:55 followed by an Oakland corner. Despite the chances, Oakland saw the half through at 0-0.
The Golden Grizzlies answered a second-half deficit in the 63rd minute, as
Kinan Abdulrazzak scored off assists from
Stephen Gilbert and
Julian Kanzler to tie the Huskies 1-1. It was Kinan's second consecutive game scoring a goal.
After the equalizer, Oakland withstood an NIU stretch that included four corner kicks and multiple shots between 67:47 and 78:48, then avoided conceding again when Roman Khela missed a penalty kick at 80:23. Oakland also generated late chances through Jean Leger, Gilbert and
Andriy Bilous, while the closing minutes included several fouls and a red card to NIU's Luka Vasic at 89:55. The match ended with the match still tied, 1-1.
Kinan Abdulrazzak scored a match-tying goal, led Oakland with four shots and put two on goal. Gilbert recorded an assist and put his only shot on goal.
Julian Kanzler added an assist.
Up next, the Golden Grizzlies travel to Moon Township, Pa., to face Robert Morris University on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 3 p.m.
