Men’s Soccer Earns First Conference Win of the Season Over Cleveland State

Rochester, Mich. - Keeping up the momentum from their win over Michigan State, the Golden Grizzlies won their first conference game of the season 2-1 against the Cleveland State Vikings. 

In the match's opening minutes, the Vikings had a chance to gain an early lead over the Golden Grizzlies in the form of a penalty kick inside the box in just the second minute. With Cleveland State's Bojan Kolevski lined up to kick against Oakland's Alex Flowers, Flowers got the best of Kolevski, diving left and saving the ball to keep the game scoreless.

Come the 14th minute, Cleveland State wrote their wrongs as a long pass from William Wagner reached forward Marko Rimac, where he perfectly sent a scremaer to the top right corner, out of Flowers' reach to give the Vikings an early 1-0 lead over the Golden Grizzlies.

Despite the Vikings taking a quick lead, it didn't take too long for the Golden Grizzlies to respond. On a long free kick in the eighteenth minute, Carson Ballagh sent a powerful shot straight past the keeper on the left side of the net, tying things up for Oakland at 1-1. Notably, the goal marks Ballagh's first of his career as a Golden Grizzly.

In the 26th minute, Oakland had a solid chance to take the lead over the Vikings. After a through pass found Lejs Pilcanic, the Croatian senior sent a perfect pass to Andrew Darakdjian where he earned a one-on-one in open space with Vikings goalie Stephen Yerian, where Darakdijan missed his just shot wide-left to leave the game still tied.

With just four minutes left in the first half, Jack Klomparens intercepted a pass from Cleveland State in the midfield and took the ball deep into Viking territory. Despite some tough defense from the Vikings, Klomparens fought through contact and took the ball through the defense, finding the back of the net after sending a shot that deflected off the right crossbar, putting the Golden Grizzlies up 2-1. Klomparens goal is his team-leading third of the season.

At the half, Cleveland State led Oakland in shots (10-to-6) and shots on goal (6-to-3). Additionally, the Vikings led in corners with five, while the Golden Grizzlies had none. Not surprisingly, Flowers' big first half translated to the stat sheet, and Flowers had five saves at the half for Oakland.

With the second half ushered in, Oakland brought spectacular defense with them. Although the Vikings continued to see multiple chances to tie things back up, the Golden Grizzlies' defense denied all Vikings offensive pushes. Remarkably, in the span of four minutes, Flowers saved two more shots for Oakland.

As the second progressed, both teams turned up the effort on the field. However, the Vikings could not break the barrier that was Oakland's defense. With multiple chances to convert a goal, the Vikings repeatedly came up short.

In a game defined by physicality, the Vikings led the Golden Grizzlies in shots (18-to-9), shots on goal (10-to-4) and corners (8-to-0), but it wasn;t enough as Oakland earned their second consecutive victory. 

Next, the Golden Grizzlies will look to extend their win streak as the team plays Loyola University Chicago at home on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at the Oakland Soccer Field. The matchup with Loyola Chicago is International Day, so all ISSO employees can attend the game for free.